An emphasis on using "evidence based practices" is stifling experimentation. This was the statement I posed in a poll within my last blog, back in February 2015, just before I got sucked into a vortex of Federal grant writing from which I am only now extracting myself. The results are in and a full 77% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the statement is true.
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Click below to watch Mark Holmgren's video (opens a new window):
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For those of you who have been to any of Tamarack’s workshops you hear great speakers, find new resources and learn lots. You now have the difficult task of communicating what you have learned back to your community and figure out how to implement your learning in your community. I have been in your shoes. I have attended several of tamaracks events trying to find the answer to one question. How do I do Collective Impact in my community? I wanted someone to give me step by step instructions, but at the end of each event I was left with a head full of great tools and ideas but no recipe.
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There is a wealth of innovation underway in communities. Confronted with a range of interconnected and increasingly complex challenges, leaders from every sector are searching for new ideas and approaches. What is most surprising is that often the innovations that show the most promise are those that combine existing resources in new ways. This pattern of social innovation is often referred to as bricolage.
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Deep River Ontario is a small community of less than 5,000 people nestled on the shores of the Ottawa River. A 2 hour drive northwest of Ottawa, it is home to the Chalk River Nuclear Research Laboratory, Canada's foremost nuclear research lab.
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Community Engagement so often relies on citizens feeling an affinity and commitment towards their local area or an issue, but what is unique about engaging community in a rural area? What methodologies can be used to increase participation? How can we ensure that all voices are heard? In rural areas it is often harder to focus on one shared issue and to unite a community when individuals are geographically dispersed and each encounters their own nuanced lifestyle and related issues.
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