Today Deborah is speaking at the International Conference for Innovation and Creativity of Women for Economic Development, within the Parliament of the Republic of Poland in Warsaw. The event brings speakers from across the world in design and business to discuss and share ways for designing the quality of life in modern economy.

The conference is being held by the President of the Republic of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski. Thanks to Malwina, Deborah can now also speak some Polish!

Today some of the thinkpublic team were at the Public Sector Efficiency Expo in Olympia, getting people involved in making lemonade, to demonstrate how prototyping can help create outcomes that are even tastier. Only joking, we were bringing to life the importance of using prototyping to quickly and cheaply involve communities and staff in the design and testing of new services.

The lemonade went down a storm…. To be honest I was surprised how good it tasted! Well done James for designing the stand.

So if you would like to send us any post or give us a call, check out our new contact details by watching this lovely animation made by Ness! We look forward to seeing you soon.

We’re On The Move from thinkpublic on Vimeo.

I’m loving the fact that one of my extended family members (somewhere along the line of Bearded Collies) has become a TV star overnight in the new Halifax advert the Furry Hero. Great choice of dog Adam and Eve London.

Just in case you need another hero I’m always available and I’m pretty good at football too!

We are currently working with MIND to explore how charities can develop innovative and sustainable fund-raising ideas, and our research led us to Duke’s gym in Gipsy Hill. What an amazing person Duke is, generously sharing his own life experience with the aim of supporting and advising others. In his community he works with young offenders and young people not engaged in education to offer them some structured training and mentoring. He also works closely with MIND and offers boxing courses for people experiencing mental health problems, as Duke says “Boxing is an amazing way of focussing the mind and giving yourself space to think and de-stress”. Not only did he kindly take time to show us around the gym and share his knowledge and experience, he also got us into the ring to show us some moves.

We are interested to see where charities choose to partner with other organisations to enrich their service offerings. If anyone has any other inspiring examples please feel free to get in touch.

ella.britton(at)thinkpublic.com

If you’re a Service Designer with a zeal for creating services that make people’s lives better, then we may have just the job for you. Find out about our opportunities for Reality Exploration here.

We’re also looking for a Curiosity Tickler to to be our Head of Research and Insight and help create genuine social innovation across the public, third and corporate sectors. This is a key role that requires intuitive thinking, research and analytical skills, a creative flair and a passion for social innovation. If you have least 3 years’ experience as a first class researcher, then read on.

Or perhaps you’re a Creative Designer with experience of designing both for and with people in a commercial setting.  We’re looking for a Mad Inventor who loves understanding people and is constantly looking for new ways to do things in order to improve the world. Find out more here.

Note that the closing date for applications is 27 February 2012.

In all cases, salary will be commensurate with experience.  We also offer a nice benefits package.  And just imagine being able to go home at the end of each day knowing that you’ve helped to change the world, even just a little bit.  That’s what makes us smile each day (and we smile a lot) because we love what we do and truly care about the work we produce.

As Government accelerates towards a world of public services that are digital by default, is this going to deliver the kind of digital services that move the public with them?

To find out, thinkpublic partnered with Consumer Focus to undertake detailed research into some of the fundamental questions and issues that users of digital public services are interested in. The findings have been published today in the Manifesto for Online Public Services, which sets out simple guiding principles to be placed at the heart of online service design.

The research and manifesto are aimed at public service providers, policy makers and organisations from other sectors who offer online public services. It helps bring the voice of the consumer into their design processes and to ensure that their services are more effective in meeting users’ needs.

Go and check it out and let us know what you think.

Looking after the most vulnerable children: From Hospital to Home
Children born with breathing problems need additional support, sometimes they need this support indefinitely. The Long Term Ventilation Team, based at the Royal Brompton Hospital, provides support for these children and help to train parents in the looking after their children.

We’ve been working with the team to make a film explaining their service to parents who may need it. It explores the journeys of three families from across the pan-Thames region who have successfully brought their children home despite the challenges of their children’s conditions.

The film shows how much support is available for these vulnerable children and shed’s light on the challenging experiences that are surmounted by their parents. One parent, Ben, describes his experience:

“You stick with it because it is your baby, ultimately we’ve got a baby that’s actually healthy now. coming from a position where we starting to consider some really horrible decisions, which fortunately we didn’t have to make. But I think that you know if you take it step by step, day by day you end up in a really good place.”

The film is now publicly available. Watch from Hospital to Home.

The aim of the Keeping Connected Business Challenge is to stimulate the development of business ideas that address the desire and need of older adults for maintaining and developing their social connections. The Big League has been awarded a share of £450,000 to support development over the next five months to help older adults stay socially connected.

The Big League represents a truly innovative and fun way to connect older men through fitness and sporting activities.   Our research found that as people retire, men especially can find the lack of structure and purpose difficult to navigate, which means that many can find themselves drifting and losing motivation and social connections.  The combination of thinkpublic’s entrepreneurial approach to creating social enterprises, combined with the FIA’s reach across the UK health and fitness industry, means The Big League has the power to transform the lives of men approaching retirement or who have recently retired, by offering a network of support that enables them to make connections, be active and to help others in their community from their efforts.

Want to get involved? Get in touch:  hello@thinkpublic.com