WHAT IS THE/LA COLLABORATIVE?
A network of experts in the humanities and social sciences dedicated to enhancing education, social innovation and knowledge policy through campus to community partnerships.
The/La Collaborative’s objective is to steer social sciences and humanities knowledge and skills where they are most needed by creating new models of impact that focus on the needs and interests of participants. Our sophisticated digital platform is used to support connection brokers who oversee person-to-person collaborations. Our partners access the expertise of social sciences and humanities researchers they need through collaborative processes that put them at the focus. Our collaboration protocols give elementary and secondary school teachers the resources they need to support inquiry in the classroom and provide community agencies and government with increased capacity for social innovation and knowledge-based policy.
A community of practice that invests in new models for research training and talent-building to meet the needs of graduate students in the social sciences and humanities.
The/La Collaborative’s activities revolve around the involvement of graduate “interns” who receive dedicated collaborative research training that focuses on experiential learning to foster foundational skills needed for success in academia and in the private and public sectors. Through their work as connection brokers and expert-facilitators graduate students from all fields in the social sciences and humanities and beyond fuel opportunities that span across sectors – academia, not-for-profit, and government – that combine a flexible schedule with meaningful community based learning.
OUR MISSION
We are a community of practice dedicated to creating models of knowledge mobilisation and talent-building that put social science and humanities knowledge at the heart of the community.
The/La Collaborative is dedicated to offering social sciences and humanities researchers across all levels and sectors opportunities to leverage their know-how to engage, create, and communicate the value of their disciplines while meeting their community’s needs meaningfully and with relevance.
INITIATIVES
Inquiry-based learning is used in elementary and secondary schools to help students develop indispensable skills: critical thinking, problem solving, information literacy, deliberative reasoning, creativity, empathy, and citizenship knowledge. The/La Collaborative: Inquiry Learning is supported by “connection brokers” who match K-12 teachers with subject matter experts. Collaboration protocols are designed to make sure participants’ time is used effectively and are implemented through a digital platform that guarantees the process is smooth and properly curated. Our collaborative platform can help teachers in K-12 access university experts in any relevant field – almost like a human textbook.
We make sure that meaningful connections are formed with the right people in mind.
- Increased support for K-12 teachers to conduct small group inquiry learning in the classroom
- Universities fulfil their community engagement mandates and build strong relations with their communities by making social science and humanities expertise available where it is most needed
- Knowledge mobilisation is supported by a process that involves connections brokers and is supported by a digital platform to implement collaborative protocols and helpful resources for inquiry and project-based learning
- Graduate students have access to research training and experiential learning opportunities through a suite of activities developed in partnership with Mitacs
- Teachers benefit by receiving increased support for small group inquiry learning in the classroom as part of a collaboration that puts their needs and the needs of the students first.
Our collaborative platform is designed to support community service agencies by connecting them with research collaborators who have the training and expertise to augment their capacity for social innovation.
The/La Collaborative: Social Innovation will leverage the creation of new training and internship programmes in partnership with United Way and Mitacs to provide graduate students in the social sciences and humanities with competencies and knowledge they need to participate in social innovation and create positive change surrounding issues in their communities.
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- Knowledge is mobilised as part of co-design teams in the context of social innovation
- Graduate students have access to enhanced research training and paid internships and experiential learning opportunities through a suite of activities developed in partnership with Mitacs
- By taking part in United Way’s Social Innovation Labs, community partners benefit from additional resources and expertise that increase their capacity for social innovation and their chances to acquire future funding of their own.
We’re working to leverage new partnerships and incubate a number of policy- focused, collaborative and interdisciplinary research training opportunities to help universities fulfil universities’ civic role by increasing the capacity and impact of policy stakeholders in local communities.
- Supports academic knowledge mobilisation through collaborative research and thought leadership where science, society, and policy intersect.
- Graduate students have access to collaborative skills training and applied research internships. They are mentored by alumni of Mitacs’ Science Policy Fellowship Program around collaborative, community focused policy research projects and benefit from the expertise of a policy stakeholders’s network that includes the Canadian Science Policy Centre and the Institute on Governance and many others.
The Commons revolves around The Collaborative’s partners’ network, and caters to a shared concerns for collaboration and synergy amongst post secondary stakeholders. The Commons is dedicated to fostering a culture of consensus around conceptual frameworks, evidence and research priorities to inform knowledge policy, impact, skills development and talent-building across sectors. The Commons engages its network and a broader range of stakeholders through panels, consultations and events.
