Autodesk teams up with POC21 to tackle the pressing issues of climate change and resource depletion
This December, policy makers and business leaders will converge in Paris to participate in COP21, the 21st U.N. climate conference, to agree on an internationally binding commitment to curb climate change. This year, the world’s eye is on the climate and it remains a top priority for Autodesk.
In the months leading up to the forum, Autodesk is working with POC21 (which stands for “Proof-of-Concept 21”), a hands-on camp for designers, makers, engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs to prototype open source solutions to sustainability challenges. POC21 will focus on the power of individual makers’ creativity to effect grass-roots solutions in their communities, offering a complementary approach to COP21’s high-level international negotiations.
From August 15 to September 20, 100+ innovators from all over the world will live and work in a castle near Paris for five weeks, developing their projects and prototyping them onsite in a pop-up fabrication space. Their mission: build solutions that demonstrate the proof of concept for a low-carbon and resource-efficient society.
In support of POC21’s goals, Autodesk is drawing from its own community to share expertise, mentorship, and access to digital fabrication tools with the camp’s 12 project teams. The projects will address social and/or environmental challenges in at least one of the following areas: Agriculture, Energy, Food, Housing, Mobility, Waste, and/or Water.
POC 21 Team
From projects to prototypes
The teams will be working to develop and prototype a new breed of “open & sustainable products” in order to help spur similar innovation and making in other communities. Autodesk experts will offer mentorship to the 12 projects, providing support in sustainable design, 3D modeling in Autodesk Fusion 360, human centered design, and fabrication. All the projects will have full access to Fusion 360. The final designs will be carefully documented and shared on Instructables to encourage others to replicate or modify the open source solutions.
“The maker movement is emerging during a period of unprecedented environmental crisis. We need more skilled, creative, enthusiastic people who are willing to take on the epic challenges—like climate change—threatening human society and the natural environment,” said Dawn Danby, senior sustainable design program manager.
With its temporary fabrication lab and open source philosophy, POC21 truly embodies the future of making things. By offering resources to help this community of makers take its projects to the next level, Autodesk is demonstrating its commitment to making this future more sustainable.
About POC21
POC21 is co-produced by OuiShare, a global community and think-tank dedicated to the collaborative and open source economies; and OpenState, a laboratory for contemporary and sustainable lifestyles, based in Berlin.
The name “POC21” for “proof of concept” is a direct reference to the COP21 climate summit.
www.poc21.cc
