Synthesis Maps and Gigamaps from sLab design research projects and publications and from SFI Systemic Design courses are presented, with examples and references.
Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) is a centre of excellence in design thinking, strategic foresight and social innovation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We are a community of scholarly practitioners, design, business and policy professionals, teachers and students, who are passionate about envisioning possible futures.
sLab research and practice integrates scholarship, professional engagement, education and skills development for stakeholders in the private, public, not-for-profit and for-benefit sectors. We work in close collaboration with the Masters of Design in Strategic Foresight & Innovation (SFI) program at OCAD University, plus partners and clients locally and internationally, to develop & apply interdisciplinary methodologies that clarify and drive the front end of the innovation process.
From our base within Canada’s largest and oldest university of art and design, we combine deep experience in speculative, visual and systems thinking with skills in interdisciplinary collaboration, business analysis and strategic planning. Our rigorous and imaginative work investigates the intersection of human behaviours, new technologies and organizational capacities.
sLab at OCAD University will be the leading Canadian design research centre recognized internationally for strategic foresight and innovation, engaging a diversity of expertise to create sustainable solutions and meaningful change. Rooted in a heritage of design thinking, our approach places human needs, desires, behaviour and culture at the heart of problem finding, problem framing, and problem solving.
sLab brings an understanding of complex systems and futures studies, through techniques such as environmental scanning, emergent signal analysis, scenario learning, and technology assessment. Our highly collaborative partnerships and client engagements develop creative insights and intellectual property that we work to leverage through the development of strategic roadmaps, communications programs, products and services, policy frameworks and other outcomes. Strategic Innovation Lab’s research complements and extend the work of management consultants as our imaginative speculations and informed propositions tap into insights and areas that technology tracking, and quantitative, rearview mirror analyses simply cannot reach. Unlike future forecasting institutes, we develop and implement creative but focused action plans that deliver specific objectives for short- and medium-term as well as long-term future horizons.
sLab’s initiatives in education and skills development are wide ranging, from undergraduate student projects, to workshops for professionals and policymakers, to leading graduate research in Strategic Foresight & Innovation.
sLab is playing an integral part in the growth and development of a OCAD University's largest graduate program, the Master of Design (MDes) in Strategic Foresight and Innovation. The first of its kind in Canada, the SFI MDes is mentoring the next generation of design and business leaders who promise the vision and dedication to bring unprecedented ideas and energy to our businesses and communities.
Recognizing the increasing importance that design thinking can play in positively impacting society, enhancing business success, and managing complex organizational change, the SFI program addresses complex dilemmas of contemporary society. Since its founding in 2008, sLab has provided leadership in the development and support of this unprecedented graduate degree.
The ability to make sense of complexity, think strategically and innovatively, and develop solutions of sustainable value is critical to the ongoing and future success of our society, culture, economy and environment. The Master of Design (MDes) in Strategic Foresight and Innovation is structured as a transdisciplinary interweaving of design with social science, technology, and business, where design will provide the crucial link between the three areas through its essential competencies: design thinking; strategic and iterative methodology; and a deep commitment to understanding human needs, wants and behaviours. Through holistic thinking in a co-creative environment, the designer, the business person, the social scientist and the engineer will together develop the skills required for true socio-technological innovation.
MDes in Strategic Foresight and Innovation - OCAD University - 2014 from OCAD University on Vimeo.
The program is designed to appeal primarily to working professionals in fields such as design, engineering, business, the media and the social sciences who wish to augment their strategy and innovation skills in order to play leadership roles within organizations or as entrepreneurs. The degree is currently offered as a part-time two-year program to provide flexible options for working professionals. Students entering the program have strong disciplinary expertise in an area of design, art, engineering, business and/or the social sciences as demonstrated by an undergraduate degree and usually several years of relevant work experience. Project outcomes are diverse in nature and include strategic road maps, communications programs, business models, product platforms or policy frameworks.
The program aims to graduate leaders in social innovation. Students are encouraged and enabled to:
The program seeks these objectives through a course of study that includes:
For additional information, visit OCAD University’s website http://www.ocadu.ca/programs/graduate_studies/mdes_strategic_foresight_i... or contact Lenore Richards
sLab's efforts in education and skills development include undergraduate student projects, supervision of self-directed study courses, and other forms of mentorship and interaction. We hire and train research assistants from OCAD University's undergraduate program (as well as graduate students), and are always interested in learning about student research interests and thesis directions, and where these may overlap or complement Strategic Innovation Lab's research program. For more information about the opportunities please contact sLab's Director of Research, Greg Van Alstyne.
Strategic Innovation Lab conduct a wide range of activities in professional development. The majority of our events are public, free, and highly popular with business professionals. We develop workshops specifically targeted to mentor foresight and innovation methodologies and related professional skills. More details on past and forthcoming events may be found in the relevant section of this site, or contact sLab's Director of Research, Greg Van Alstyne for further information.
Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab)
OCAD University
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5T 1W1
sLab is a centre for design research, innovation and strategic foresight at OCAD. Except where otherwise noted, content on slab.ocadu.ca is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.
