CannonDesign hosted a Chicago Ideas Lab in partnership with Archeworks as part of Chicago Ideas Week – one of the largest ideas festivals in the world featuring 30,000 attendees, 200 events, 500 videos and 250+ speakers annually. The lab, titled, “Collaborative Design: Explore Public Interest Design with CannonDesign & Archeworks,” allowed attendees to take on the role of policy maker, designer, or community stakeholder in real-time design planning events. Groups of attendees were given scenarios and then asked to work collaboratively to outline and propose solutions to challenges in their local community, ranging from waste solutions to public housing. The goal was for attendees to walk away with a deeper understanding of the complicated factors that impact public planning and how partnership and collaboration can lead to making a real social impact in one’s own neighborhood.