Impact x Design: Designing a Neighborhood Nexus
Creating Local Impact through Sustainable Microhubs
Tuesday, October 8th, 2024 @ Kiln
Doors at 5:30 pm; Design Sprint Workshop begins at 6:00 pm
Join us for this hands-on design sprint where the power of community-centered design, social innovation, and sustainability come together. B-Line, Portland’s leader in urban bike-based logistics, has been delivering local goods via electric cargo bikes for over 15 years. In partnership with MESO (Microenterprise Services of Oregon), B-line is piloting a neighborhood “microhub” to solve last-mile delivery challenges, reduce traffic, and support local economic growth in the neighborhoods where we live, eat, and play.
This hands-on workshop invites social impact designers, urban planners, and community-based innovators to explore how these microhub spaces might integrate services such as e-charging centers or microenterprise opportunities, fostering economic and urban mobility. Share your ideas and learn how to help shape these central nodes of the connected, thriving, sustainable neighborhoods of the future.
Workshop facilitator
Emi Day (she/HER)
Emi is B-Line’s Microhub Design Strategist, bringing over 15 years of experience in architecture, service design strategy, and civic engagement. With a deep commitment to solving public interest challenges, she has a proven track record in leading teams to develop innovative, community-driven solutions emphasizing human interaction and sustainable urbanism. Emi facilitates partnerships and implements neighborhood-scale projects, driven by a passion for creating spaces that enhance connection, accessibility, and environmental stewardship through experience design and placemaking.
WOrkshop Host & Co-Organizer
erin stevanus (she/her)
erin is an artist, strategist, and social entrepreneur committed to unlocking the potential of complex systems through foresight and speculative thinking. She runs a design futures studio, collaborating with leaders across the private, public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors to bring to life not-too-distant futures. As the founder of an innovation platform, she support changemakers in design thinking and social entrepreneurship. In her creative practice, erin writes, composes, and performs works exploring speculative futures and the mindsets needed to navigate them. You can also find her facilitating deep listening experiences and crafting live digital soundscapes through the sonic sound lab project, which invites curiosity, exploration, and rest.
