Innovative Learning Week is a festival at The University of Edinburgh which inspires, supports and celebrates creative learning.

Staff and students are invited to explore their learning experience in a new way through collaborative events and activities over a week in February. Since it’s inception in 2012, staff and students have hosted nearly 2,300 creative learning events on campus, in the community and all over the world.

Snapshot of ILW 2016

We wanted to do things differently together.

We started from the beginning.

Open ILW is a service design project to rethink & rebuild the strategy and support around the festival.

We ran a series of interviews and workshops to co-design a new manifesto and create series of tools and processes with our key partners including students, academics, School Coordinators and others.

We put our people at the heart.

2 full time staff 3 student staff 20 School Coordinators 18 Service Coordinators 5 Festival Partners

We designed a festival manifesto together.

Provide a platform to explore and experiment with different ways of learning and incorporate them into the wider University experience.

Explore the definition of innovation and creativity and how they can be further supported and embedded into the learning experience.

Effectively design and deliver innovative events to share and learn new ideas.

Foster meaningful and interesting collaborations & communities to enhance the learning experience.

Celebrate good practice already taking place and enhance its impact.

Aims The ILW Manifesto was created through a series of workshops, interviews and research conducted with our community of staff, students and community partners.

Of those surveyed, those involved in ILW agreed that we achieved the aims we set to accomplish.

Our values OPENNESS

CREATIVITY

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

CELEBRATORY

EXPERIMENTATION

COLLABORATION an open mindset and curiosity for innovation

be open to taking risks and how it’s relevant across the University

gaining new skills and broaden your mind within different contexts

celebrate the University community and how it brings amazing research, teaching and learning together

be open to taking risks and how it’s relevant across the University

creating meaningful connections between different parts of the University

We used our values to shape our process.

The most exciting thing for me was that I really tried to embrace the values of ILW, I didn’t sit behind the computer and mock up these scenarios instead I got stuck in, built physical sets, threw confetti and got frustrated at a slinky that wouldn’t go where it was supposed to. The Ideas in Play approach to design was challenging at times but massively rewarding.

David McNaughton, Graphic Designer

We created a structure to support ideas.

ILW is not just about hosting events, but supporting them from when they are an idea to long after. Therefore we wanted to channel that ILW supports the pipeline of innovation - from meet-ups and online communities to more self-directed support.

ILW Meet-ups - monthly meet-ups on topics such as ideas development, event design, promotion, impact and legacy to help event organisers turn their ideas into a reality.

ILW tools - a series of service design tools to help people turn their ideas into a festival event.

ILW Handbook - a guide of all things festival related including deadlines, directory of logistical help and tools for making ideas into events.

ILW Basecamp - an online community for event organisers & School Coordinators to ask questions, meet others and get useful information in a timely way.

ILW Funding - a small funding pot of £300 for each festival event that align with the mission of ILW.

We found new ways to tell our story and build a community.

Our tools for storytelling

Short films

ILW 16 Newspaper

Handbook

Events calendar

Communications toolkit

Highly active social media channels

High level brand which aligned with our manifesto

Communications & marketing strategy for the University and city audiences

Outreach across the University

We curated the programme.

The 2016 theme Ideas in Play was an open invitation to start, make, design, try and build communities around your ideas.

Innovation is a process and more often than not - the process is more valuable than the finished product. Not only are ideas constantly at play and in movement, but they require imagination, creativity and openness.

Openness An open mindset and curiosity for innovation

Echoes of Edinburgh: A 24 hour magazine project by Retrospect Journal, the student society

Started in ILW in 2012, award-winning Retrospect’s event was filled with writing, editing, designing and publishing a magazine, alongside a 24 hour radio broadcast from FreshAir. The day hosted talks by experts in the publishing industry and workshops on topics such as online publishing and podcasting to enhance digital communications skills.

This event […] marked a considerable achievement having been coordinated and led entirely by student volunteers and, given the high number of the external guests involved prior and during these events, allowed us to operate as positive and impressive ambassadors for the university. We feel this event exhibited the key aim of ILW 2016 - ideas were most certainly at play.

