This summer, NuVu was thrilled to host educators from our NuVuX Partner School network at the Cambridge school for our annual Innovation Camp event. It has been three years since we welcomed our community of educators back into the NuVu school, and the space was abuzz with creative energy for the two-day event. This exceptional group of leaders and educators are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the education space, and NICE Camp provides an interactive, fun, and inspirational opportunity to reinvest in design innovation for partners and connect with our community of exceptional educators from across the globe.

Participants interact with Fellows, Program Designers, and Curriculum Specialists to learn about the NuVu approach directly from our team. Through an immersive experience, educators participate in a design studio and understand the students’ experience firsthand.  Micro workshops dive more deeply into components of the studio pedagogy and provide a forum to discuss successful studio design and some of the challenges that are faced when implementing innovative design programs.

The mini-studio this year was Pop-Up Participatory Devices, where participants collaboratively designed temporary installations that invite community participation. They explored and examined Central Square and potential locations within the urban fabric that could host their installations. Precedents that socially and culturally engage people walking down city streets opened their minds to the possibilities of their own designs, and they tested proof-of-concept prototypes to see how the community would respond to their ideas. 

Projects that delighted us included ideas like using the colored glass at the bus stops to play with shadows and light while you wait for your ride; a message board that encourages community members to engage with each other about their feelings and thoughts within the community; play structures added to the space for both adults and children to get to interact in an outdoor space physically. Participants loved getting a feel for the studio process and had even wished for more time in the future. We also wanted more time with them, and look forward to hosting more events for educators this year.