Social Innovation Generation (www.sigeneration.ca/)

We are a collaborative partnership of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, MaRS Discovery District, PLAN Institute and the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR).

Engaged learning

Visit our SiG Knowledge Hub; a website designed to provide learning resources about creating conditions for social innovation.

Innoweave helps community organizations learn about and implement new approaches to generate impact, more quickly, and at less cost.

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MaRS Global Leadership: Culture as Urban Acupuncture from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Latest blog posts

On wattle trees and maple leaves
September 16, 2016
In two days from now, I fly out to Vancouver to begin a whirlwind tour with two of the brightest Australian social innovation leaders. I dare say, two of the brightest social innovation leaders, period. The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) was created 7 years ago and since that time, has led the practice of social … Read More...
What I’m Learning from the SDX
September 7, 2016
SiG Note: This article was originally published on the ABSI Connect website. It has been cross-posted with permission from the author. Twelve months ago, I wandered into the world of social innovation as an ABSI Connect Fellow. I landed in a really hot “hot desk” at Skills Society. Ben, who has a role fostering and … Read More...
Unleashing an Inclusive Innovation Agenda: SiG speaks with Nathon Gunn, Innovation Advisor to Federal Minister Navdeep Bains
August 26, 2016
Canada's innovation ecosystem - from Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) to Export Development Canada (EDC) and accelerators to Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) - has primarily been in service to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and in that vein, focused on STEM-oriented (science, technology, … Read More...

News from the partnership

The Foundation’s inaugural Civic Innovation Awards program, launched last fall as part of the Foundation’s Cities for People and RECODE initiatives, awards grants of $10K to $30K to seven projects across Canada that showcase innovative collaborations between cities and post-secondary institutions. More.

MaRS Solutions Lab publishes “Shifting Perspectives: Redesigning Regulation for the Sharing Economy,” a report from the Sharing Economy Public Design project, a partnership between MaRS Solutions Lab, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto. More.

The Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience launches two seminal resources – the comprehensive Social Innovation Lab Guide and Social Innovation for Complex Problems, a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). More.

PLAN co-founder Al Etmanski hosts the world’s first six-part Bookinar learning series with PLAN Institute, Tamarack, SiG National, ABCD Institute, BCPSI and Ashoka. Explore in-depth the six patterns to spread your social innovation featured in Al’s book: IMPACT. More.