(Echoes of Ed. student event organiser)

ILWAWARD

WINNER

ILW Team

Choice Award

Collaboration Creating meaningful connections between different parts of the University

Draw-ing(s) : The Art of Chromatography (Workshop & Exhibition)

This two-day practical workshop was a collaboration between Chemistry and Contemporary Art. They explored contemporary art work through “column chromatography”, developing ways to separate these inks on silica substrates.

We exchanged knowledge from our own practice and shared information, as an artist I learnt in more detail about a specific technical process. As chemists they are left with a question as to how my work is being made and what effect a specific material I use is having - this is nice as it opens up possibilities for further investigations.

(Felicity Bristow, event organiser)

ILWAWARD

WINNER

Most

Collaborative

Creativity Be open to taking risks and how it’s relevant across the University

Board Game Jam

The event was a collaboration between Projects and Innovation, Research and Learning Services, Library and University Collections and Information Services. It was a hands-on workshop where the participants were guided through all the steps of creating a new board game.

[The event went] very well - groups created four games and used several images from the [library] collections. All games were openly licensed. [...] Thank you for giving me the opportunity to run this event! It was great fun and very rewarding.

(Gavin Willshaw, Board Game Jam event staff organiser)

ILWAWARD

WINNER

Most

Creative

Experimentation Doing, building and prototyping ideas in a supportive environment

iGEM Sandpit and Bio-hackathon

This annual ILW hackathon is designed to break down the barriers between coders and biologists through collaborating on programming and design projects relevant to challenges in biology and laboratory science. Over the week participants are encouraged to explore and develop project ideas into an entry for the iGEM 2016 world competition and work on the project over the summer.

The entire iGEM concept is focused on developing concrete solutions to real world problems or innovating new art, design or technological projects while having FUN!!!

(iGEM event attendee)ILWAWARD

WINNER

ILW Team

Choice Award

PLAYIDEASIN

AWARD

Experiential Learning Gaining new skills and broaden your mind within different contexts

Smart Data Hack

Started in ILW 2013, this event runs for the whole 5 days of ILW. It is still about working together to create innovative responses to real-world challenges, drawing on your team’s combined skills in digital technology, business analysis, ethnography and design.

One of the factors that impedes students from different schools working together is the lack of a shared language, but the Smart Data Hack barely lasts long enough to start bridging the cultural barriers. In response to this challenge, and in collaboration with colleagues from Edinburgh Living Lab, I’ve launched a new SCQF level 8 course, Data, Design and Society.[...] The more leisurely framework of a 20 credit course is proving much more conducive to student teams developing the degree of trust and understanding required for working effectively across disciplines.

(Prof Ewan Klein, co-founder & organiser of Smart Data Hack)

ILWAWARD

WINNER

ILW Team

Choice Award

Celebratory celebrate the University community and how it brings amazing research, teaching and learning together

TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh’s 5th annual ILW conference was a one-day event of compelling local and international speakers; utilising a diverse roster of speakers, performances and pre-recorded TED Talks to explore a rich array of ideas and thinking, key to our desire to spread worthwhile ideas.

This year, the theme was ‘Connecting the Dots’ and in addition to speakers, attendees had the opportunity to explore a diversity of engaging and interactive spaces. These spaces included showcasing some of the amazing work that had been made during ILW 2016 already, making it a chance for us to display ILW and its values to the Tedx audience.

Our festival partners Edinburgh Student Arts Festival and ASCUS displayed their work and engagement too.

ILWAWARD

WINNER

ILW team

choice award

MOSTIMPACTAWARD

It’s been a real pleasure to work on ILW over the past few years and witness its evolution to the well organised and professional festival it is today! You are all a great team! (ILW School Coordinator)

The Future We are currently planning for a festival of creative learning for 2017 and beyond. Check out our website for future updates.

The publication is available online at www.ed.ac.uk/innovative-learning.It can also be made available in alternative formats on request.

All photos and images used in this publication are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of The University of Edinburgh.

© The University of Edinburgh 2016 / The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.