Social innovation hubs: Where do we go from here? 

The promise of social innovation hubs is to bring together diverse people and stakeholders to create new solutions for shared, complex social problems. Practitioners, industry leaders, government, and community organizations across the Greater Toronto Area are increasingly working towards a common outcome—a flourishing society where people and the planet are valued alongside economic development.

Inherent in this promise are some critical, unanswered questions around policy structures, power dynamics, sustainable funding, and meaningful impact measurement frameworks. Moreover, we are still searching for effective business models for both individual social innovation initiatives, and the facilities that are meant to incubate innovation, enable multi-stakeholder collaboration, and convene intersectional dialogue.

Who is positioned and invited to participate in social innovation hubs? Who’s missing from the conversation? What might the social innovation ecosystem look like in 5 or 10 years from today? What’s our preferred future state?

Futures of Social Innovation research group at sLab invites you to our first in a series of participatory events on this topic.

What You’ll Gain

This panel will discuss the current state of social innovation hubs, future possibilities for promoting social innovation, and what strategies we might develop to adjust to an ever-changing landscape.

• Hear from practitioners and thought leaders in this emerging innovation space

• Meet community leaders, entrepreneurs, students, experts, and policy makers

• Make new connections and help uncover the emergent strategies for the futures of social innovation

• Receive open source material on the future of social innovation hubs generated during the 2-hour workshop

Who Should Participate

Change-makers from all walks of life and life experience are welcome to participate:

• Policy makers developing programs with and for citizens

• Practitioners consulting with and executing strategies for social impact and environmental sustainability

• Industry partners who are focused on the triple-bottom-line outcomes that ensure better businesses for society and the planet

• Academic researchers exploring what social innovation is and what it could be in the future

• Students learning the tools and methods to become the next wave of social entrepreneurs and social innovators

A 1-hour panel discussion will be followed by a 2-hour foresight workshop to envision the future state of social innovation hubs in the GTA.

Panel Speakers

• Alex Ryan, VP, Systems Innovation, and Program Director, MaRS Solutions Lab.

• Tonya Surman, Founding CEO, Centre for Social Innovation (CSI).

• Safiah Chowdhury, Policy Development Officer, City of Toronto.

The panel will be moderated by Kelsey Spitz, Senior Associate at Social Innovation Generation (SiG).

Event Details

Note that there are two parts to this event:

• Part 1 is a 1-hour panel discussion with people who have expertise and experiences in social innovation.

  • Please select the “Panel only” ticket type to attend the panel discussion. We have room for up to 50 participants for the panel discussion.

  • Note that for this ticket type, there is a $20 fully refundable credit card deposit, which will be returned within four days of the event with your confirmed participation. This deposit is to avoid no-shows.

• Part 2 is a 2-hour workshop to begin formulating strategies for the futures of social innovation hubs in Toronto. Seats are limited for the workshop in order to facilitate a meaningful, rich discussion. We hope to include up to 25 participants for the workshop.

  • Please select the “Panel AND workshop” ticket type to reserve your seat for both the panel and workshop.

  • Note that there is a $20 non-refundable fee for the workshop, which covers the cost of providing refreshments for the workshop.

If you purchase either ticket type and are no longer able to participate, please let us know by 11am on March 22 so we can free up your ticket for other participants, and to avoid a non-refundable $20 ticket fee.

Agenda

Part 1: Panel Discussion

• 5:00 PM: Doors open; registration and sign-in

• 5:30 PM: Welcome and Introduction to moderator and Panel Members

• 5:35 PM: Panel discussion begin

• 6:25 PM: Panel wraps up; workshop participants are directed to workshop tables

Part 2: Workshop

• 6:30 PM: Workshop begins

• Using Sharp, Hodgson & Curry’s Three Horizons method, participants will identify strategies to work towards a desired future state for social innovation hubs in the GTA.

