Solutions Symposium

This by-invitation, live problem solving session will bring together multidisciplinary teams of key mid to senior level practitioners to tackle current issues in the Forum’s three spotlighted cities: Medellín, Colombia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Mumbai, India.

Teams were assigned and a broad problem statement was provided. Talks on Thursday and Friday of the conference lent real-life flavor and context. On Friday, teams met, ideated, and presented their solutions to a panel of experts. Sessions were conducted in collaboration with process facilitators from innovation design firms, Continuum and frog design.

Friday, May 2
 9:00  Breakfast
 9:30  Welcoming Remarks and Topic Discussions

  • Bhaskar Chakravorti, Senior Associate Dean of International Business and Finance, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
  • Weiping Wu, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University
10:15  Group Break-Outs Assemble
10:30  Problem Solving Session

 

*The agenda is rapidly evolving,
but topics will include:

  • Making the Sharing Economy Work
  • Building Toward Disaster: Climate Change and City Ambitions in Vietnam
  • This Land is my Land: Crowd-funding & Community-based Civic Financing
  • Scaling Up: Low-Income Housing in Urban India
  • The Power of Local Government: Land & Infrastructure
  • Smart Cities: Citizens & The Digital Future of Services
  

 

Group leaders will include:

  • Michael DiGregorio,

    The Asia Foundation

  • Rodrigo Davies,

    MIT Media Lab

  • Vikram Jain,

    Monitor Inclusive Markets

  • Julio Dávila,

    University College London

  • Caroline Wanjiku Kihato,

    University of the Witwatersrand

  • Craig Driver,

    MasterCard Worldwide
 2:30  Pitch & Judges Panel
 3:30  Reception