HUMBER COLLEGE UPDATE

As we plan for the future of the Humber College Lakeshore Campus, it is so important to bring in all voices in our community and consult with them as we move through the process.

In my last update, I mentioned that Humber’s Faculty of Social and Community Services launched a Social Innovation Survey to support the development of the Centre of Social Innovation (CSI), which will be housed here at Lakeshore.

The CSI will be part of Humber’s network of Centres of Innovation, which brings together faculty, students and partners to tackle realworld challenges in health and wellness, technology, business and entrepreneurship in addition to social innovation. I want to thank everyone who completed the CSI survey for their help in creating positive change in our community.

Our respondents identified employment, education and training, reduced inequalities and poverty reduction as critical priorities to explore. In addition, more than half of those community members said that they could see themselves being directly involved in social innovation work as participants, volunteers or principal investors.

This is good news and indicates that we’re headed in the right direction. If you are interested in learning more about how you can participate in social innovation and the CSI, please contact Stephanie Byer, manager of International and Strategic Initiatives at stephanie. byer@humber.ca.

I’m pleased to share Humber College cemented its status as an innovative research institution, rising to a second place ranking on a list of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges – and to first place in Ontario. The Research Infosource Inc. publication recognized Humber as a leader in industry and social innovation research.

One of the projects contributing to our ranking seeks to reduce youth crime and gang violence. Ann Corbold, a professor in Humber’s Faculty of Social and Community Services (FSCS), is

investigating what makes community partnerships effective and evaluating youth programs for cultural sensitivity, alignment to reconciliation and more. She is working with the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan and the Street Culture Project out of Regina.

Corbold’s FSCS colleague, professor Salomeh Ahmadi is exploring social innovation closer to home in South Etobicoke. She is working to uncover cost of living issues and develop a baseline for housing affordability to make affordable housing a reality for all renters.

Ahmadi reached out to community groups to understand their obstacles and enlisted longtime Humber partner LAMP Community Health Centre to help in her research.

Humber Lakeshore also partners with LAMP on the annual GARDENS project, which just secured funding from the Humber College Community Partnership fund. year-round programming, and there are several initiatives in the works.

The GARDENS team has already produced resources like a short documentary and video library, which you can access online. The initiative continues to evolve. FSCS Bachelor of Community Development students are working with the GARDEN on a food security project, as well as researching initiatives at other grassroots organizations. Their findings will inform recommendations for how the GARDENS can build on its programming.

You can learn more about the project at gardenslakeshore.ca.

If you would like to volunteer to help maintain the gardens throughout the summer, please contact Global Learning and Strategic Initiatives coordinator Ayesha Amin at ayesha.amin@humber.ca.

The project is multifaceted and includes the Pod Project, which contributes to food security in the Etobicoke Lakeshore community. Local businesses and organizations host pod planters tended to and harvested by community members. The produce is then sent to local food banks and food security initiatives.

The project also includes education and training opportunities like family-friendly education workshops on gardening, cooking and food waste. Last summer, a community consultation identified a desire for continued, JUNE MACDONALD-JENKINS

Sr. Dean Faculty of Social and Community Services Principal, Lakeshore Campus