• The method begins with envisioning the preferred future state (3rd Horizon); this is followed by identifying “pockets of the future” and the trajectory of the current assumptions/paradigms that exist in the present (1st Horizon); finally, it concludes with brainstorming strategies and experiments in the interim (2nd Horizon) that can pave the way for a desired future state.

• 8:30 PM: Workshop wraps up; outputs from the workshop will be synthesized and shared with participants and panel attendees after the event.

Futures of Social Innovation (FSI) is a research group in Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) at OCAD University. Its mission is to effectively integrate design, strategic foresight, business model innovation, and strategic impact into the social innovation space. FSI convenes and facilitates stakeholder dialogue and collaboration across various sectors and industries, with the objective of catalyzing change in the social innovation ecosystem. We promote a holistic understanding of the issues, and a coherent application of advanced methods and tools for systemic change.

Notices

Photography/Videography Taken During Event (Panel and Workshop)

This event will be documented through photographs and video. These images may be used by the University for promotional, advertising, and educational purposes. By participating in our events, both on campus and off-site, you consent to allowing OCAD University and the Futures of Social Innovation research group to document and use your image and likeness. If you do not want us to use a photo or video of you, please don’t hesitate to let us know when you arrive at the event.

Data Collection (Workshop Only)

The information generated in the workshop will be analyzed, synthesized, and shared widely under Chatham House Rules. Workshop participants will be asked to sign a consent form before participating in the workshop (to be provided upon the purchase of a ticket).

Entrepreneurial Feminist Forum

Sat, Nov 11, 2017
9am – 6pm
OCAD University
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1

Join us as we share best practices & new ideas, connect a growing community of people with passion for advancing gender equity through the power of enterprise, and those who simply want to connect feminist values to how they run their business.

This will be a unique learning opportunity for entrepreneurs, startup professionals, business coaches (and feminists of all genders) that should not be missed! 

View the agenda and register here
​
Speakers include: 
Dr. Dori Tunstall, Dean of Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design University. In Un-Designing Gender Inequality: Innovation through the Seven Principles of Design Anthropology, Dori will share her seven principles of Design Anthropology and its relationship to the Mandala of Cultures-Based Innovation developed by a global community of anthropologists, designers, strategists, and Indigenous activists/scholars. Dori will outline how these frameworks can be used to ethically approach the understanding of cultures, the design process, and the experience of innovation for Indigenous, migrant, and racialized communities so that innovation is not seen as Colonialism 2.0. Dori activates the frameworks by showing feminist/womanist projects that align with them.

Dr. Barbara Orser, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa and co-author of Feminine Capital. Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs. Dr. Orser will spotlight how Canadians are employing feminist values within their business practices. In doing so, entrepreneurs are creating new brands, building new business models and challenging public policies. 

C. V. Harquail, PhD, Feminists at Work & Stevens Institute of Technology. In “Feminism Foundations: Key Concepts and Points of Unity,” CV will help us understand of concepts and values that connect different perspectives on feminism. We’ll consider why feminism is more than “equality” between “men” and “women”, and why it embraces anti-racism, anti-classism, and other movements for positive social change. With a lightning quick introduction to key concepts like gendering, essentialism, patriarchy, kyriarchy, standpoints, and intersectionality, we’ll gain a working language for new conversations. Once we distinguish between critical and constructive feminism, we’ll co-develop values that offer points of unity across our different paths towards a feminist future. The goal of this session is not to provide “the” definition of feminism, but to bring us to shared starting points so that we can connect our work.

Plus the following workshops: 

