Resource: A Learning Opportunity
Learn more about this unique 28-day residency program for change-makers eager to learn together and discover new ways to make communities better places to live.
Social innovation is all about creating value through new ideas with and for the community, yet the process of innovating itself is at risk of creating as many exclusions as inclusions if we're not aware of the ways in which popular innovation methods, models and tools favour certain people, things and...
R&D for social impact could be far more intentional, connected, and supported. In that way, it would be much more accessible, widespread, celebrated, and most importantly, impactful.
Does your social innovation include social justice? And what does that mean? This post looks at the relationship between the two and how our emotional connections to community is a mediator between them.
A Tribute to Brenda Zimmerman
The story of complexity is never easy to tell, but Brenda Zimmerman came close. Her use of metaphor and stories made the unapproachable and important, accessible. While the world lost Brenda, we'll always have her stories and the leaders that she inspired to follow her.
June 21 - July 19, 2015 Application deadline: March 1, 2015
The Suncor Energy Foundation, in partnership with The Peter Lougheed Leadership Institute at The Banff Centre and the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience at the U of Waterloo offer this 28-day, integrated residency program for social entrepreneurs and system leaders striving to make our...
Speaking to an over-200-person audience at MaRS Discovery District on November 24, Stephen Huddart, President and CEO of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, challenged the growing contemporary narrative that our future is bleak and looming ahead with daunting uncertainty.
In social innovation we are at risk of confusing our stories of success for real, genuine impact. Without theories, implementation science or evaluation we risk aspiring to travel to the moon, yet leaving our rockets stuck on the launchpad.
Evaluation 101 for Social Innovation
When we say we’re making a difference, changing the world, and inspiring innovation: what do we mean and how do we know it? Evaluation is a means of showing the world that you really are making changes in it by providing evidence of that effect. Here are 10 quick tips for thinking and acting in ways to support...
A community's expectations are a critical element to the success of our innovations
I've come to see that at the very heart of success there are just two interrelated and mutually dependent, elements: the need to change expectations or the "inner attitudes" in James' phrasing and the need to work differently, to innovate.
Individuals, organizations and networks are living with unprecedented social complexity requiring more attention than ever on fostering resiliency at all levels to not only thrive, but survive. Leadership is a way to bridge fostering individual and organizational reslience to deal with this complexity.
How do we keep up with change and do it in a way that supports our work rather than undoes it? Developmental evaluation allows us to systematically collect data that enables us to make strategic decisions as programs unfold over time. Developmental design allows us to focus that knowledge into our programs.
Resource Type: Publication | Author: Tim Draimin, Social Innovation Generation (SiG)
This article by Tim Draimin, E.D. of Social Innovation Generation (SiG), makes the case that the focus of innovation is increasingly focused on developing new kinds of systems. He then profiles the discipline of Systems Thinking – sharing principles and resources -- and suggests that social innovators wanting...
A pragmatic definition of social innovation from the perspective of operationalizing the concept is: Inter-organizational collaboration addressing a compelling societal need. This definition is a powerful starting point for developing strategies and effecting strategy execution with an end game of tackling a...
University of Waterloo
The Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation highlights world-class thinkers with new ideas on how to achieve significant, durable social change for our most pressing problems. Internationally acclaimed facilitator and author, Adam Kahane, joined us on January 27, 2010, as our featured speaker.
