Culture & Capacity - InWithForward

Apply filters

Auricle in transit_2023_Stories by station (1)

Auricle in Transit: Stories by Station (2023)

The stories in this pack are a sampling of the 175+ stories collected at three transit stations in Edmonton. Spoiler alert: there is no single story of safety & wellbeing!

Auricle in transit_ 2023_BIPOC Stories

Auricle in Transit: BIPOC Stories (2023)

The 10 stories in this pack are a sampling of stories from Edmontonians who identify as Indigenous, Black, South Asian, East/Southeast Asian, Latinx, and Middle Eastern. They offer are a starting point for exploring the many ways in which transit shapes wellbeing.

Auricle in transit_2023_Assorted Stories

Auricle in Transit: Assorted Stories (2023)

In 2023, eight Local Listeners hung out in transit stations, buses, and LRTs to gather 175 stories about wellbeing. Here’s a selection of stories.

Auricle in AlbertaAve_2021_BookkofStories

Auricle in Alberta Ave 2021 – Book of Stories

In the summer of 2021, ten Local Listeners set out to gather stories of connection & disconnection from their neighbours. This book highlights the range of local stories.

Concept book 7

Retrospective Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 7

A round-up of our learning on the system of philanthropy, and the credible purposes of community foundations.

Concept book 6

Decision Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 6

Philanthropy comes down to lots of everyday decisions about how to give, distribute, and govern resources. The choice is a question of moral purpose and values. Read about what shapes ethical decision-making.

Concept book 5

Intergenerational Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 5

The debate over what philanthropy owes to past, present, and future generations has been heating up lately: spend down or hold funds in perpetuity? Repair for past harms and/or address current inequities? Delve into the debates.

Concept book 4

Boundary Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 4

Philanthropy is framed as community serving. But, what is community? Unpack concepts like diversity, difference, multiculturalism, class, and more.

Concept book 3

Purpose Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 3

At its best, what can philanthropy do that other institutions cannot? What purposes can foundations meaningfully pursue? Explore purposes like civic action, mutuality, transitional justice, and more.

Concept book 2

Money Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 2

Show me the money! Dig into the structures and resource flows built into institutional philanthropy. Reflect on relationships between governments, foundations, donors, charities, government, and grantees.

Concept book 1

Origin Stories – PurposePhil Concept Book, Episode 1

Take a tour through multiple cultures and times to learn about what philanthropy is and was designed to do. Probe the intertwining histories of inequality and philanthropy.

Moments Matter Evaluating Curiko’s Theory of Action in 2024

Curiko Evaluation 2024

Tools, Methods and Learnings from Evaluating Curiko’s Theory of Action

Experiments in Un-Governing

Experiments in Un-Governance : Principles and Practices for Building Collective Agency

An exploration of alternative governance models, decision-making philosophies, and ways to grow individual and collective agency

Koognaasewin Learning from Staff Ethnographies

Koognaasewin Learning from Staff Ethnographies

What we learned from staff working in the child welfare system and their stories

Auricle and Alberta Ave

Auricle and Alberta Ave

What we heard and learned about wellbeing in the neighbourhood of Alberta Avenue

Auricle in Transit Reflection and Learnings

Auricle in Transit: Reflections and Learnings 2023

A compilation of our learnings, values, prototping questions, what we tested and learnings from bringing Auricle to the transit context in 2023.

Soloss One Pager (Round 3) Banner

Soloss One Pager for Encampments 2023

A short booklet describing Soloss in 2023, it’s third iteration, which was in the context of working with people in encampments

SolossBookofMoments_Banner

Soloss Book of Reflections

Learnings from Soloss’ second cohort, which took place in the context of frontline staff

HousingReportBookResources

From House to Home to Wellbeing

Original ethnographic research and ideas for designing affordable housing in ways that strengthen versus undermine wellbeing. Written to shape the City of Edmonton’s Housing Affordability strategy.

PictureThisBookResources

Picture This: A Scrapbook of Family Stories, Strengths, and Speculative Futures

Ethnographic stories, insights and visualized futures created with Anishinaabe families entangled in the child welfare system — all to shape the development of a new Indigenous law and system across North Shore Tribal Council communities.

SolossBannerBookResources

So Loss, What Have We Learned?

Soloss is a new model for community grief & loss support, which creates new roles, rituals, and spaces for healing. Learn how its theory of change is playing out on-the-ground, and how Soloss contributes to mental health & recovery.

The Questions of the Ages

The Questions of The Ages: Stories, Numbers, Insights on Ageing across Canada

The Questions of The Ages is an interactive PDF that aggregates experiences of 113 older adults to better understand social isolation and loneliness and explore what it means to live, age, and die well.