• Create Your Feminist Business Model Canvas - C.V. Harquail, Ph.D., Co-Founder Feminists at Work & Stevens Institute of Technology
• Beneath the Surface: The Challenges of Implementing a  New Model - Vicki Saunders, Founder, SheEO, in conversation with Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi, Activator, TedX speaker, Founder & President of Divity Group and Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University
• Your One True Marketing Message - Kelly Diels, writer and feminist marketing consultant who draws upon the marketing strategies of movements and revolutionaries
• Newcomer Entrepreneurs, Culture, & Commerce - Rania Younes, Founder of WelcomeHomeTO
• Play As a Creative Force - Suzanne Stein, Associate Professor, Strategic Foresight & Innovation / Digital Futures Director, Super Ordinary Lab at OCAD U and Emma Westecott, Associate Professor, Game Design, OCAD U
• Embodied Strength: Using the Life Force in Ferocity - Jane Clapp, Re-embodiment Coach & Trauma Recovery Specialist
• Find Your Unique (Co-)Leadership Style - Céline Peterson,Founder of Social Legacy, and Holly Nimmons, Founder of Opis 
• Team Practices for Getting in the Game of Gender-Lens Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy, & Investing - Tuti Scott, Founder of Imagine Philanthropy, coach to high-achieving leaders
• A Feminist/Womanist Mandala of Cultures-Based Innovation - Dr. Dori Tunstall, Dean of Design at OCAD U
• Uses of the Erotic in Entrepreneurship: Moving from Problems to Solutions - Natalie Wood, Media and Visual Artist, Co-Founder, Social Innovation Hub at George Brown College
• Intuitive Strategic Planning - Anna Dewar Gully, Founder & Chief Strategist, WomenStrategy

More details to be announced. This is just a snapshot of the EFF community!

Sponsored by
City of Toronto & OCAD University. 

Co-Presented by 
LiisBeth Media
Feminists at Work
Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab)

Host Committee members
include Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi, Emily Antflick of Shecosystem, Christina Evans, and more. To learn more, visit feministforums.com

EFF Team:
Lex Schroeder, Petra Kassun-Mutch, CV Harquail, Patrick Robinson

Register (General admission: $125, many ticket options available)

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How can we enable smart citizens to co-design better services in cities? In this interactive workshop, you will learn about how co-design can enable smart citizens’ capability for co-designing better public services. We will look at design as a tool for transition to a common community-building process.

This workshop is based on work done by Desis Lab Elisava to engage citizens of Barcelona in co-production processes (see here for more). The city of Barcelona faces challenges for achieving higher quality, more realistic and sustainable public services. The Municipality of Barcelona is committed to collaboration with citizens and local stakeholders to explore what citizen-led smart cities can look like, such as improving efficiency of services (read more here).

This workshop is intended to:

• Enable you to learn about new tools and processes used in fostering city building community processes in co-production with policy makers and citizens on the basis of a case study of Barcelona
• Highlight the work of Arianna Mazzeo and her team at DESIS Lab Elisava (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability at Elisava Design School in Barcelona) as co-designer and transitions facilitators
• Learn from participants in a mutual collaborative dialogue
   

Who should participate: This case study and workshop is for public sector innovators, design civil servants, policy makers, service designers, city builders, and lab practitioners (and any others who want to help make Toronto a better place).

Agenda

1. Case study: Who owns the smart city? Smart Citizens (25 mins)
2. Q&A/ discussion (15-20 mins)
3. Demo/ Hands on – co-creation piece (approx. 45 mins) (Please bring a smartphone to capture your work!)

Organized by Futures of Social Innovation research group, sLab
Hosted by MaRS Solutions Lab and OCAD University's sLab

About Arianna Mazzeo

Professor of Design for Social and Digital Innovation at Elisava Design School and Engineering, Arianna is Leader of DESIS Lab ELISAVA-DESIS Network. She is also Director of the Masterlab in Service Design for Place and Community Building (http://www.elisava.net/en/studies/masterlab-service-design-place-and-community-building), the Research Group and Collective CAMBIO and co-leading TIME (Teaching Innovation through Experiments group), dedicated to the transition from old to new design education scenarios and training professors, practitionnaires, designers, artists, makers interesting in researching through creativity and design. She is also curator-maker of creative formats for festivals ( Open Design Festival Capetown, South Africa; Armenia Art Fair-Design Conversations), collaborating with museums outreach programs( V&A Digital Design Weekend), Fablabs network and emergent design and performing arts hubs( Marseille Living lab) to foster multidisciplinarity, peer to peer learning and collaboration. She had worked in Cameroon, Turkey, Armenia and South Africa for Local Govern on civic-coproduction programs for the future creative scenario of community building, participation, and collaboration and civic commons- community building using creativity format as platform of social and digital innovation. She works and collaborates regularly with UNIFEM, UNESCO, EESC-European Economic and Social Committee, United Nations, Victoria and Albert Museum, Xschool, GSMA, Open Design Festival Cape Town, and European Network of Culture and Creativity.

