Fuelling Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education

The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation engages Canadians in building a more innovative, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient society. The Foundation’s purpose is to enhance Canada’s ability to address complex social, environmental and economic challenges. Est.

A Radical View of Social Innovation? Changing the system dynamics at the roots of social and ecological problems A social innovation is any initiative, product, process, program or design that challenges and, over time, changes, the defining routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of the broader social system in which it is introduced. Successful social innovations have durability, scale and transformative impact. (Westley, 2010) 3

RE Source: Westley and Antadze, After Westall, A. (2007) How can innovation in social enterprise be understood, encouraged and enabled? A social enterprise think piece for the Office of the Third Sector. Cabinet Office, Office of The Third Sector, UK, November. org/pdf/westall_ news.pdf 4

What is the purpose of RECODE? - To offer college and university students the opportunity to participate in social innovation and entrepreneurship, and in doing so help their institutions become catalysts for social change, at the local and national levels.

The Social Eight Social Innovation Social Labs Social Finance Social Technology Social Entrepreneurship Social Education Social Purpose Media Social Space

AGENCY What power do individuals and groups have to catalyze systemic change?

Exploring New Possibilities

Introduce disturbances to precipitate a release phase. question the broad strategic context) in order to understand reason for decisions, frame these for front line where innovation continues to occur, recognize innovations of interest to policy makers and sell these up to the decision makers Sensemaking activities such as branding mapping, surveying, sharing narratives and vision building Invoking new knowledge values & paradigms Identity and relational change Non-directed/emergent convening activities: open door town hall meetings, new connections between previously separate groups. Directed/designed convening activities: future search, scenario planning, whole systems engagement Deliberate and strategic marshalling of connections and resources to support a winning idea set. Building broad commitment through storytelling & marketing Leveraging polictical support for policy change Entrepreneurial proposal of novel paradigms, solutions and ideas Brokering partnerships Building umbrella strategies to link competing knowledge and solutions Deal making between parties to achieve consensus or link novel ideas Finding capital for new ideas Shedding ideas “without legs” Questioning/Disrupting the Context Convening/Framing/Sens emaking Identifying/Brokering Selling Roles of a Systems Entrepreneur through Phases of Change 10 (Westley, 2013)

Network or group level A change in conversation A change in routine A change in resource commitment or influence Institutional level A change in culture A change in laws A change in resource distribution/availability Organizational level A change in strategies A change in procedures A change in resource distribution/availability Individual level A change of heart A change of habits A change of ambition 11

Systemic Impact = Institutional Change 1) Formal governance: regulations and laws 2) Informal governance and stakeholder rules 3) Knowledge, practices and routines 4) Cultural norms and discourse 5) Distribution of power, authority 6) Distribution and control of resources At what scale? Towards what values and paradigms? What’s the relationship between different dimensions? Where to engage?

A Collaborative Approach For RECODE, working collaboratively is the process AND the solution to addressing our complex, interconnected, and multi-dimensional challenges

#LetsRECODE