What is the Collective Imagination Practice Community (CIPC)?

Innovation doesn’t always happen in labs, sometimes, it begins in a classroom, a community centre, or a kitchen table conversation. Over the past decade, CCSIF-funded initiatives have empowered colleges and community partners to solve problems that matter most: Vital Solutions addressing food security. The Behavioural Analysis Unit exploring human-centred research. The Life Skills Project strengthening resilience through education. These are more than projects; they’re testaments to what happens when collaboration turns into measurable change. Explore their stories in our new CCSIF Legacy recap. #AppliedResearch #CCSIF #SSHRC #CommunityInnovation #ImpactInAction Sara Cumming, PhD

Social impact has always been at the heart of CQUniversity. Now, it’s the new name of CQU’s changemaker team: introducing the Social Impact Lab! Formerly the Office of Social Innovation, this big-impact team works across CQU and with the community, to tackle systemic problems for people, planet and society. Their long-running impact has helped make us Australia's first and only social enterprise university, certified by Social Traders In 2025, the Social Impact Lab has already worked with Queensland Social Enterprise Council, ArcBlue, Smart Precinct NQ, Life Skills Queensland, Ability Enterprises, Fruit2WorkAus, IMPACT Community Services Bundaberg and many more. Connect with the Social Impact Lab to make change for good! LEARN MORE: https://ow.ly/NZiW50X8Uns

Exciting News! The Office of Social Innovation has officially evolved into the Social Impact Lab, a name that better reflects the transformative work our team is doing in communities across Queensland. Did you know that social innovation is embedded in over 92% of CQUniversity courses? The Lab is now a vibrant hub where innovation pedagogy meets real-world impact, supporting and collaborating with students, staff (teaching and research) and communities to co-create solutions that matter. One example: "Co-designing Confidence: Careers in Health for All" is a new initiative supported by the Queensland Government’s Growing Workforce Participation Fund. This collaborative project brings together neurodivergent nursing students, academics, healthcare providers, support services, and the Social Impact Lab to build inclusive employment pathways and supports in the health sector. There have been so many amazing colleagues who have worked with us at the Office of Social Innovation - and I know how pleased they will be to see this latest iteration! Lara Carton Dr Tobias Andreasson Ashley Clarke Francois Gallais Sara Brown Mary Bolling Olav Muurlink Ruby Smith Robin Dick Dr Linda De George-Walker Dr Yannick van Hierden Gayle Evans

💡 #CitizenScience Resource Looking to make Citizen Science a long-term part of your institution’s culture? The TIME4CS project has an open-access Reflection Tool for Institutional Change in Citizen Science. This tool helps organisations move from ambition to action by: 🔹 Identifying Grounding Actions — practical, context-specific steps institutions can take to embed Citizen Science. 🔹 Building a change roadmap — including a shared vision, success indicators, key stakeholders, challenges, resources, and timelines. 🔹 Learning from real examples — four TIME4CS partner institutions have already used the tool, selecting 19 Grounding Actions and publishing their own roadmaps for change. 🔎 Explore more: https://lnkd.in/egTF8Ria #InstitutionalChange #OpenAccess #ResearchCulture #PublicEngagement

ACE Evaluation Network Member Shelli Golson-Mickens, Senior Associate at Innovation Network, reflects on embodying values, embracing abundance, and enacting collective action through the Building a Supportive Evaluation Ecosystem Network (B-SEEN) framework. Her reflection explores how evaluators, funders, and community members can work together to cultivate an equitable evaluation ecosystem grounded in care and abundance. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/evf9Mw9c

The PMD Foundation partners with researchers worldwide to accelerate progress by funding studies, building collaborations, and providing access to family registries and natural history data. These efforts make it possible to better understand how PMD and PMLD develop, and to move closer to future treatments. Want to meet the doctors driving this work? 👩🔬👨🔬 👩🔬👨🔬 Get to know our researchers here: https://lnkd.in/e2aQWgP

Why RETECH Foundation Book Clubs (RFBCs)? At RETECH Foundation, we believe that readers become leaders and our Book Clubs are designed to make that happen. Here’s why we run RFBCs: To nurture a lifelong love for reading. To improve literacy and academic performance. To sharpen critical thinking and problem-solving skills. To build confidence and strong communication abilities. To provide a safe, creative space for young learners. To foster teamwork and peer-to-peer learning. To connect education with fun and curiosity. To support under-resourced schools with structured reading programs. To inspire future leaders who are informed and enlightened. To empower a generation with knowledge to end poverty, hunger, and inequality. #WeLoveToRead #BookClubs #CreatingACommunityOfLifelongLearners #RETECHFoundation

🌍 Tomorrow’s Changemakers are stepping up… and the journey starts now! At Cymbrogi, we help young people become the changemakers our world needs. Through our Tomorrow’s Changemakers programme, learners explore the systems that shape our lives: food, energy, materials, design and imagine bold, sustainable solutions. This isn’t just theory. It’s real-world, project-based learning that connects schools with local industry, community partners, and the natural environment. From classroom to community, learners build creativity, teamwork, and confidence by solving challenges that matter. We’ve already worked with nearly 2,000 learners across Wales, co-designing challenges with partners like Port of Milford Haven, Bluestone National Park Resorts Ltd (Marten Lewis), CWM Environmental (Sean Gallagher), Woodknowledge Wales and Morgan Sindall Construction (Owen Stacey) - investing in green skills and social value. Next up: our Hackathon event, where ideas come to life. Learners will prototype solutions, pitch their visions, and show what happens when education meets purpose (at the National Botanic Garden of Wales - Gardd Fotaneg Genedlaethol Cymru , no less!) 👉Click the link to see 2023’s full Hackathon video, also held in the Botanic Gardens - https://lnkd.in/eKSNmUA7 Liza Lort-Phillips Ian Chriswick Neil Thomas Rhidian James #Hackathon #CymbrogiHackathon #projectbasedlearning 🌍 #sustainability 🙏 #wellbeing 🌈 #creativity 🙌 #collaboration

As Open Access Week draws to a close, I’m delighted to share that Bristol University Press has launched the Global Social Challenges Development Fund. Complementing the exciting scholarship being published in the #GSCJournal, this fund will support Global South scholars, ECRs & open access to research that drives real change. 📚 Make research accessible. Fight misinformation. Amplify marginalised voices. 👉 More information here: Bristol University Press | Global Social Challenges Development Fund #OpenAccess #GlobalSouth #SDGs #equitablepublishing #openresearch David Simon Katie Foxall

Members of the REACH Community Involvement Steering Group connected again yesterday to begin laying the tracks for the development of a Community Involvement Framework for the coproduction of research insights. The first stage was to review the initial values established by the group before considering them in light of the research process, and where and how these values can be integrated. The Group then welcomed Jonathan Wistow from Durham University to jointly review and establish the themes, issues and areas of interest that they currently consider a priority for research and evaluation. There is a lot of track to go but the process is in motion and we look forward to more creative workshops ahead!