WHO? Individual Submission: Any collaboration at this stage will be penalised and may be reported
to Academic Misconduct. You must keep your work secure to avoid allegations of misconduct and or
collusion.
WHAT? An original and individual 2500-word Business Report. The seminar session in week 4 will
cover the main requirements and get you focused. You will also be encouraged to submit a
formative submission plan in week 4. Also, several of the week 5 seminars will be converted to
‘Open-Attendance’, on-line drop-in sessions to help you manage your time. More detail on this, will
be shared in seminar sessions.
WHY? Fulfilment of 60% of the required assessment of learning outcomes for this module.
WHEN? Due Date is Friday 17 th March, 2023 (Week 5) (17:00hrs Deadline) and is the day you must
submit. Post Date: Is 17 th April, (15 working days later) and is the day your grade and feedback will
be returned to you. In previous years students have mixed these two dates up and failed the module
as a result – don’t do this as we will not be able to rectify this for you.
(Extensions requests to be made to Gareth Stone (Using the ‘contact link’ on Minerva content menu)
at least 1 week in advance of the submission date.
WHERE? Turnitin (Follow the links on the Design Thinking Minerva site).
HOW? You are required to select one of the United Nations (UN) Sustainability Development Goals
(SDG) from the following website URL: https://sdgs.un.org/goals Then research a specific local news
story as a focus to develop the first three stages of Design Thinking (Include elements of a) Empathy,
b) Define and c) Ideate
Aim: To produce a 2,500 word (+/-10%) academic report (Min 2250: Max 2750). Using Harvard
citations throughout, select and describe one SDG and link it to local issue(s) that you are interested
in and has sufficient scope for this assignment. Next you will take a deep dive into the issues
surrounding the SDG (at a local level) using the 5W&H model in Part A. Then in Part B, tentatively
explore some ideas that would, help reduce the impact of the problem.
Objectives:
1. To identify and define a valid, persistent and local (SDG related) problem.
2. To explore complex issues and apply them using the 5W&H model
3. To illuminate potential solutions defined in objective 1.

CHECK LIST
The following describes what you should aim to include in your report. However, you should think
carefully about the various section required and validate each with evidence from literature and/or
primary research. Spend time thinking about the section headings used to signpost the reader.
Note: Marks are shared between Section A and Section B.

Section A: Current State Description (50% of Grade)
 Introduction: Describe the “current state” of your chosen project. Take a deep dive into issues
and show how they relate to a single, defined UN SDG. Provide the reader with context for
further discussion and potential scope and impact. You should narrow your focus to a local
issue(s) in local news media. Guide: We suggest researching in a 50-mile radius of your normal
campus or home town. EG, Bath or Bristol centric but expanding to include South Wales,
Gloucester, Wiltshire, Dorset & Somerset if useful.
Then: Creatively and thoughtfully explore core issues using the 5W&H as section sub-headings below
using materials and theories introduced on the course.
What needs to be done?
Where should it be done?
When does it need to be done?
Who should do it?
How should it be done?
Why does it need to be done?
Section B. Future State Ideation (50% of Grade)
 What if? Now discuss your ideas for a “future state” solution (Based on Section A). In this
section, generate a “rich picture” (in both words and illustration) that illuminates the future
state potential of your ideation. Focus on laying out your ambition and the potential of your
ideas rather than fine detail. Also, highlight any Design Thinking methods you found useful as
you proceed. However, please be mindful to consider genuine viability, rather than simply using
a lot of unsupported superlatives to describe potential.
 Conclusion – A short (circa 250 word or 10%) conclusion will suffice. Use this section as your call
to action – codify what do you want to happen next and explain why others should follow your
lead.
Note: This report is your first iteration only. It may become the focus of assignment 2.
Assignment 2 will ask you to develop your initial ideas as part of a team to produce a
desirable (human), feasible (technical) and viable (business) “call to action”.