Looking for fresh ideas to tackle bedevilling social issues? Wanting to move big ideas into practice? Grappling with staff retention & burnout? Our action learning experiences draw on nearly two decades of participatory research, co-design, implementation, and evaluation.
We’ve found intentional change starts with making visible the waters we are in. Only then can we imagine alternatives.
We make visible & imagine:
That’s why the Flourishing Field School introduces you to …
Ways of thinking
Engage with research and frameworks to:
– Re-frame issues like addiction, aging, mental health, homelessness, child welfare, isolation & inclusion
– Re-think outcomes like wellbeing, safety, and quality of life
– Re-define concepts like vulnerability, risk, and returns
– Expand what and how we know about human needs and wants
Ways of relating
Explore strategies and approaches to:
– Address power divides
– Re-cast roles like investor, donor, volunteer, worker, and client
– Foster a culture of curiosity, creativity, and contribution
– Embrace restorative versus punitive approaches to conflict
Ways of doing
Practice how to…
– Creatively activate & engage the public
– Collect ethnographic data
– Ethically co-design, ideate, and prototype
– Facilitate participatory decision-making
– Measure what matters
Encounter fresh ways of thinking, relating, and doing with:
Our approach to learning is…
We call it a field school because…
Not sure if the Flourishing Field School is for you?
Are you in…
Design
Whether you are new to design thinking or an established designer, we offer case studies, tools, and briefs for how to use design in ethical and values-driven ways.
Policy
Whether you are writing a policy brief or creating a strategy to address a wicked social policy issue, we offer research, frameworks, and ideas to shift thinking and spark action.
Local Politics
Whether you are frustrated by the same-old approaches to public engagement or are looking for fresh policy ideas, we offer novel ways to engage constituents and prototype policy.
Philanthropy
Whether you work at a foundation or invest your capital for social good, we have podcasts, case studies, and reflective prompts to re-imagine the flow of power and resources.
Organizational leadership
Whether you are looking to reset your vision and strategy or build an innovative team culture, we support leaders to ask big questions, access different perspectives, and bring social research & development into the fold.
Frontline work
Whether you are new to frontline work or an experienced professional, we can offer concrete prompts to use with the people you support, plus space to explore what you do, why, and how differently.
Community groups
Whether you are someone with lived experience of an issue or part of a grassroots group, we love enabling critical reflection and supporting you to generate and test ideas from the ground-up.
Lifelong learning
Whether you are drawn to design methods, intrigued by ethnographic research, inspired by systems design, or motivated by social causes, we create spaces and resources that support continuous reflection, growth, and purposeful action.
