Make Core

A multifaceted design centred around urban planning, and technology to provide equal and accessible opportunity to educational materials.

THE PROBLEM

In Regent Park, the average individual income is $34,000, compared to $52,000 in the City of Toronto.

Although the neighbourhood is undergoing a large scale revitalization, the gap between education, income, and opportunity is growing as it shifts from a low to mixed-income community.

In 2040, an estimated 120 million workers will likely have to retrain every three years, due to automation. This creates a skills gap, which has caused initiatives like coding bootcamps to gain popularity.

How might we provide continuous learning opportunities to the residents of Regent Park, so they can remain competitive in Toronto’s ever-changing work landscape?

THE SOLUTION

The Make Core; A holistic community knowledge hub that focuses on upskilling and reskilling under or unemployed individuals. Make Core focuses on mobile learning spaces, practical industry-focused training, enhanced certification, and skill to jobs matching.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 6.11.07 PM.png

The Hub is the central knowledge building.

Modular, mobile pods detach from the Hub and travel within the community to provide interactive workshops, outreach, and engagement.

When docked, the Pods expand the Hub’s learning environment.

WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE

A series of renders of what the Make Core would look like.

Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 6.17.54 PM.png

PRECEDENTS

While researching possible solutions, we noticed other cities employing unique ways of providing continuing education to the public.

Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 6.22.38 PM.png — Maker[Space]Ship: San Jose, California

Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 6.22.52 PM.png — Knowledge Ships: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

MAKE CORE APP

Here I designed a low fidelity wireframe and App mockup in Adobe XD demonstrating how one would request a Make Core Pod.

Screen Shot 2020-02-13 at 4.17.41 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 6.32.39 PM.png

App Demo

CONCLUSION

Designing a project with the intention of continuing education in a low to mixed-income community was challenging but highly rewarding. As we move into a more technological future, making sure the people of Toronto have access to cutting edge technology and education is paramount, and I hope to be able to continue working on similar initiatives in the future.