Design thinking

Woodapple collaborated with Government of India body FSSAI as Design Thinking Partners, to help them become a top-visionary for the Rockefeller Food System Vision 2050 from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants across 110 countries.

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Woodapple’s approach to creating the food system vision for 2050 drew from four distinct tenets of design thinking, ‘what is, ‘what if’, ‘what works’ and ‘what wows’ to tackle challenges tied to six diverse themes: environment, diets, economics, culture, technology, and policy.

The Design Thinking and Visioning involved speaking to different stakeholders across the spectrum – urban farmers, nutritionists, food experts, civil society, design thinkers, international agencies and the government to develop a vision of a regenerative, interconnected and nourishing food system.

In its communication, the Rockefeller Foundation stated, ‘Your vision inspires. If implemented, it can transform. It feels lofty yet feasible – audacious yet vital. It can reveal a path forward to a nourishing, resilient, sustainable and equitable food system for 2050, if not well before.’

In design thinking, the user is at the heart of the search for solutions. It’s vital that governments use it to shape programs and services.

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Woodapple’s Design Thinking and Visioning – FSSAI’s award winning Rockefeller Food Vision Systems 2050 prize

The ‘Better food for better lives for one sixth of the world population by 2050’ was amongst top 10 finalists. The award winning entries from Canada, China, India, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, and the U.S were based on their potential to inspire real, positive and bold transformation of food systems by 2050.

The design head, Joy Banerjee shares “we used design thinking to capture a very large data, numerous opinions and cases to synthesise it into a viable vision. Secondly we designed and visualised parts of the future solutions like credit based economic models, packaging stickers, community-based local food ecosystems, integration of traditional knowledge with new technologies amongst other things” These conversations helped capture public perception on present food system challenges and free flowing new ideas and action plans.

What emerged from the collective brainstorming were funnelled as vital inputs into building futuristic scenarios. The exercise culminated in a utopian visioning ‘A day in the life’ concept involving various actors in the food system, interconnecting the diverse themes with futuristic technologies and ancient food system practices.

"Design thinking is essentially a human-centered approach to problem solving. Globally, businesses, not-for-profits and governments are increasingly applying design methodologies to find solutions to modern day problems. Key elements in this thinking process includes empathy, listening and iteration to tune in to the needs of the user. According to Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation “The inspiring Visions put forward paint a picture of a more hopeful future food system – one that is equitable, sustainable and can transform our planet and improve the diets and health of people across the globe. The beginning of adoption of the design-thinking process and principles in India and its governance is an encouraging sign of changing times."

Here's what we created using the Design Thinking and Visioning

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India Vision 2050 We spoke to various stakeholders and partners and this is what we visioned together.
A day in a lifeof an Indian food data scientist and an aspiring chef in 2050