How might we create new social enterprises and partnerships using Ontario government assets in the emerging, sharing economy?

This event invites Ontario thought leaders to join in co-creating opportunities leading to meaningful social impact in the emerging, sharing economy in the near future. This exciting project is supported by Ontario’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG).

Project phases are structured to reveal and activate opportunities in this complex space.

1. Phase one is a Discovery Event with diverse experts working in teams through facilitated, strategic foresight exercises to uncover insights and arenas, such as elder care, homeless, and urban farming, in which Ontario is well positioned to drive new social innovation, based on unmet needs and untapped strengths.
2. In line with these insights, phase two will work with provincial government to uncover assets that could be leveraged to support new or enhanced social enterprises.
3. Phase three will convene a large Design Jam with leaders from social enterprise, sharing economy, government and student communities joining forces. In this large, diverse, multi-day event, scheduled in early fall, awards for promising ideas will be provided by sponsoring provincial ministries.

Participants receive the phase one report & may express potential interest in future events, and have been encouraged to give their invitation to a peer if unable to attend. Together part of this exciting opportunity to create social impact by maximizing the assets we own as Ontarians!

All events are at accessible facilities.

Organized by

Facilitated by

Convened at
Sandbox by DMZ

"How might we diversify our economic foundation, support young people in transition, build and foster diversity and revitalize downtown areas in Northern Ontario cities?"

A Collective Discussion for Northern Ontario is a unique event for 50 people at two locations, downtown Sault Ste. Marie and downtown Toronto, to explore economic development and social innovation in Northern Ontario, through Design Thinking processes. The speakers will be simulcast to both locations, and the workshops will be co-facilitated locally together with north / south shared reporting. 

• See image album from this event
• Visit #NorthJam: Collective Discussion for Northern Ontario at https://DesignJam.ocadu.ca 

Speakers 

• Andre Morriseau, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB)
• Rebecca Commanda, Northern Ontario entrepreneur
• Dr. Gayle Broad, NORDIK Institute, Algoma University
• Ashleigh Sauvé, Northern Ontario entrepreneur

Agenda:

9:00 AM      Registration, light refreshments & networking

9:30 AM      Welcome and Introduction   

9:40 AM       Lightning Talk: Andre Morriseau, Setting the Context

9:50 AM       Lightning Talk: A First Hand Experience as an entrepreneur
                    in Northern Ontario: Rebecca Commanda

10:00 AM     Questions and Reflections

10:10 AM     Design Thinking Interactive Activity: Stakeholders and Empathy Maps

12:10 PM     LUNCH will be served

1:00 PM       Welcome back      

1:05 PM       Northern Communities in Transition: Dr. Gayle Broad

1:15 PM       A First Hand Experience as a Social Entrepreneur in Northern Ontario: Ashleigh Sauvé

1:25 PM       Questions and Reflections

1:45 PM       Design Thinking Interactive Activity: Crowd Clover

3:30 PM       Planning Session:
                     INTERSECTION in North Ontario:
                     Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation Conference
                     to be held in Sault Ste. Marie in summer, 2017

 4:30 PM       CLOSE

This gathering, which is the precursor to a larger conference in Summer 2017, will be led by OCAD University and Algoma University in a unique partnership between Northern and Southern Ontario institutions, bringing together in depth knowledge of entrepreneurship and social innovation from the North and Design Thinking processes from the South.

