2011 InFocus Recap

How I Spent my Summer Vacation:
Urban Ruins, Shrinking Lakes, Rare Collaborations

Some people spend their summers going to faraway places to lounge by the sea, trek exotic lands or stare in astonishment at the ruins of past civilizations.

At InFocus 2011, the experiential summer learning program by Foresight Design Initiative and Northwestern University, 18 high school students took in these sights and many more—in Chicago. Local curiosities such as food deserts, urban industrial ruins, coke ovens, shrinking lakes and forgotten parts of the city were the backdrop for this two-week long course on sustainability.

Field days in the city were augmented by candid discussions with notable leaders practicing sustainability and innovation across sectors. Daily reflections and provocative discussions on ideas and strategies to generate solutions to systemic problems shifted the focus from identifying problems to solving them in a sustainable manner. The program concluded with a demonstration of the benefits of action and the cost of doing nothing.

These bright students left empowered to view the major challenges of today—deindustrialization, climate change, economic development—with a systemic perspective, and to begin making plans to confront these issues in higher education and their professional lives. The best journeys are the ones that enable reflection, prompt questions and incite change. To get a glimpse of the 2011 class and their experience, take a look at our Flickr stream and a map of our trips.

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