In 2014, with support from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and the Province of Manitoba, The Winnipeg Boldness Project launched into an initial 7-year social innovation process to explore new ideas for addressing early childhood outcomes in the neighbourhood of Point Douglas.
Put simply, social innovation is the act of developing new ideas to solve complex social issues, such as poverty, homelessness, and racism. In the case of The Winnipeg Boldness Project, we’re using tools and processes from the practice of social innovation to develop community-driven solutions to help children in Point Douglas succeed and thrive.
One of these processes is called a social lab, which brings together diverse stakeholders to problem solve around a complex issue. The social lab process for The Winnipeg Boldness Project is as follows:
Situating the project, identifying key stakeholders, and developing strategic partnerships.
Exploring and documenting the vast pool of community wisdom that exists in Point Douglas, as well as existing academic publications and reports for any relevant data sets.
Generating ideas for change using the data and feedback that was collected and co-creating prototypes to test those ideas.
Finding opportunities to embed successful prototypes into existing systems to maximize potential change and ensure sustainability for the future.
Children and families in Point Douglas experience dramatically improved wellbeing in all aspects of community and self: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
To develop and test community-driven solutions to create better opportunities for children and families in the North End.
The world, systems, communities, and people in it are interconnected and interdependent; when one part is changed, it sends a rippling effect throughout the whole system.
Strength comes from reciprocal love and support of others; when a person is supported, they gain the strength to return that love and support. People find purpose and meaning in relationships with others.
Focusing on strengths gives people energy to grow; regardless of an individual or group’s situation in life, they have strengths. These strengths are valued, respected and nurtured.
Each person knows best what they need and should have the right to determine their own path in life. Having voice and volition to make choices to attend to individual needs leads to recognition of the responsibilities to family and community.
Time and care is taken to develop relationships and build trust with individuals and families; it is the essential foundation required to be effective and respectful in working with all people.
All people are welcomed and respected regardless of situation or circumstance. People are met where they are at: services recognize that people are at different stages in their own journey, face different challenges, and have varied gifts.
