Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. ~ Ray Bradbury

A Path to Equality. A few hours of mountain climbing turn a rascal and a saint into two pretty similar creatures. Fatigue is the shortest way to Equality and Fraternity–and, in the end, Liberty will surrender to Sleep. ~ Nietzsche

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity. – John Muir, Our National Parks 

Just watched this short piece on Neil Harbisson. He is unable to see colour. As a result of his condition, he had implanted an antenna with a colour sensor that picks up the light frequencies around him. The light frequencies are then translated into sound waves allowing him to hear colour. According to the tones that he hears, human beings are all just hues of orange. Interesting. (via Swiss Miss)

I invest a great deal of time and energy in the courses I teach and the workshops I facilitate. My main objective is that people have fun. When my students or participants are in a state of play, I observe that they are far more engaged and open to exploring new topics and terrain. Over the last few weeks, I have received a series of emails from those that attended my session at the Society for College and University Planning Conference in Chicago. The feedback has been fantastic and I thank you all for taking the time to share your experience and thoughts via Twitter, LinkedIn, and email. Today, I learned that a conference participant highlighted my session in his recent LinkedIn blog post. He began the segment on my presentation with “The most fun I had…”

Music to my ears! Thank you!

Nets to Decks // Net Positiva // Bureo Skateboards from Bureo Skateboards on Vimeo.

During my recent visit to Monterey, I came across skateboards that were recycled from discarded fishnets. I had no idea that fishing gear accounts for an estimated 10% of the oceans’ plastic pollution. Wow! It’s awesome to learn that the founders of Bureo Skateboards want to address the challenge to clean up our sea and create a beautiful, useable product. I bounced a few times on the Minnow and loved the feel of the board! And now they’ve designed a line of sunglasses made from the same material. Check out their new Kickstarter campaign launched today!!

Speechless.

Trung Le on The Future of Learning at TEDxNYED.

While attending the Society of College and University Planning Annual, International Conference in Chicago, I took the Chicago Architecture Foundation river tour. It was a fantastic experience. I learned so much about the city and the evolution of its built environment. Here are a few photos that highlight my 90-minute excursion:

Thank you to all that attended my presentation on Designing Innovation: Hubs, Labs, and Maker Spaces at the Society for College and University Planning Annual, International Conference in Chicago! As promised, I have linked the research cited during the presentation as well as provided images documenting your creative process and product! More photos are available via Twitter #SCUP50.

References on creativity cited during the presentation:
Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking
Physical space, culture and organisational creativity – a longitudinal study
Researchers tie unexpected brain structures to creativity — and to stifling it
Traversing the design-language divide in the design and physical learning environments: A trial of visual methods by Nicolette Lee and Stella Tan.
Dr. Chuck Eesley, Assistant Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford publications on innovation & entrepreneurship.

Additional resources on this topic may be found here.

And now your work!