Expert "Lightning Talks" will set the context, describing entrepreneurship and social innovation in Northern Ontario and proposing why is it important as an engine economic development as well as for social change. The interactive sessions facilitate connections and conversations, bringing clarity to the topic, surfacing existing initiatives, nurturing potential partnerships and strengthening collective commitment to entrepreneurship and social innovation in Northern Ontario.

The results of this conference will shape a larger conference called INTERSECTION in North Ontario: Entrepreneurship and Social innovation. This will be a larger, two-day event in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, which will build on the August conference and develop further conversations and connections across Northern Ontario.

Andre Morriseau (Ojibway) is Director of Awards and Communications for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) and an enthusiastic advocate and ambassador for Aboriginal arts, culture and public affairs. A member of Fort William First Nation (Thunder Bay) where he maintains a home, Mr. Morriseau is based in Toronto. As former host of UrbaNative at CIUT, and Nation to Nation on Aboriginal Voices Radio, he shared countless stories of Indigenous peoples' experiences. Andre also worked for National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF, now Indspire) and Chiefs of Ontario (COO). He has served on boards including Ontario Arts Council (OAC), ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, Native American Journalist's Association (NAJA) and Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre. Mr. Morriseau is recipient of City of Toronto Aboriginal Affairs Award and Jer’s Vision Canada’s Youth Role Model of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rebecca Commanda  “Wayna Booozhoo, GichitwaaNagamon Kwe Ndizhnikaas, Genaabaajing ndonjibaa, Makwa ndoodem, Odawa minawaa Algonquin Kwe endow. Hello, My spirit name is Sacred Song Woman. My home community is Serpent River First Nation. I am part of the bear clan. I am a woman from the Odawa and Algonquin Nation. My English name is Rebecca Ursula Mary Commanda.” Rebecca is a recent graduate that received an Honours in Sociology and a minor Anishinaabemowin Program at Algoma University and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig. She was part of Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students Association (SASA) for three years and during her time on SASA the goal was to ease the transition of Anishinaabe, Metis and Inuit students to Sault Ste. Marie by creating a community!

Gayle Broad has been a life-long agent of change in Northern Ontario, working with low-income people, women, First Nations and others to create a society that is more just and equitable. For the past 15 years, Gayle has actively supported the development of a new generation of social innovators through teaching and mentoring students both within the classroom and the community, as an Associate Professor of Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) at Algoma University, and as the Director of NORDIK Institute, a community-based research institute.

Ashleigh Sauvé  As a student and community activist, Ashleigh Sauvé consistently worked towards social, environmental and economic justice, so it was not surprising that when her non-profit employer was forced to close its doors, she would seek new and innovative ways to continue that work. Determined to stay in her home town of Sault Ste. Marie, Ashleigh decided to create her own job, bringing her extensive community networks into the creation of her social enterprise, Shabby Motley Handcraft. For the past 3 years, ‘Shabby’ has become acafé well-used by crafters – especially knitters - and community activists, and a progressive employer that engages staff in all facets of business planning, marketing and service innovation. Ashleigh stays true to her principles of encouraging the local economy, promoting environmentally friendly products and most recently starting a new business, Cordelia’s Plant Based Foods – a vegan take out!

Attendance is free with a refundable $30 deposit 

Registration is first come, first served to a maximum of 50 at each location. To register requires a $30 credit card deposit. ALL ATTENDEES ARE WELCOME. If this deposit is a barrier to your participation, please contact us: intersection.conference@gmail.com

If you are unable to attend after registering for any reason let us know at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to do so will result in the loss of your deposit. A post-workshop survey must be completed within four (4) days of the event for deposit to be refunded. The deposit is to avoid no-shows – it is a proven way to ensure attendance or timely cancellation.

Questions? Please contact Generation Connection at intersection.conference@gmail.com

Citizen Centred Innovation: International Certificate Course. This program provides intensive executive-level training on methods and techniques to address complex social problems in a multidisciplinary way. The workshops focus on urban food waste as an example of a complex social problem to address. The methods and techniques are transferable to other complex social, environmental and business challenges.