Holland GVSU class promotes innovation, sustainability

This summer, two Grand Valley State University professors are teaching a course about socially conscious innovation on Meijer Campus in Holland. Throughout the course, the students will be venturing out into the community of Holland to learn about community needs.

The Liberal Studies course, titled Socially Conscious Innovation, is taught by marketing professor Paul Lane and engineering professor John Farris. Those professors are the driving force behind an interdisciplinary project that has seen them make multiple trips to Nicaragua over the past few years, working to create innovative and sustainable projects that can improve lives both here and there.

In the Estelí, Nicaragua project, participants work in interdisciplinary teams to identify major problems that exist in the community and try to come up with products that could address those problems while still being affordable. Examples of products being developed include a mechanical fan that is powered by weights instead of electricity and can provide cooling. Another is a desk with a foot pedal underneath that can be used to power lights.

“We’re not trying to bring them anything. We’re trying to help them develop a process that works within Nicaragua with Nicaraguan resources to develop products in Nicaragua that Nicaraguans can use. That’s the exciting part of it,” Lane said.

Lane and Farris are hoping the same kind of process could work in a community like Holland. The course is a blend of discussion and activities for groups and individuals. About half of the time is spent in the community, making site visits related to the topics of aging, sustainability or globalization.

A delegation of seven Nicaraguans are visiting Holland this week to observe the class and learn more about the innovation process and help develop the curriculum to be used in Estelí. The team includes school faculty and administrators from the Facultad Regional Multidisciplinaria (FAREM) and Universidad Popular de Nicaragua (UPONIC) in Estelí, Nicaragua.

For more background about the Estelí Innovation project, view the story in Grand Valley Magazine .