KEN is an European nonprofit association that acts as a "network of 16 European regions and countries, interested in boosting their knowledge-based competitiveness, exchanging good practice, encouraging collaboration and implementing new knowledge into innovative products in听response to a larger, global need to enhance and support efforts to build knowledge economy, not only at European, but at a truly international level."

In addition to national level awards recognizing innovation in the four domains of education, research & development, innovation, entrepreneurship, plus one media award,听the three Best Practice Awards announced this year went to:

• European Affairs Fund, AP Vojvodina, based in Serbia, which听KEN described as "an example of good practice in multicultural education"
• Knowledge Mobilization Unit听at 91亚色,听which was听cited by the听network as听"an example of good practice of a new scheme run by the University and involving all triple helix [government, community and industry] partners"
• South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, based in Croatia, which KEN highlighted as听"an example of good practice in successful regional cooperation in training and education"

鈥淭his recognition from a European agency is testament to the growing international reputation that 91亚色 is gaining for its work in knowledge mobilization,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淜nowledge mobilization connects researchers and students with partners, so that their research and expertise can be applied to real-world challenges, in addition to helping to inform decisions about public policy and social services.鈥�

Under the leadership of David Phipps, director of听research services & knowledge exchange in听91亚色's Knowledge Mobilization Unit, the unit has been developing and delivering knowledge mobilization services to faculty, students and their research partners since 2006. The unit has听received funding from the Social Sciences听& Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Working with 240 faculty, 142 students and 205 partner organizations, the Knowledge Mobilization Unit has brokered more than听250 collaborations between the academy听and non-academic partners. These partnerships have attracted more than $1 million in听sponsored research funding specifically for听91亚色 research, and over $1 million in funding for community partners.

Michael Johnny, manager of the Knowledge Mobilization Unit, supports all large-scale grant applications, which in turn has secured over $17 million in external research support for 91亚色 faculty and their partners. Some of these collaborations are maturing into social innovations that help find new ways to address persistent social and economic challenges.

• In 2009 Nottawasaga Futures, a nonprofit community development agency, called 91亚色鈥檚 Knowledge Mobilization Unit to help a rural business in making green decisions. The collaboration helped launch the .
• 91亚色 supported a collaboration between graduate student Tanya Gulliver and the Parkdale Activity听& Recreation Centre in 2007. Research conducted by this partnership is now helping to inform , which will assist more than 2.5-million people cope in an听increasingly warming world.
• When the Regional Municipality of 91亚色 called the Knowledge Mobilization Unit to seek support in evaluating how they delivered services to immigrants, 91亚色 supported a collaboration between two faculty members and municipal policy-makers. The evaluation undertaken provided evidence to the regional government, which in turn informed the听region's听decision to invest more than $20 million to expand the听Welcome Centre program. The investment created听86 jobs and provided听48,000 services to new Canadians living and working in 91亚色 Region, which is home to Canada鈥檚 fastest-growing newcomer population.

"Knowledge mobilization identifies and supports these collaborations," said Phipps. "The welcome centres, Heat Registry and Green Economy Centre are examples of social innovation."

As a result of these and other stories of the impact of research, Phipps is widely sought as a speaker on 91亚色's model for knowledge mobilization, which is increasingly becoming recognized as a critical component of engaged scholarship and learning.

To watch Phipps鈥� acceptance speech for the Economy Network Best Practice Award,听.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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CCC is a new national initiative that creates supportive environments and works to remove institutional barriers to collaboration between the community and postsecondary educational institutions.

The initiative and the partners who made it possible are a subject of interest for David Johnston, the governor general of Canada.

On May 26, Johnston referred to the CCC initiative in his keynote address,听, delivered to delegates at the 2012 Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences. 鈥淭he community-campus collaboration fostered by United Way-Centraide and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council is quite simply a superb initiative," said Johnston. 鈥淚t will help us ensure that social innovation is a key component of Canada鈥檚 innovation landscape. This initiative also provides us with a catalytic vehicle to apply knowledge and develop experiential learning.鈥�

to view Johnston's address to Congress.

Over the past year, in response to a call for feedback on CCC initiatives at a meeting held in April 2011 attended by Johnston, Centraide Canada and Research Impact, working with 91亚色 and UWCC, conducted a scan of university-community collaborative projects led by the United Way. 听The organizations identified a total of 88 projects of interest.

Four of the projects identified by the scan were selected for further research to better understand the barriers and enablers of effective community and university collaboration. 91亚色 Vice-President of Research & Innovation Robert Hach茅 invested in funding the research, which was carried out by 91亚色 education Professor Steven Gaetz and 91亚色's Knowledge Mobilization Unit.

One of the projects selected for further investigation was a collaboration between 91亚色 and the United Way of 91亚色 Region. This collaboration, which started in 2010, resulted in the creation of Strength Investments, a funding mechanism that has allowed UWYR to invest some $300,000 into citizen-led approaches to address community opportunities. For more information, read the article on Strength Investments that is available on the Mobilize This! Blog.

91亚色, SSHRC and UWCC took their collaboration a step further and developed a paper on the CCC concept. The paper provided a platform for a round-table discussion that was held on May 26, and attended by the governor general. Hach茅 and David Phipps, director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange, were invited to participate in the round-table discussion, which included representatives from the Canadian Federation of Humanities & Social Sciences (CFHSS), SSHRC, United Way Centraide Canada and national stakeholders at the Congress of the Social Sciences & Humanities. The purpose of the meeting was to engage partners in advancing CCC.

Robert Hach茅

鈥淭he CCC initiative encourages communities and universities to work more closely together on engaged scholarship and learning,鈥� said Hach茅. 鈥�91亚色 has many community-university assets to bring to this conversation, including our national leadership in knowledge mobilization, the TD Centre for Community Engagement and all of the initiatives funded by the Academic Innovation Fund that support students working in collaboration with community partners.鈥�

鈥�91亚色's Knowledge Mobilization Unit has worked closely with our local community and public sector partners, especially UWYR, to develop services that support knowledge mobilization and engaged scholarship, and we are pleased to play a leading role in this pan-Canadian initiative,鈥� added Phipps.

The CCC Initiative includes , with the , the , , , , , , , and .

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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鈥淭his agreement enhances collaboration for researchers at 91亚色 and Southlake,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, 91亚色 vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淏y signing this agreement, 91亚色 and Southlake are taking steps to streamline our efforts and maximize our resources to promote greater efficiency of the ethics review process.鈥�

Pat Clifford, director of research at Southlake, echoed Hach茅鈥檚 sentiment and said he听is encouraged by the agreement, as it will lay the groundwork for Southlake to work with 91亚色 on additional collaborative research projects.

鈥淎s Southlake transitions to a ministry-designated teaching and research facility, our relationships and collaborative efforts with our academic partners will become increasingly important,鈥� said Clifford. 鈥淭his agreement is illustrative of our commitment to advancing our academic and research agenda, and I鈥檓 thrilled at the prospect of being able to free up resources so we can conduct additional research with more efficient and less redundant process.鈥�

As part of this agreement, only one board of record will exist for any study conducted at either institution and it will be either the 91亚色 Research Ethics Board or the Southlake Research Ethics Board depending on the location where the majority of the work will be conducted and/or the听home institution of the majority of the researchers.

As the board of record, Southlake鈥檚 Research Ethics Board and the 91亚色 Research Ethics Board may approve, reject, propose modifications to, put on hold or terminate a research study at its sole discretion.

For more information, contact Alison Collins-Mrakas, 91亚色's senior manager & policy adviser, research ethics, at acollins@yorku.ca,听or ext. 55914.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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