Celebrating World Design Capital Cape Town 2014

Furthermore, she hopes that its legacy will be a city that makes better, smarter decisions that help improve the quality of life of all its citizens.

Already the city has been involving members of the public in the transformative design process via a series of co-design workshops. Here they have the opportunity to collaborate with designers and the public sector in order to find innovative solutions to specific local challenges. Through these, the city aims to connect with all 111 of the city's wards.

City inspires its citizens

The city is itself an inspiring example of what WDC brings to Cape Town: it has made a firm commitment to embedding design and design-led thinking into the fabric of the city administration - Unlike previous Design Capitals, it has created an internal department within the city administration that is focused on embedding design led thinking into the public sector. Every ward and every citizen in Cape Town will ultimately see the benefit of this, within 2014 and beyond.

In addition, to ignite the imagination of the public and to contribute towards a greater understanding of the multifaceted nature of design, all are invited to experience and interact with the approximately 485 design-driven projects and events that have been officially recognised by and form part of the WDC programme. These have been specifically selected for their ability to demonstrate tangible evidence of how design can improve lives.

Beyond the events programme, there are legacy projects that will continue beyond 2014. For Cape Town and its citizens, 2014 is just the beginning of a better city by design.

Public involvement

To support the programme, the public is encouraged to:

• Visit, contact or show support for one or more of the recognised projects itemised on the www.wdc14.com

• Go to one of the WDC events listed under the programme section of the website
• Attend one of the eight pitching sessions being held during 2014 to expose WDC 2014 recognised projects to potential funders, mentors and collaborators and pledge your support publicly
• Show your pride in Cape Town's designation as the World Design Capital 2014 by incorporating the official WDC2014 yellow (Pantone 109C) into your environment and displaying it proudly
• Download the official supporter branding and include it on your email signature, in your work area, on marketing materials or anywhere you wish to flaunt your support
• Follow and engage with WDC2014 on Facebook and Twitter.

• Sign up for the WDC monthly newsletter to stay informed

Download the events programme - World Design Capital Events projects and events from March to May

Updates on WDC projects

• #WDC329 Shonaquip, a social enterprise committed to improving the quality of life of people living with severe disabilities through appropriate seating devices and services, was honoured with the Design Indaba Expo 2014 Innovation award. For more information, visit http://www.designindaba.com/news/design-indaba-expo-2014-innovation-award

• #WDC641 Youth Design Studio, a sustainable design class that will teach high school learners to design, create, and build a project that will benefit their community reached their milestone via Thundafund. Thundafund is an online crowdfunding cafe for creative and innovative projects that will have strong, positive social and economic impacts. To find out more information about some of the various recognised World Design Capital projects listed on Thundafund, visit https://www.thundafund.com/ProjectSearch.aspx.

• #WDC426 Mellowcabs (an urban transport and advertising company, focusing on the manufacturing, implementation and operation of pedicabs nationwide. Pedicabs are high-tech, human assisted, electrically powered vehicles that facilitate first and last mile transport solutions) and #WDC409 GoMetro. On your phone. On your way (a mobile app for CT transit times - which now has 20,000 daily users. The app provides South African commuters using the MetroRail train service with crucial information via their mobile phones) have signed a partnership agreement for WDC2014 to better the country's transportation industry by furthering the idea of smart cities. Through this new partnership, GoMetro will provide the eco-friendly taxi service Mellowcabs with a Driver App, running on tablets to be mounted in the cabs. This will track the location of the vehicle with the real-time data being sent to GoMetro's central servers.

• #WDC442 SHIFT: (Sustainability Caravan, a Cape Town World Design Capital 2014 recognized project that takes shape as a convoy of modified vehicles equipped to host Sunshine Cinema screenings and workshops, a series of practical skills exchanges and design collaborations, and an interactive exhibition hub to raise awareness and local responses to the Millennium Development Goals) reached their milestone via Thundafund.

For more information about these and other WDC 2014 events, please visit www.wdc14.com.