Taking the Next Step lab
Taking the Next Step is offering a new tool to encourage our youth’s healthy development and their appreciation and transmission of the Acadian and Francophone identity in the form of a social innovation lab. No matter your age or your sector of activity, if the educational success, identity building and overall wellness of Acadian and Francophone community members is something you care about, the Taking the Next Step Lab is for you.
The Taking the Next Step Lab gives you:
A space to work with different communities, government or private sector partners;
- A creative and innovative collaborative approach to better address the challenges related to the linguistic situation of Acadian and Francophone communities.
What is a social innovation lab?
It’s a tool that allows partners from different sectors to work together. They can join forces towards a common goal and learn from each other's expertise. A social innovation lab provides a safe environment for exploring and trying out creative solutions to address social problems and challenges. The goals are to:
- Help partners better understand and identify a challenge that affects the community or the society as they build team spirit;
- Create prototypes for solutions;
- Implement the prototypes and test them with those concerned and modify them progressively to improve them.
Définition :
Prototyping is an integral part of a social innovation laboratory. The prototype is a model (conceptual or physical) of a solution addressing a complex problem. The prototype is tested with users from its conception via a series of small-scale experiments, in real or simulated environments, throughout its development. The overall prototype development process is called prototyping.
Prototyping is an integral part of a social innovation laboratory. The prototype is a model (conceptual or physical) of a solution addressing a complex problem. The prototype is tested with users from its conception via a series of small-scale experiments, in real or simulated environments, throughout its development. The overall prototype development process is called prototyping.
Operation
For each cycle of the Taking the Next Step Lab:
- A call for applications is launched based on one or a few complex challenges identified in advance;
- 20 to 24 participants are carefully selected to represent the many different realities of regions, genders, ages, immigration status, salary level, education level, and other elements related to the work place;
- Teams are formed around each complex challenge;
- Each team attends workshops (for a total of eight days). Between the workshops, they benefit from the support of a facilitator for independent work.
A Lab Cycle
Who should participate in the Taking the Next Step Lab?
People who:
- Are interested in the complex challenges proposed or are already working on them;
- Want to test new methods derived from social innovation;
- Have the mandate and support of their respective organizations to join the Lab, and test and implement the prototypes they have created;
- Commit to participate in each Lab activity.
