Toronto, Ontario; Markham, Ontario; Scarborough, Ontario; Orillia, Ontario; Shanghai, PR China; Helsinki, Finland.
Chinese Visa Center: Mural of historical figures and stories of China’s five thousand years of civilization includes: 1. Houyi, Shooting Suns; 2. Shennong, the Ancient Herbalist; … 5. Hua Tuo, the Ancient Divine Chinese Medical Practitioner; 6. Sun Wu, the Great Military Theorist; 7. Qu Yuan, the Famous Poet; … 11. Confucius, the Great Chinese Philosopher; … 17. Mulan, the Chinese Girl-warrior; 18. Genghis Khan, the Great Conqueror; 24 Marco Polo, and The Travels of Marco Polo; … 27. Koxinga, the National Hero. Waiting in queue to drop off visa application folder, wondering about the process of choosing the 27. (Chinese Visa Application Service Center, University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20171102Cascon 2017: Clustering sticky notes in Strategic Foresight Workshop after discussions over lunch and ideation. After years of lecture layouts, ballroom is arranged with round tables to encourage sharing and capturing amongst participants. Many drawn away from collective activity towards posters at kiosks around the room, so maybe next time reducing options for distraction will lead to stronger inputs. (Cascon 2017, Hilton Suites, Warden Avenue, Markham, Ontario) 20171106Cascon 2017: Presentation #cascon on Cognitive Blockchain @DonnaExplorer, IBM Fellow. Clear demonstrations of pilots on cross-border supply chain traceability, Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for diamonds, IBM Verifier scanner to validate sources, Walmart Food Safety provenance. Digest at https://ingbrief.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/2017-11-07-1015-donna-dillenberger-cognitive-blockchain-cascon/Highland Farms: Ontario grown Flemish Beauty pears on destination shopping, later in the season that I had expected. This heritage variety grows locally, not as popular as Barlett, Anjou or Bosc. Childhood memories of the tree by my grandparents’ house on the southeast corner of Beverley Street and Cecil Street in the 1960s, gone by the 1980s. I’m appreciative of a smaller grocery store that supports local growers. (Highland Farms, Ellesmere Road, Scarborough, Ontario) 20171107Delicious Paradise Kitchen: Father’s choice for Chinese fast food lunch. When I saw the serving of rice pulled on the plate, I said “too much”, and the server put half back into the pot. Dad says one serving is enough to serve two seniors. (Delicious Paradise Kitchen, Silver Star Blvd., Scarborough, Ontario) 20171109Port of Orillia: Off season for boat cruise on Lake Couchiching, on the Orillia waterfront. Quick business trip driving north on overcast early afternoon, followed by southbound trip starting before dusk and then ending in rainy dark. Radio reports subsequently declared winter snow, relatively early for the season. (Port of Orillia, Centennial Drive, Orillia, Ontario) 20171109Walter Hall: Generations of jazz @UofTMusic, with @MyriadThree as second of five acts in a soft seat theatre. Musicians unusually encouraged to fill time with chat, as rearranging instruments and stands on stage took time. (Walter Hall, University of Toronto Faculty of Music, Queens Park Circle, Toronto, Ontario) 20171110Trace: Intense family drama @kJeffHo@FactoryToronto portrays 3 generations, one actor, two pianos in Trace. Great-grandmother, mother and son wrestle with conflict and duty, from wartime Canton to Hong Kong and Toronto immigration. Moments of humour in the personalities. The Cantonese-accented English takes me back a few decades, the mainlanders sound different now. (Trace, Factory Theatre, Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario) 2017114OCADU: Debriefing by @redesign of #rsd6 @RSDSymposium @OCADU_SFI Systems Thinking Ontario session in Toronto, for those who weren’t in Oslo. Slides soon to be officially on web site, relating highlights from memory triggered conversations for clarification and extension. Students new to the master’s program may not appreciate how close to the leading edge some of this content is. (Systems Thinking Ontario, OCAD University, Richmond Street, Toronto) 20171115Suzhou River, Waitan: Sichuan Road northbound on bridge over the Suzhou River, just west of the junction flowing into the Huangpu River, and the more famous embankment of the Bund. Staying at more modest hotel for 2 days while working off jet lag, before decamping to another branch of the same chain near the Siping campus. (Sichuan Road over the Sichuan River, Waitan district, Shanghai, PR China) 20171118Jiangxi Middle Road, Waitan: Dumpling soup breakfast a challenge when Mandarin brain hasn’t kicked in. Pointing at picture on the wall and another customer having same soup gave intention, but was then tripped up as they asked if I wanted 8, 10 or 12 dumplings. Fresh bowl arrived in less than 10 minutes, then server came back with an extra dumpling that must have gone astray in the pot. The youth hostel is a few doors north, so servers must be used to handling foreigners. (416 Jiangxi Middle Road, Waitan district, Shanghai, PR China) 20171119Light & Salt: Dinner with view overlooking the Bund and Pudong across Huangpu River. Almost a year ago, we had dinner in Helsinki, and were wondering where we would all meet next. Three of us were in Shanghai in March, and then another three were in Helsinki in August. We’ve had a lot of life changes in the past 12 months, it seems like just yesterday. (Light & Salt at Rockbund, Waitan district, Shanghai, PR China) 20171119Tongji Huangpu School: High school lecture in English evolved to reinforce learning with Mandarin translation immediately after ideas from slides presented. Long preamble on family system history dating back to grandfather in 1928 became concrete example of how decisions made