Introduction Jan 2020 - April 2021 Social Research & Development Evaluation The purpose of the social research & development (R&D) phase of Participatory Canada is to understand whether the Participatory City approach is both feasible and viable, and if it has the potential to create value for all residents in a community, or in a neighbourhood. After this first year of social R&D we are closer to answering the questions.
The strategy we followed for scaling Participatory Canada was to support and partner with three city teams to test the Participatory City approach. These teams were provided with learning and development resources, hands on experience, and mentoring and funding. As a result, we’ve learned about what can and cannot be done to create the conditions for successful implementation of the approach.
“Scaling may be even harder and more demanding for organizations than innovation, because so many things that shape the success of their efforts are outside their control.” (Seelos & Mair, 2018, p. 228)
Guiding Questions of the Social R&D Evaluation This report sets out to capture what we learned during this first year of social R&D. The main questions we asked were:
To what extent is the Participatory City approach feasible, viable and desirable? And does it have the potential to create value for all residents in communities in Canada?
This led to four primary research questions we asked of each prototype:
1. Feasibility To what extent is it possible and desirable to create an ecosystem of participatory projects, and a well-functioning support platform?
2. Inclusivity To what extent is it possible to create an ecosystem of participatory projects with all residents of a neighbourhood?
3. Value Creation To what extent is this approach to building participation capable of creating value for individual community members and neighbourhoods?
4. Viability To what extent is this program likely to be viable in the current local economic, political and social contexts?
PARTICIPATORY CANADA Y1 SOCIAL R&D REPORT
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