Georgian attends inaugural Canadian Changemaker Education Research Forum

Members of Georgian’s Change Team attended Ashoka Canada’s inaugural Canadian Changemaker Education Research Forum at the MaRS Collaboration Centre Café on Jan. 15.

They learned about approaches to changemaking research and heard from Ashoka fellows, and education and research leaders across the country contributing to the betterment of our communities. The forum was organized by a dynamic committee of changemakers, including Georgian’s Suzie Addison-Toor.

Dr. Brian Belcher, Ashoka Research Chair at Royal Roads University, gave an engaging keynote Research for Changemaking: Concepts and Lessons for Research Effectiveness.

Presentations from other speakers fell under three themes: Community-based Research;  Amplifying Changemaking: Measurement and Knowledge-Holding; and Addressing Wicked Problems.

Georgian’s Daniel Anzola-Marin and Nicole Norris, from the Centre for Changemaking and Social Innovation, presented on their and Nadine Proulx’s research Examining Changemaker Competencies for Applied Learning in a Non-Urban Socio-Economic Context.

The team heard about many amazing projects throughout the day, including The Recess Project and the Ikaavrik: Barriers to Bridges program. All of the presentations stimulated great discussion and further questions.

“I was thrilled to learn about the amazing work breaking down barriers, and creating tangible prosocial impact with, and for, people experiencing marginalization,” says Renée Ferguson, International Lead at Georgian. “It was a wonderful and stimulating day of connection.”

At the close of the day, attendees had the opportunity to discuss key learnings and insights. There was consensus that rich and strong community-driven research is about relationship building with our community partners, allowing ideas and research questions to form as the partnership strengthens, and engaging everyone in the research.