The Civic Renewal Lab is designed to be an enterprising non-profit focused on civic engagement. With hopes of becoming a community hub centered on facilitating, promoting and supporting civic engagement - we envision a space where citizens can engage with decision makers, civil society and the creative community to address civic issues through art, design, media and constructive dialogue.

In addition to being a hub for civic engagement and learning, the CRL will offer creative facilitation as a service for clients/collaborators on a contract basis. These ‘Client Service Jams’ will be the revenue earning side of the CRL and could be applied to all types of industry and businesses looking to integrate design thinking and creative cross-pollination into brainstorming, problem-solving and project design.

Problem

Differences in values, work habits, age, education level, access to technology, political and religious affiliation, and economic allegiances are today creating diverse views on the relevance of traditional civic engagement practices. For many, the specific language of civic and cultural affairs is daunting, and spaces such as city hall, theatres, stages, and galleries, frequently feel fenced off to underserved communities including new Canadians, First Nations populations, youth, and those who are new to the political and cultural scene.

Solution

As an alternative to traditional civic engagement models, our goal is to shift citizens from being consumers to active shapers of policies, programs, public space and civic services. By deliberately moving civic and cultural engagement out of established spaces, and by expanding “legitimate” cultural and political language to include forms such as storytelling, music, and visual art, the Civic Renewal Lab allows people to find their own entry point into civic affairs. We use interactive technology, the social web, art and forums to bring together impacted groups, experts, policy makers with artists and designers in discussion around the ideas, policies and projects that link emergent solutions to community needs, skills and knowledge.

Example

The Civic Renewal Lab is designed to be an enterprising non-profit focused on civic engagement. As such, the non-profit work focuses on being an interface between decision-makers, civil society and the creative community by hosting events and initiating projects that innovate traditional community gatherings and public consultation processes. Our business model offers value to clients and collaborators looking to generate creative ideas focused on solving collective problems. The CRL offers consulting, facilitation, media production and design services to governments, organizations, and companies looking to engage more deeply in civic issues. Combining the business model with our social mandate of innovating civic engagement allow us to find new ways to engage society in civic issues.

Marketplace

Partnerships and collaboration will be a cornerstone of the CRL spanning many different disciplines depending on the context and project at hand, be they video installation, public sculpture, graphic design, architecture, engineering, industrial fabrication, project coordination, or project financing. Because we have such an open mandate for collaboration we don't see other groups as competitors, only as potential collaborators. Therefore our challenge lies in design projects and initiatives that are "win-win" - of value and relevancy to our collaborators. Groups doing similar work we intend to approach include Vancouver Design Nerds, SFU Centre for Dialogue, eatART Foundation, My Loud Speaker, Leadnow.ca, SFU Public Square, Change Lab and OpenMedia.ca.