I just wanted to offer a few thoughts on the topic of social innovation labs and convening.
Last November, the inaugural Community Knowledge Exchange (CKX) Summit in Toronto brought together more than 400 leaders and community-change makers from across Canada and internationally for three days of workshops, conversations, jam sessions and field-building.
That last one’s important. Field building. Reflecting on both the summit and the journey that got us there, that’s what CKX was and is all about. Creating and holding a space for community organizations, academic and research institutions, governments, funders and grantmakers, and engaged citizens to come together in the spirit of collaboration and openness - even if they didn’t appear to have a singular issue or cause to convene around.
CKX wasn’t and isn’t about a specify outcome or social change initiative (such as eradicating homelessness, reducing poverty or increasing participation in cultural activities). It was and is more about the means - the ways in which individuals, institutions and communities pursue those social change initiatives.
In our post-CKX Summit evaluation work, we’re discovering that a not-insignificant number of innovative social change initiatives had their catalyst as a result of a connection made, a tool discovered or an idea sparked at the CKX Summit.
One participant reflected on their experience at CKX as a “walk in the woods.” He had a general idea of where he was going, but was open to the emergence that the space and the participants created collectively. While it was hard to quantify specific outcomes at the time - the experience, relationships and connections made were well worth it.
As we consider how to tackle our most pressing social issues, we need more room for emergence. We need to rethink “how” we do the “what.” In short, we all need to take more walks in the woods.
COMMENTS
BY Vasant Agarwal
ON October 12, 2015 11:26 PM
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BY Lee Rose
ON October 13, 2015 08:00 AM
I just wanted to offer a few thoughts on the topic of social innovation labs and convening.
Last November, the inaugural Community Knowledge Exchange (CKX) Summit in Toronto brought together more than 400 leaders and community-change makers from across Canada and internationally for three days of workshops, conversations, jam sessions and field-building.
That last one’s important. Field building. Reflecting on both the summit and the journey that got us there, that’s what CKX was and is all about. Creating and holding a space for community organizations, academic and research institutions, governments, funders and grantmakers, and engaged citizens to come together in the spirit of collaboration and openness - even if they didn’t appear to have a singular issue or cause to convene around.
CKX wasn’t and isn’t about a specify outcome or social change initiative (such as eradicating homelessness, reducing poverty or increasing participation in cultural activities). It was and is more about the means - the ways in which individuals, institutions and communities pursue those social change initiatives.
In our post-CKX Summit evaluation work, we’re discovering that a not-insignificant number of innovative social change initiatives had their catalyst as a result of a connection made, a tool discovered or an idea sparked at the CKX Summit.
One participant reflected on their experience at CKX as a “walk in the woods.” He had a general idea of where he was going, but was open to the emergence that the space and the participants created collectively. While it was hard to quantify specific outcomes at the time - the experience, relationships and connections made were well worth it.
As we consider how to tackle our most pressing social issues, we need more room for emergence. We need to rethink “how” we do the “what.” In short, we all need to take more walks in the woods.