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Darwin Said Collaborate

For those of you who have read my book Deepening Community – Finding Joy together in Chaotic Times you might love to know you can sign up for a weekly inspiration at www.deepeningcommunity.org

Last week I got this fascinating gem which is a total rethinking of survival of the fittest thinking. Charles Darwin is known for his “survival of the fittest” theory. The common description is that the most able animals will continue to evolve, while weaker species will be eliminated over time. This interpretation has been used to justify what some call a “dog eat dog” world.

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Why You Should Always Share Your Results

The part of the community change process that gets dropped most often is all that comes after the work is done. We host an event and then don’t do the debrief. We coordinate a year-long community of practice but don’t capture the way the meetings have impacted people. We convene neighbours for a community gathering and work day but don’t share how we did it and why people came.

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Collective Advocacy for Collective Impact

Over the last year, the First 2000 Days Network has been striving to address systems change efforts as part of our multi-tiered Theory of Change and our Systemic Change Framework.  Our Network includes what we term ‘change mechanisms’ at multiple levels: individual, community, organization & agency and systems-level – all with the goal of improving outcomes for children and families.

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Shining a Light on Natural Caring

Natural Caring is love in action. It exists all around us in the thousands of little things we do without having to think about them. It is a unifying force that transcends differences; and yet, it often goes unacknowledged and unrecognized. Even people who are routinely caring for someone or something are quick to brush it off as no big deal.

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Adaptable Leadership and Changemaking

There are times when I am flipping through Twitter and I find a nugget of information that leads me to pause, reflect and then consider what is being shared and how this impacts my thinking about community change. With one tweet, Systems Innovation (@Sys_innovation) both asked and answered the question “what does it take to liberate the capacity of an organization?”

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Loneliness and Social Isolation are Public Health Issues

Loneliness and social isolation are now being recognized as public health issues in Ontario. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David D William, released his annual report in February 2019 called Connected Community Healthier together. The report highlights the growing evidence that loneliness and social isolation affects our health:

• Six out of ten residents say they have a very or somewhat strong sense of community. Only four out of ten know many or most of their neighbours.
• Has negative effects on the body, mind and soul.
• People who are lonely are more likely to be in the top five percent of health care users.

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