Lifehack and Massey University collaborate for Wellbeing

Lifehack and Massey University collaborate for Everyday Wellbeing

Improving everyday wellbeing for young Kiwis through social entrepreneurship will be one of the focuses of an exciting new Design Challenge project for visual communication design students attending Massey University’s School of Design in Wellington this year.

Lifehack, New Zealand’s youth wellbeing social innovation lab, is teaming up with Massey University’s visual communication design programme to help mentor up to 150 students. Lifehack will assist students to develop a range of innovative responses to the brief based on the latest research on positive psychology and resilience.

The partnership provides Massey University’s School of Design with an opportunity to build on current course content in the area of social entrepreneurship. Lifehack will introduce students to elements of wellbeing such as belonging & identity, mindfulness and sleep. They will bring new skills and perspectives to an area of research that has been increasing over the last 10 years. The Design Challenge will also include research about the role of technology in wellbeing interventions courtesy of Lifehack, which is part of the Social Media Innovation Fund.

“The Design Challenge will be part of a level three paper in the second semester of 2015. We’re excited to expand our current course offerings by embracing the opportunity to connect with the Lifehack team. The collaboration will not only facilitate design responses to societal issues, it will also be a way of encouraging students who have identified a preference for social entrepreneurial projects rather than the traditional commercial space” said Mark Bradford, Senior Lecturer at Massey University’s School of Design.

Students will undergo a three month guided design process for two days a week, as well as time outside of class. At the conclusion, their ideas will be reviewed and critiqued by Massey University lecturers and the Lifehack team, so that students who are keen to take their ideas further can pursue this through pathways like Postgraduate study or through Lifehack’s initiatives.

“We’re so excited to be working with some of the country’s brightest young minds who can help bring a fresh approach to how health and wellbeing interventions are conceptualised, designed and developed. Massey’s Design School is a perfect partner for this pilot of an NZ-wide student Design Challenge, as the students are trained to work across disciplines with collaboration at the heart of how they operate,” said Sam Rye, the co-Lead of Lifehack.

Lifehack is part of the Prime Minister’s ‘Youth Mental Health Project,’ and supports a range of projects, people and ventures to generate innovative Wellbeing interventions through technology.

ends

© Scoop Media