In recent years social labs, communities of practice, design labs and other types of learning communities have emerged as important vehicles to support innovation in human service. When appropriately designed, resourced and supported, these learning collaboratives bring together key stakeholders to examine complex social issues and explore new ways of thinking and practice. The Calgary-based Change Collective is an example of such a collaborative.
Over the course of three years this learning initiative, designed to support practice change among youth-serving professionals, consistently engaged its members, enabled collective learning and reflection, developed innovative principles to guide stronger practice, and produced a Practice Framework that is being taken up by professionals across Canada. Although there were many challenges, the Collective was successful in initiating a broad-based shift in practice among frontline professionals across an entire sector.
This brief highlights lessons from the Change Collective experience. It aims to inform other efforts to design and sustain collective learning ventures to support practice change. The conveners of the Change Collective hope that documenting and sharing these experiences will help to support renewed commitment and dedication to collective learning as a vital component of social change. To view the learning brief, please click on the image below.
The Change Collective: A Learning Brief
