Through the “Mindful Social Innovation” pedagogy championed by The Global MINDS Collective, participants will work in teams to co-design a mindful social innovation that addresses a complex mental health and psychosocial challenge.
Teams will address one of three complex challenges presented by “stakeholder partners”. Stakeholder partners are international and/or local organizations that are currently working to support global mental health innovation. More details on stakeholder partners and the complex challenges will be announced soon.
About Mindful Social Innovation:
The Mindful Social Innovation (MSI) pedagogy is defined as the essential and authentic quest of self- and system-transformation.
MSI creates the spaces to become deeply aware and radically accept internal experiences, to ignite and manifest societal change and impact.
Practically, this enables individuals and communities to cultivate mindful values and behaviours (e.g. self-awareness, authentic listening, and collective wisdom), while simultaneously harnessing a diverse range of innovation tools and techniques (e.g. through human-centered design and systems thinking).
Sprint overview:
The sprint will occur over Zoom across two days (4-5 hours per day). 12 teams (of 4-5 participants each) will be facilitated through sessions of: mindfulness practices, sense-making, ideating, and prototyping. A dedicated “sprint coach” (facilitator) for each team will provide support throughout the process. The sprint ends with teams pitching their social innovations to a panel of judges (who includes the stakeholder partner and advisory board members).
In the first round, the 12 teams are divided into three ‘pitching rooms’ of five teams each. Teams will have 5 minutes to pitch their social innovation to the stakeholder partner and a judge, and 7 minutes for a questions and answers (Q&A) period. The judges will evaluate each team and select the top pitch/team from each ‘pitching room’ to advance to the second and final round. The second round will feature the pitches of the top three teams. Each of the three teams will have 5 minutes to pitch to the stakeholder partner and a panel of judges, followed by 7 minutes of Q&A.
The winning team will have the opportunity to support the stakeholder partner in designing and implementing the social innovation, including receiving coaching from technical experts.
Registering for the Sprint:
- As a first-come, first-serve basis, 12 teams will be permitted to join.
- Teams must select a team leader. The team leader will be responsible for registering the team through Eventbrite. Then, the team leader will receive an email to complete a survey to provide information about the team (e.g., team name, and the names and emails of all team members). At least one individual on the team should identify as a youth (age 16 – 35 years old).
- Upon submission of the survey, a calendar invite and Zoom link for the sprint will be sent, as well as a brief ‘Handbook for the Mindful Social Innovation Sprint,’ which provides further details about the sprint.
The Sprint in Steps:
- During the first day, the stakeholder partner will present their complex challenge.
- Then, in breakout rooms and guided by their sprint coach, teams will be facilitated through activities to begin conceptualizing and brainstorming the social innovation. The stakeholder partner representatives will also provide brief, specialized coaching to each team.
- During the beginning of the second day, teams will be facilitated through new activities to revise and finalize their social innovation.
- The last 2 hours of the second day will be dedicated to pitching, which includes two rounds.
- In the first round, the 12 teams are divided into three ‘pitching rooms’ of four teams each. Teams will have 5 minutes to pitch their social innovation to the stakeholder partner and a judge, and 5 minutes for a questions and answer period (Q&A). The judges will evaluate each team and select the top pitch/team from each ‘pitching room’ to advance to the second and final round. The second round will feature the pitches of the top three teams. Each of the three teams will have 5 minutes to pitch to the stakeholder partner and a panel of judges, followed by 8 minutes of Q&A.
- In the days immediately following the Imaginarium, the winning team will be announced.
Social Innovation Evaluation:
- Pitches will be presented in English and will be evaluated based on the following criteria: relevance, inclusivity, research based, sustainability, scalability, feasibility, potential for impact, and presentation of pitch. More information on these criteria will be shared with teams once registration has been completed.
The stakeholder partner and complex challenge
The stakeholder partner and their associated complex challenge will be shared in late December 2022.