Design Thinking Class to Kickstart Innovative FLExPHD App

Stage 2 of the Food is Life Exemplified for Planetary Health Diet (FLExPHD) Competition will be conducted through a Design Thinking Class (DTC) on March 11, 18, and 25, 2023 via Zoom platform.

This will be facilitated by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) of DOST, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) after the successful grand launching of the “FLExPHD Competition: Mobile App Development to Promote Planetary Health Diet.

With the common goal of developing healthy and sustainable food systems, the three agencies jointly support the promotion of Planetary Health Diet (PHD) to solve the “triple burden” of malnutrition in the Philippines, which is characterized by too little intake of nutritious food; too much intake of food that is lacking in nutrients; and hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiencies.

PHD is a form of sustainable diet that is healthy for both people and the planet. It protects the environment and it can be modified to be culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe, and healthy while optimizing natural and human resources.

Ms. Joie Cruz, Founder and CEO of the Limitless Lab, will facilitate the DTC. The class aims to provide the participating teams with a standardized innovation process for developing a mobile application that can promote planetary health diet. This will be attended by participating teams composed of students, computer programmers, and app developers, among others.

The three-day DTC will also serve as a venue for the participants to engage in creative and collaborative exercises allowing them to develop testable solutions that can apply to all phases of product app designs. At the end of the design thinking sessions, the participants are expected to build a shared understanding of what the PHD is trying to address and facilitate the development of an innovative mobile app.

The strategic partnership of DOST-PCAARRD, NAST, and SEARCA for PHD promotion supports the priorities of the Council on sustainable environment and natural resources and socio-economics under the Harmonized National Research and Development Agenda (HNRDA) for the AANR sector. (Tessa Lyrene DC. Lantican and Jhoanna Imee L. Tandang, DOST-PCAARRD S&T Media Services)