The Community and Health Sciences Faculty and the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation partnered with the Social Innovations Institute & Lab™ to assist academics to apply knowledge and research to impact society.
The Social Innovations Institute & Lab™ is an intensive sustainable innovation process that includes idea exploration, testing and plan execution to hone entrepreneurship and innovative thinking skills while developing and eventually executing, new or improved business models. The lab consists of several modules which allow the achievement of the goals of transforming both emerging and established leaders into sharper, smarter, better versions of themselves.
Staff from Interprofessional Education Unit (IPEU), Tele-rehabilation, Nursing, Social Work, Sports, Social Innovation and the Centre for Diversity in Psychological Practices participated and pitched their projects to the panellists from UWC and external partners on 25 November 2022.
The projects covered several themes, including:
The Social Innovation Niche Area team, based in the Office of the DVC: Research and Innovation, also attended the training and explored the following:
“To ensure the social sector’s evolution and viability, social innovation has emerged as an approach for business development, as well as a necessary catalyst for change. Social Innovations combine social impact, financial accountability, policy and system change, and execution capacity to address some of society’s most complex social issues,“ said Nicholas Torres, a facilitator of Social Innovation Partners.
“Unfortunately, there are few professional avenues available to support the creation, incubation, start-up, and scaling of new social innovations and enterprises. There are also far fewer capacity-building resources available to support even the most talented entrepreneurs; many of whom lack formal social impact training and do not have the knowledge and skills necessary to turn their ideas into positive social change. The higher education sector serves as a bridge between research and practice and provides a platform for social innovations to take root.”
The Social Innovations Institute & Lab™ is an intensive sustainable innovation process that includes idea exploration, testing and plan execution to hone entrepreneurship and innovative thinking skills while developing and eventually executing, new or improved business models. The lab consists of several modules which allow the achievement of the goals of transforming both emerging and established leaders into sharper, smarter, better versions of themselves.
Staff from Interprofessional Education Unit (IPEU), Tele-rehabilation, Nursing, Social Work, Sports, Social Innovation and the Centre for Diversity in Psychological Practices participated and pitched their projects to the panellists from UWC and external partners on 25 November 2022.
The projects covered several themes, including:
- UWC High Performance Centre
- Hangouts for Healthcare - Interprofessional Education Unit (IPEU)
- Home-based Tele-rehabilitation
- Social Innovation through Sustainable Development
- Transforming a Clinical Skills Laboratory into a Virtual Simulation Laboratory
- Social Work Practice for a Green Environment: Promoting Sustainable Development
The Social Innovation Niche Area team, based in the Office of the DVC: Research and Innovation, also attended the training and explored the following:
- Vision and Value: How to articulate our target audience.
- Problem Solving: Recognising and honouring the prior and current efforts to solve challenges (gaps analysis).
- Target Market and Opportunity: Identifying primary, secondary, and tertiary markets.
- Solution: Graphically represent innovation through a customer journey map.
- Traction and Validation: Using data or testimonies from target markets.
“To ensure the social sector’s evolution and viability, social innovation has emerged as an approach for business development, as well as a necessary catalyst for change. Social Innovations combine social impact, financial accountability, policy and system change, and execution capacity to address some of society’s most complex social issues,“ said Nicholas Torres, a facilitator of Social Innovation Partners.
“Unfortunately, there are few professional avenues available to support the creation, incubation, start-up, and scaling of new social innovations and enterprises. There are also far fewer capacity-building resources available to support even the most talented entrepreneurs; many of whom lack formal social impact training and do not have the knowledge and skills necessary to turn their ideas into positive social change. The higher education sector serves as a bridge between research and practice and provides a platform for social innovations to take root.”