by parents impact children. (Tongji Huangpu School, Waitan, Shanghai, PR China) 20171120Yang Guo Fu, Guoquan Road: Selected fish, spinach and mushrooms for custom malatang, spicy Sichuan soup where the broth is like sauce, and drinking the bowl empty isn’t a good idea. Walked north from hotel to next metro stop, an easy stroll but breathing harder through a N95 mask to counter an Air Quality Index of 149 unhealthy. Had a full day for research discussions, so much progress that can be done in person, reinforcing that video and audio conference still has lower bandwidth. (Yang Guo Fu, Guoquan Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20171121Guoquan Zhengben Market: Morning dumpling vendor on edge of local market offering fruit, vegetables and meat. Pastry was in crescent and cylinder shape, my breakfast sampling says the filling is the same for both. Ate takeout in the Sino-Finnish Centre kitchen, juices sprayed out onto table, I cleaned up afterwards. (Guoquan Road at Zhengben Road Market, WuJiaoChang, Shanghai, PR China) 20171122Anshansicun: Whimsically painted building in residential area, park directly south and exercise walkways just to the west. Exploring the neighbourhoods on foot reveals some beautiful enclaves away from the main thoroughfares and generic apartment towers. (Sujiatun Road at Fuxin Road, Anshansicun, Shanghai, PR China) 20171123Public Lecture, Tongji U: Graduate students and public invited to “Wicked Problems, Affordances, Service Systems: Some perspectives for designing”. Abstract: Recent research into the practices of designing includes reflection on ways in which the domains for designing and the role(s) of designers have changed. These inquiries echo some of the same questions that arose during the Design Methods Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This presentation focuses on exploring some perspectives associated with 21st century advances and challenges to designers: 1. Solution to a problem in context ~ Wicked problems 2. Functions in things ~ Affordances alongside interactions 3. Production systems ~ Service systems The types of projects, activities and technologies for the contemporary designer have changed. The practical and philosophical implications incorporating these perspectives will be discussed. Slides at http://coevolving.com/commons/20171124-wicked-problems-affordances-service-systems (Sino-Finnish Centre, College of Design & Innovation, Tongji University, PR China). 20171124Sino-Finnish Centre: At public lecture, Professor Yi-Heng CHENG providing color commentary in Mandarin Chinese on specific key concepts presented in English at my public lecture on “Wicked Problems, Affordances, Service Systems: Some perspectives for designing”. Methods, reasoning and philosophy are hard enough for English speakers, so checking that students get the drift in their second language. Reminded by Horst Rittel was German, so the term “wicked problems” may lose something in the translation to English. (Sino-Finnish Centre, Tongji University College of Design & Innovation, PR China) 20171124Siping Road at Zhongshan Road: Dong Zou Ma Tang River flowing east, parallel to the north section of the Inner Ring Elevated Road. Few pedestrians in the suburban area, yet looking into the water reveals well-kept gardens. Shanghai neighbourhoods are walled, so it’s not easy to access a continuing path beside the flowing water. (Dong Zou Ma Tang River, Siping Road at Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20171125People’s Square: View north on Xizang Middle Road from pedestrian overpass at Yan’an East Road. Early evening stroll down from Nanjing Road West, then into the Hong Kong Shopping Centre underground of People’s Square. With three train lines intersecting below, everyone has long walks between platforms. (People’s Square, Xizang Middle Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20171126Wujiaochang: Emerged from subway into flashing streams of light with The Egg, by ZHONG Song. Steel shroud covers overpass, above the five-road intersection. Needed compass to navigate around the mazes of modern shopping malls. (Wujiaochang, Yangpu, Shanghai, PR China) 20171127Power Station of Art: Massive exhibition space with 7 floors of halls, but doors mostly closed. Quiet Tuesday night, with major exhibits having finished last weekend. Out of the way location, next visit should be based more on the scheduled show, rather than assuming continuous programming and curation. (Power Station of Art, Huangpu, Shanghai, PR China) 20171128Guanglan Road: Line 2 train from downtown eastbound requires transfer to 4-car train to complete journey to Pudong Airport. In afternoon rush hour, the smaller train filled quite rapidly, and I hopped on at the last minute while others seemed to prefer waiting for the next train with seats available. Not as glamourous as the Maglev express, but the local transfer requires only crossing a platform, rather than exiting through gates and re-entering. (Guanglan Road, Pudong, Shanghai, PR China) 20171129Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul: International transit more of a pleasure changing in Turkey, with two-storey lounge equipped with golf simulator, and middle eastern cuisine. Masseurs are giving backrubs. Not enough time for a shower, queue is 2.5 hours long. (Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul, Ataturk, Turkey) 20171130
Kampin Kauppakeskus: Jet-lagged intercept with @villesaarikoski to discuss business research trajectory and future directions on innovating through technological disruptions. Fortunate scheduling as I’m in town for 24 hours; Ville just returned from teaching in India. Social media has afforded us a medium to stay connected for more than a decade. (Expresso House, Kampin Kauppakeskus, Helsinki, Finland) 20171130
