Academic collaboration involves a wide range of UNICEF staff in working with students to explore new ways of solving problems. These collaborations have produced vibrant new staff members, different ways of thinking about key commodities and systems, and compelling research.
New York University
UNICEF staff co-teach the Design for UNICEF class at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. A number of projects, including RapidFTR, have come out of this class.
Aalto University
Aalto University is UNICEF’s first partner university in Europe. An initial project of the partnership involved developing sanitation systems for schools in Uganda.
Art Center College of Design
Art Center’s Designmatters Department has a long standing partnership which has included projects and classes developed with UNICEF, as well as an annual student fellowship with the Innovation Unit in New York. In 2012, the Field track of Art Center College of Design’s Media Design Practices MFA launched a groundbreaking partnership with the Innovation Unit and the UNICEF Uganda country office and Innovation Lab, to educate a generation of design students for whom issues of sustainability, scalability, and equity are at the foundation of their practice. In Media Design Practices/Field, students work in a real-world context where social issues, media infrastructure and communication technology intersect. More information about the ongoing collaboration here.
Makerere University
Makerere University‘s ongoing relationship with UNICEF supports joint events such as the RapidSMS / FrontlineSMS Learning Fair and the World Bank Institute sponsored WASH Code Jam.