Speculative Stories of The Soulful City

Speculative Stories of The Soulful City

Speculative Stories of The Soulful City shares six provocations for a flourishing Edmonton. These six provocations visualize the kinds of interactions that might exist in a city that fosters wellbeing as healing and connection for all.

thumbnail_VF-tweaks-twists21

Tweaks and Twists: Bending a Systems Change Grant Application Towards the Arc of Justice

Eleven co-design sessions, hosted in partnership with Vancouver Foundation, helped to surface some of the dominant logics of grantmaking, and highlight alternative ideas. Read insights & download ‘flip the logic’ cards.

thumbnail_Betaphil_p1

BetaPhil Insights and Opportunities

We observed Vancouver Foundation’s grantmaking team at work to understand how we might strengthen equity and deepen the impact of the Systems Change Grant. Check out six broad opportunities for change.

The Connector Role Prototype – A One Pager

A one-page summary of The Connector Role – an in-progress prototype focused on forging ties between marginalized Edmontonians and the rest of the community to access healing and to create the conditions for wellbeing.

massey-video-600×600

Beyond Social Services

What is the role of the arts in enabling social outcomes? Take a look at our research with Massey Theatre.

masseytheatre-video-600×600

Ethnography and the Arts

We join forces with Massey Theatre to explore how arts relates to people’s flourishing. Here’s a sneak peek at our process.

quickdive-video-600×600

Using Data to Generate Ideas

What is generative ethnographic research? What does it look like on the ground?

Meraki Portfolio

Research, service journey map, and prototypes for Meraki, version 1

Embedded-Researcher-Role-Book

Embedded Researcher Role Book

Principles, methods and practices for ethnography & design research

Thick-Data-Primer-600×600

Thick Data Primer

Thick data is human-scale data. It is collected from small samples in everyday contexts, making visible the motivations, values, preferences, perceptions, and environments of people often left out of public consultations or large-scale datasets.

Soulful-City600x600

Soulful City

Soulful City brings together stories from the streets with historical data and social science literature to explore with what it means to live well. Situated in Edmonton, Soulful City surfaces themes that transcend time and place.

sensemakerdownload

The Sense Maker

Eunica is one of about 87,000 family members who reunited in Canada in 2017. Wilson is one of about 21,000 government assisted refugees accepted to Canada in 2017. Hear their stories, and how emotional ambivalence is a very real (but not talked about) part of the settlement journey.

justicewrapper

Justice Journeys

What is life like for Indigenous people charged under the criminal code in Peterborough or Toronto, Ontario? What shapes their perceptions and their journeys through the Criminal Justice System? What’s working for people? What gets in the way?

download grounded space reflection book

Building R&D Capacity: 2-years in

The Canadian welfare state is largely delivered by thousands of non-profits, funded to provide services to people in need. There are few dedicated resources to re-imagine need, and develop radically different responses. Since 2017, we’ve experimented with building R&D infrastructure in the social sector. Here’s our learning.

Rooms & Brooms by InWithForward

Rooms & Brooms

Over two weeks, we spent time in about 10 different rooming houses in Toronto’s east side, exploring what informs residents’ sense of belonging, agency and aspirations for the future. All so we could find opportunities for change.

Download CoV Healthy City Strategy Summary

Convivial Cities

What is life like for older people living in the City of Vancouver – how do they perceive age, aging, and engaging? We partnered up with the City of Vancouver to meet older citizens to understand aging in rapidly changing communities. Check out some of our insights.

school-halls-&-strip-malls

School Halls & Strip Malls

When Filipino teens come to Canada, they aren’t just navigating a new culture but new familial relationships. We spent time where families were: church, buses, work, home. What emerged are 7 opportunity areas with ideas at both practice and system levels of what we can prototype and test to enable flourishing.

on-off-streets

On & Off the Street in Surrey

We spent time in Whalley, Surrey getting to know some of the folks living in tents and a high-rise social housing complex. Within 10 minutes walk, one could find various meal services, shelters, and a safe injection site. Is it enough?

minimarts

Mini Marts & Shopping Carts

What is the lived experience of Edmonton citizens living rough? Is lack of coordination amongst existing services preventing better outcomes? What is a good outcome, for whom? How could we tap into the unusual suspects & community resources?

bingo-halls

Bingo Halls & Shopping Malls

What is the lived experience of seniors (75+), living in the greater Vancouver area, whose engagement with social services and with their own social network is low? Read this trend report that we wrote as part of Grounded Data in collaboration with Allies in Aging and the Government of Canada.

