Social Innovation Lab at The University of Kansas

Want the latest research on community resilience? I recently presented with colleagues from Orange Sparkle Ball, Inc. and Center for Public Partnerships & Research on social care network cohesion and population health factors at the Sunbelt 2024: Networks and Resilience conference. Check in out ?? https://lnkd.in/grehd7di #community #resilience #socialcarenetworks #populationhealth #research #ecosystems #sunbelt2024

"We believe that the intersection between community, technology, and resilience is where the future of people-centered innovation lies. We have been partnering with the Social Innovation Lab at The University of Kansas to explore what that means and all the ways that we can make community resilience actionable. Our inaugural Tech-Enabled Community Resilience Summit this year was only the first of many steps we’re taking together." — Michaela Bonnett We have continued our active participation with schools, colleges and universities. These engagements have led to long term friendships, partnerships and collaborations over the years. As a company, we feel strongly about giving back and these partnerships continue to be key to that ethos. In 2023, we worked with 13 schools and universities, resulting in many lasting friendships and new colleagues and projects. For more information about our work, visit our 2023 Results page at https://lnkd.in/gAGnENEj #2023results?#communityinnovation #innovation #socialdynamics #designforchange #techenabledcommunityresilience

The Future of (Social Innovation) Labs Primer Report! I. Social Innovation Principles 1. Aiming to solve or navigate complex social challenges 2. Getting to and tackling root causes rather than symptoms 3. Using experimental processes 4. A recognition of the systemic nature of the problems being addressed II. Social Innovation Labs Social Innovation Labs hold space for diverse change-makers to sense-make, generate, develop and test a portfolio of promising solutions to address complex societal challenges in a way that is collaborative, experimental, iterative, and systemic. III. Principles 1. Focused on complex societal challenges 2. Learns from diverse perspectives from across a system, including those with lived experience 3. Explores collaborative ways of working on a shared complex challenge Systemic in thinking and action 4. Experimental in iteratively developing and testing possible solutions, ideally in real life and at a minimum in realistic settings 5. Aim at exploring root causes of complex challenges and then generating possible solutions and pathways from leverage points IV. Types of Labs 1. Technical Challenge Labs: Focus on solving a complex socio-technical challenge 2. Service Design Labs: Involve re-imagining the services of governments, business, or non-profits 3. Policy Labs: Focus on innovating the policy development process 4. Systems Change Labs: Address a complex and systemic challenge at the roots 5. Place-Based Labs: Address local systemic challenges that matter to people who share physical and/or virtual places 6. Labs as a Service: Steward a portfolio of Social Innovation Labs as a knowledgeable, neutral mediator V. Practices 1. Collaboration 2. Systems thinking 3. User-centred design 4. Experimentation and prototyping 5. Openness and transparency 6. Flexibility and adaptability 7. Inclusivity and equity 8. Sustainability 9. Empowerment and capacity building 10. Partnership and network building Vl. Outcomes 1. Building Citizen Agency Increasing Lab participants' confidence, skills, and commitment to participating in civic life and the change process 2. Increasing Community Connections Strengthening the connections and relationships between diverse stakeholders encourages people to see issues through a variety of different lenses, enhances a sense of collective agency, and can build a constituency for making change 3. Systemic Innovations Expanding the set of quality solutions to a complex challenge in a way that is informed by diverse perspectives, systems thinking and based on a systematic process of surfacing, developing and testing possible solutions 4. Impact The tangible progress made on complex challenges and changing the deeper systems that hold them in place Make sure to check out the report by Action Lab and Social Innovation Canada here: https://lnkd.in/djbUG4Xe #innovation #socialinnovation #labs #systemsthinking #sustainability #design #societalimpact #future

Proud to have contributed to the creation of Kansas' Distinct Count of Children Served Dashboard. It took years of hard work, collaboration across our four state agencies and other partners, and strong data governance to make it a reality. Early childhood in Kansas keep innovating for our youngest kids and families. Love to see it! #ECIDS #PDG #Kansas #EarlyChildhood #Data #DistinctCount

Every system has qualities that are ‘fractal’ in nature – so the system is reflected not only in the whole, but in each ‘part’ within the whole. This graphic is from the series ‘Everyday Patterns for Shifting Systems’ a collaboration with Auckland Co-Design Lab and The Southern Initiative Instead of representing systems change as static, we sought to present it as dynamic and organic, implying communication, and made up of very tiny interactions. Interactions within the system that can reflect the values embedded in it.?? The metaphors we had in mind were of a tree, an ant’s nest or mycelium (even if the image is one dimensional on this page!) We know even these are not perfect representations of human systems, but they can help us engage with the complexity and hopefully to help us all see ourselves as having agency within the system.? You can observe that what we see, hear and are told about a system in a visible way is a fraction compared to those that are invisible including:? ?? Structures: how a response is organised and what structures are put into place to ‘hold’ the organising – policies, processes, relationships, power & authority structures & organisations?? ? ?? Practices: how responses are put into practice – the application of methodologies, tools, frameworks that together reflect how ideas, policies, & structures are enacted. Practices can become routines & habits embedded in systems? ? ?? Spaces + Interactions: how responses are embedded in physical spaces & interactions within a system – can be observed in the layout of spaces, the ways in which people are received or greeted, the locations in which the system interacts with people & communities? ? ?? Behaviours: How individuals, teams, groups within a system behave both in responding to people within & those engaging with the system.? This includes micro-behaviours (eg. tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions) or the accepted behaviours within a group (eg. acceptance of aggression)? ? ?? Mindsets: How mental maps reflect & guide the behaviour of people, at both an individual level & a systems level.? Includes people’s attitudes to change, orientations towards others, assumptions, interpretations, openness to new ideas, & willingness to learn & adapt? ? ?? Values: The values, beliefs, cultural assumptions that underpin how the system is conceptualised, organised & ultimately experienced. Human systems are never ‘neutral’ - they are constructed from particular cultural, political, economic, ecological & social values? ? To read more visit our blog ???? https://lnkd.in/ggVR5Pxa? If you’d like to work with us to examine and shift patterns in your organisation email ???? [email protected] [graphic created by Prof Ingrid Burkett during conversations with ACL and TSI] #patterns #systemsinnovation #systemschange #visualisingchange #griffithuniversity Ingrid Burkett Joanne McNeill Penny Hagen