Ideas for Cities: Pop-up Education

A month ago a diverse collection of professionals—from graphic designers to mayors—gathered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to discuss the future of cities. Under the banner of Velocity, a conference organized by CEOs for Cities, the group spent the better part of three days trying to figure out what makes cities great, and how to make them better. Over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the ideas generated at that conference, and thoughtfully compiled by its organizers. These notes are rough, and meant as a starting point more than an end point. But it’s our hope that sharing these ideas will inspire cities to experiment with them, and inspire you to come up with something even better. Here is today’s idea:

Pop-up Education
Learning could happen everywhere through pop-up education. Much like TED Talks, pop-up education opportunities would be produced by experts, professors, and every individual based on something they know well and can train others on. They would pop up in locations like theaters, YMCAs, elevators, break rooms, restaurants, and wherever there is “wait time” or an equal opportunity for boredom, or when our technology infrastructure realizes an enhancement opportunity—like you might learn about safety while waiting at the DMV. In addition to lessons, the idea would be to provide study and learning tips to effectively train people to be better students at any age.

This is part one of a continuing brainstorm on the future of cities, inaugurated at the Velocity conference in September 2009. We’ll post a new idea each day until we run out, at which point we’re counting on you to come up with something smart. Do you have a good idea for improving your city? Add it in the comments below, or tweet it to @GOOD with hashtag #cityideas—we’ll publish the best ones. Tomorrow’s idea: Learning Rewards.