GS Offer Download

Grounded Space Offer

Want to know what Grounded Space can do for your organization? Read about our learning offer for individuals and Deep Dives for organizations.

standing-up-publication

Standing Up or Moving Forwards?

Read our report from the work we did with the women and staff from a domestic violence shelter in Apeldoorn, Netherlands

ideas-press

Ideas Press: Poverty of Experience Facing Adults with Cognitive Disabilities

Read stories and scenarios from 3-months of immersive ethnography to understand the experience of social isolation with people with and without disabilities.

limitless

Limit-less

Download the playbill for lunch in the park. What kind of leadership is called for disrupting the status quo? What are our scripts, beliefs, and fears?

ethnography

Ethnography 101

Download the playbill for our sold out Ethno 101: a day of getting a feel for how ethnographic methods lead to fresh insights.

beauty-and-shame

Beauty & shame walk

Download the playbill for our neighbourhood walk to unpick what makes a space or an interaction beautiful or shameful. Why does it matter?

time-and-space1

Time and space

Download the playbill for Reflective Practice 101. Conrad and Hedin (1990) remind us of Mark Twain’s cat who ‘learned from sitting on a hot stove lid…never to sit again’. Find out how not to be the cat.

makeathon

Make-a-thon

Download the playbill for our Make-a-thon. Got ideas – but find they are stuck in your head or in conversation? We’ll show you how to make your ideas real, tangible, and testable. Bring along a tool or material you’d like help bringing to life.

fiveppl

Five people walk into a bar

Download the playbill for our drinking game. A sociologist, designer, anthropologist, business thinker and reflective practitioner walk into a bar… Do they walk out?

human-interaction-design1

Human Interaction Design

Download the playbill for Human Interaction Design 101: an introductory session and neighbourhood walk to explore the idea that everything is designed, but not everything is human-centred. We’ll clarify the different types of design; and most of all, show what designing-in-context can bring to social services and social policy.

bigsmallopen

Big, Small, and Open

Download the playbill for our session: Big data, open data, and small data. Take a tour of different types of data and discuss when you’d use it, how, and why.

learning-catalogue

Grounded Space Learning Catalogue

From June 15-June 22, we’re hosting 12 immersive learning experiences in Vancouver. Downaload this catalogue and have a join us!

rough-guide

Rough Guide to Emerging Practices

A guide to 5 emerging practices in the Homeless sector in Toronto

fifthspace-video

The Fifth Space in 5 episodes

Follow Sherri, Wendy and 26 other social service staff through the Fifth Space. The Fifth Space is a set of HR practices for growing staff capacity to test ideas, fail, and try again.

program-evaluation-grounded

Grounded in the Canadian Government Executive

Grounded was featured in the March / April issue of the Canadian Government Executive. Download the article below.

grounded2

Grounded, data with a story

Here’s the slides from the presentation Daniela Kraemer and Sarah Schulman gave at the ESDRC conference.

a-day-in-the-life

A Day In The Life: Testing Grounded In Ottawa

A Day In The Life: Testing Grounded data with civil servants In Ottawa

kudoz-submission

Kudoz: a new learning platform with & for people with cognitive disabilities

Read the submission report for the 2016 Service Design Network conference, in which Kudoz was a finalist.

ask-a-dude-report

Ask-a-dude report

Ask A Dude is a catalogue of videos and a format for facilitated viewing parties, which promote frank discussions of sexuality, dating and relationships amongst men with cognitive disabilities. This report describes it all.

testing-practice

Testing Practice with Frontline Staff!

Unsure what we mean by practice? Watch our short film with Lindiwei, a frontline worker we’ve collaborated with to try new practice.

pushpull

Push & Pull: Prototyping Within Homeless Drop-in Centres

Download our report which shares 5 prototypes of new practices at a homeless drop-in centre in downtown Toronto. This was some of the most challenging work we’ve done to date. Read why.

implementation-science

A theory of organizational readiness

Read a compelling theory shaping our thinking on organizational change readiness.

join-grounded-space

Join Grounded Space

Grounded Space is a Research & Development Collective that brings together social service organizations to pool the resoures & risks of real social reform. Why joining as a member organiation? Read it in this publication.

choreographing3

Choreographing New Practices for Social Change

How do you build capacity for social change? Typical instruments for changing professional practice, which focus on strengthening an individual’s skill set, often prove unable to spur broader change.

redefiningpolitics

Redefining the politics of inclusion with George and Dustin

Article published in the Journal of Design Strategies, Volume 8, Fall 2016

system-change

Design for systems change

Manuela, Lisa Joy, Sarah, Bobae, Krista and Wendy presenting at the RSD4 conference. And a sneak peek behind the scenes of making the presentation.

Home Our Offers – old version Culture & Capacity