How do you collaborate and network with other social innovation labs and actors in the ecosystem?

1. Define Your Goals: Clearly understand what you want to achieve through collaboration. Are you looking to learn, share, create, or advocate? 2. Know Your Value: Identify your unique strengths, skills, and resources that you can offer to potential partners. 3. Target Potential Partners: Based on your goals and value proposition, find labs and actors that align with your interests. 4. Build Relationships: Start by networking and building relationships with other organizations in the ecosystem. 5. Communicate Clearly: When reaching out, be clear about your goals, what you can offer, and what you hope to achieve through the collaboration.

Research and map the ecosystem of social innovation labs and relevant actors by leveraging online platforms, databases, and social media. Identify who is addressing similar or complementary issues and understand their methods and impacts. Attend events, workshops, and webinars to interact with other social innovators. This mapping helps you grasp the context, opportunities, and gaps in the field, informing your strategy and collaborations.

Creating spaces where people can participate and feel included consistently is essential to growing community relationships and building that trust. It could be a small group meeting virtually or a much larger networking collective in-person social hour. Having a recurring space and time to foster trust and growth is essential to create a solid impact community foundation.

Excellent points and this was covered by the author but assuring access for all is the only way forward. #accessibility #wearebillionstrong #billionstrong #AXSChat

Collaboration and networking do not just involve achieving goals; they actually offer opportunities for continuous learning and self-improvement. This means evaluating and reflecting on these processes and their outcomes personally as well as collectively all the time. To gather insights on what worked well, what was difficult, or what lessons were learned use feedback loops, surveys, interviews or focus groups or stories. Putting such experiences on paper then sharing them with other social innovation labs as well as stakeholders will help in developing a culture of learning and shared growth.

Finally, celebrate and acknowledge the achievements and contributions of yourself and others in your collaboration and networking efforts. Recognize and appreciate the skills, efforts, and values each partner brings, and celebrate milestones and successes together. Share and showcase your collaboration stories and results with broader audiences, including media, funders, and policymakers, to inspire and influence further social innovation.