# About this handbook

## Handbook structure

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/jXBMF-xnmgz30Xm1Enxp5bnk7GkQLEbGMJQHTXIoWI1w2wETOmfUy5n6D6OiumKd7CFteFBm3VCe96-r5qhEXD5lD4p2U6UKWNRM0BNqIy6LipJ5FhX2HRROBTODPpOoRG98dNST)

### [**Canadian Labs Landscape**](https://convergehandbook.gitbook.io/labs-handbook/labs-landscape)

Context pieces about social innovation labs and the state of the field in Canada.

### [**Seeing**](https://convergehandbook.gitbook.io/labs-handbook/seeing)

Illuminating the different lenses and tools labs have for seeing complex systems and other world views.

### [**Being**](https://convergehandbook.gitbook.io/labs-handbook/being)

Practices for working with our intrinsic interconnectedness and ensuring that we're making real transformational change.

### [Doing](https://convergehandbook.gitbook.io/labs-handbook/doing)

The ins and outs of running a lab, from getting started to methodologies, funding, lab typologies and evaluation.

## Work in progress - feel free to edit and add!

It's intended that this handbook won't be a static document, but rather a piece of collective infrastructure where developing knowledge from the Canadian labs field can be deposited. It's intended as a shared learning resource. We chose to publish it on GitBook for it's integration with GitHub - the platform that powers the Open Source movement. 

So this Handbook is essentially Open Source. What does that mean? It means anyone can click the \[Edit on GitHub] button on the top right of the screen and propose changes and additions to the handbook for our stewards to approve. For those of you who haven't used GitHub before, [here's a handy guide Enspiral created for people to contribute to their GitBook](https://handbook.enspiral.com/guides/contributing.html). 

If you've got something to add to the Handbook but using the process above don't work for you then you can feel free to email [chloe@humanfutureofwork.ca](mailto://chloe@humanfutureofwork.ca) and I'll add in your changes.

[![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)\
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).

## Background

This handbook has been developed as a knowledge product of the [**CONVERGE Canadian Lab Practitioners Exchange**](https://radiussfu.com/converge-canadian-lab-practitioners-exchange/) hosted by [RADIUS SFU](https://radiussfu.com/) in Vancouver June 27-28. 130 lab practitioners and social innovation enablers came together for rich discussions as a field. This handbook contains a synthesis of those conversations, sharing the insights, questions and provocations our team believed would be useful to the Canadian labs field at large.

## Thanks

This handbook would not be possible without the amazing CONVERGE team, our Advisory Group and generous partners.

**Team :**

* Kiri Bird, Associate Director, RADIUS SFU
* Sara Blenkhorn, CONVERGE Producer + Director of the Leverage Lab
* Nigel Mojica, Communications Officer RADIUS SFU + CONVERGE Co-host
* Chloe Waretini, Designer + Synthesis Reporter

**Advisory group :**

* Aleeya Velji, SHIFT Lab
* Amanda Hachey, NOULab
* Ben Weinlick, Action Lab and Edmonton Shift Lab
* Clare Buré, MaRS Solutions Lab
* Darcy Riddell, McConnell Foundation
* Janey Roh, Kudoz/InWithForward
* Keren Perla, Alberta CoLab
* Kiri Bird, RADIUS SFU
* Lindsay Cole, City of Vancouver
* Sara Blenkhorn, Leverage Lab
* Saralyn Hodgkin, Social Innovation Institute

**Partners :**

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/GJR9tDNNsNlLrMuphGrsZ9iMMS_B_PFi53UTJilwz-HFIpmpbtOUnlR3K4ER7Bx9_os49zmF7q_zKkcaWEYBGf6Gy97udcNY8mIP9d9zvyBkCzzStTthBO5-N3Kzt6r_vNYNZdq0)