Social Innovation Week 2017

Social Innovation Week returns! In 2014, a series of events, collaborations and gatherings swept the nation; although each event was self-organized, they collectively fell in the space of a shared week, leading to Social Innovation Canada 2014.

Once again, we are celebrating serendipity. The week of November 27 — December 1, 2017 is bursting with energy and opportunity across the social innovation community in Canada. It is a feast of events, collaborations and connections. Social Innovation Week is back!

Know of other bright lights in social innovation taking place that week?

Let us know!

email: kelsey@sigeneration.ca

*H/T to our friends in Vancouver who originated #SIweekVan in 2014*

MONDAY: NOVEMBER 27

Spark! A Canadian Social Innovation Exchange

Starting on Monday, Spark! Canadian Social Innovation Exchange ignites and will burn brightly for three days at Daniels Spectrum | Artscape and CSI Regent Park in Toronto (ON). Over 250 social innovators will come together in a collision of future-facing workshops and activities, exchanging ideas to promote learning, connect participants from across silos or regions, and forge a renewed commitment to concerted action around social innovation in Canada. Give voice and expression to Canada’s social innovation ecosystem.

In Burlington (ON), participants of Tamarack‘s one-day workshop join internationally recognized facilitator and community builder Sylvia Cheuy for a workshop exploring citizen leadership: how it is nurtured and why it is a strategy a growing number of organizations and municipalities are embracing.

Celebrating 25 years of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Later that evening, the Maytree Foundation hosts a celebration of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy to honour the impact Caledon has made on social policy in the past quarter century. For 25 years, Caledon has used data and evidence to challenge preconceptions and craft practical social policy solutions that have helped reduce poverty and inequality in Canada. As Ken Battle, Caledon’s founding president, begins a well-deserved retirement, Caledon will also wind down its day-to-day operations. As part of this transition, Maytree will become the new home for Caledon’s body of work.

TUESDAY: NOVEMBER 28

Spark!s continue to fly | The future of social procurement shines | SiG sunsets + SiG’s book launches |

Practitioners continue to Spark! at Daniels Spectrum | Artscape and CSI Regent’s Park. In Gatineau, Buy Social Canada summit participants exchange learning and make the case for social procurement. That evening, MaRS hosts the SiG Sunset, a celebration of the decade-long collaboration between the McConnell Foundation, MaRS, the University of Waterloo, and Plan Institute, starting at 6pm. Participants receive a copy of SiG’s legacy book, Social Innovation Generation: Fostering a Canadian Ecosystem for Systems Change, which will be launched at the celebration. Join us as we celebrate with stories, poetry, music and great company!