How can you bring diverse members of your community together to develop creative new ideas, innovative approaches to persistent problems, and build alignment and momentum for action?
Over the past 17 years the Tamarack Institute has been helping communities come together in creative ways for community change. This workshop will give you the tools and practice to host and lead these collaborative Co-Design sessions effectively. We will go deep on different approaches to engage the community to innovate together, understand what makes these kinds of gatherings distinct, and provide you with tools that you can use to host them.
Building on our deep practice knowledge in Community Engagement and Community Innovation, this is a unique opportunity to learn how to combine these practices for positive community change.
Tamarack values small group interaction and workshop environments. We are intentionally limiting this workshop series to 70-75 participants to ensure that all participants maximize their learning and connection.
Our unique workshop format will provide participants with hands-on experience and a step-by-step approach to designing and facilitating collaborative Community Innovation sessions. This workshop series will include:
A step-by-step approach to designing inclusive collaborative gatherings that meet the needs of your community
An exploration of best practices in community engagement and innovation
A set of principles and techniques to guide facilitation and help troubleshoot tough situations.
The use of interactive exercises, case studies, and real-world vignettes to make ideas and methods concrete.
By the end of this series you will be able to:
Confidently design an engaging Community Innovation session that works for your community
Navigate session conflicts successfully and respectfully
Effectively facilitate Community innovation sessions
This workshop is best suited to those who have an interest and some basic knowledge and experience with community engagement and are eager to tackle the challenging but critical task of hosting gatherings to spark new ideas and inspire the community to act and build together.
You are interested in bringing diverse stakeholders together but aren’t sure how to best manage the conversation
Engagement or Innovation is part of your job description
You are in a Collective Impact network and want to learn how to facilitate gatherings that lead to a common agenda and identify areas for action with community
You are a social innovator
Highlights of the learning agenda include:
Essential components of Innovation and Engagement – What makes new ideas possible.
A design approach – How the needs of your community should shape your engagement design.
The key is diversity – How to ensure your session is truly inclusive, respectful, and honours diverse people and perspectives.
The facilitator’s toolkit – Tips, tricks, and techniques for maximizing your impact.
Choosing the right method – Exploring various methods for each stage of the co-design process and helping you to select the right method based on your goals.
Bringing it all together – Designing your next engagement.
Small group coaching – Personalized feedback for your co-design initiative.
In her role at Tamarack, Lisa works with cities and organizations to help them meaningfully engage their communities. Over the last six years her work has focused on creating authentic engagement strategies and training staff teams, teaching and writing about innovative engagement methodologies, designing and facilitating workshops with a focus on raising the voice of the context expert, integrated communications planning, and the use of technology and creativity for engagement. Lisa advocates for simplicity in infrastructure, frameworks and design and loves applying the principles of marketing, advertising, loyalty, and user experience to community initiatives.
Lisa comes to this work from the private sector where she worked at one of Canada's leading communications firms with clients in agribusiness, healthcare, financial services and technology. Lisa brings private sector knowledge to public sector work. Hailing from Australia, Lisa also worked on major water infrastructure projects as the liaison between municipal government, engineering and the community.
Liz Weaver is the Co-CEO of Tamarack Institute where she is leading the Tamarack Learning Centre. The Tamarack Learning Centre has a focus on advancing community change efforts and does this by focusing on five strategic areas including collective impact, collaborative leadership, community engagement, community innovation and evaluating community impact. Liz is well-known for her thought leadership on collective impact and is the author of several popular and academic papers on the topic. She is a co-catalyst partner with the Collective Impact Forum and leads a collective impact capacity building strategy with the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Liz is passionate about the power and potential of communities getting to impact on complex issues. Prior to her current role at Tamarack, Liz led the Vibrant Communities Canada team and assisted place-based collaborative tables develop their frameworks of change, and supported and guided their projects from idea to impact.
This is a four-part virtual workshop, with sessions on May 4, 11, 18, and 25th, 2021 from 1:00 - 4:30 PM EST.
Registration is now open, and is limited to 50-60 learners. Participants will be sent a pre-workshop package ahead of the workshop. Zoom meeting details will be sent in advance. Post-workshop, we'll hold a one hour coaching session with small groups.
The registration rate (in Canadian dollars) is
$689 per person for a single registration
$589 per person for groups of 3+
Cities Reducing Poverty, Cities Deepening Community, and Communities Building Youth Futures members are eligible for a reduced price of $589 per person. Contact Duncan for more information.
The registration rate includes all four (4) virtual workshop sessions, a post-workshop group coaching session, and a membership into Tamarack Institute's Learning community.
If you are in need of assistance with your registration or have any questions, contact Duncan.
Get a jump on your learning with these suggested resources:
Paper | Understanding Community-Led Approaches to Community Change
Paper | An Overview of Community Innovation Trends: Part One - Design Based Approaches
Paper | Creating Fertile Soil: Catalyzing Community Innovation