Established by D-Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014, the Practical Impact Alliance (PIA) brings together leaders from diverse organizations with aligned missions so that they may share learning and collaborate on market based solution to global poverty. Inspired from D-Lab’s International Development Design Summit (IDDS), the first PIA Co-design Summit will be held in Kumasi in partnership with KNUST from September 27th to October 3rd 2015.

The annual Co-Design Summit is a cornerstone of the PIA. Leveraging D-Lab’s noted expertise in collaborative design, the summit gives participants— including PIA members from global companies and nongovernmental organizations, Ghanaian innovators and social entrepreneurs, and local community members— the opportunity to practice co-design and participatory research together. During the 2015 Summit in Ghana, participants will be placed on project teams to work on projects relevant to the local context. Projects span multiple themes, from recycling to agriculture to education.

The five-day curriculum provides an exploration of the design cycle, including needs identification, sketch modeling, prototyping, and opportunities for community engagement. Participants will spend September 29-30 in the village of New Longoro for the information gathering/idea generation portion of the curriculum.

You are cordially invited to attend the closing events of this summit which will include a showcase of the projects outputs and a networking dinner--co-organised by The GhanaThink Foundation-- where summit participants will have the opportunity to connect and network with the broader innovation and entrepreneurship community in Ghana.

4.30 pm - 6.30 pm – Projects Showcase at the Institute of Distance Learning (IDL) conference room.

6.30 pm - 9.30 pm – Networking Dinner at the KNUST swimming pool