The place based approach to innovation is a strategy that provides to communities the opportunity to innovate by triggering a systemic change. While researchers and policymakers are experimenting place based strategies around the world, there is a need to develop appropriate educational tools to foster a place based approach to technological and social entrepreneurial solutions. The Tambali Fii project is a step toward this direction. This paper depicts the high education interdisciplinary workshops “Social Tech4Sustainability” held at the IPP Dakar in the first year of the Tambali Fii Project by sketching their objectives, theoretical model, structure, tools and results, in order to present a model to transfer and/or to scale up in larger experimental and applied social tech education program. A validation test through qualitative content analysis of data collected in the field is carried out in order to investigate the actual potential of teaching concerning new design tools in the bottom up process of creation of place based social tech entrepreneurial businesses.

 

Authors: Andrea Ratti, Francesco Gerli, Arianna Bionda, Irene Bengo