Social Innovation Project | Centre for Student Engagement

Social Innovation Project. Banner depicting two students collaborating on a project.

What is a Social Innovation Project?

Local not-for-profit organizations are often faced with multiple resource challenges and competing needs that they need to prioritize. Functional needs come first, but many of these organizations may not always have the time, or financial resources to allocate to exploring new opportunities and innovative ideas that could potentially bring exciting initiatives to their operations.

This is where you come in! Social Innovation Projects pair a team of student volunteers with a community organization who have identified a challenge or problem within their organization. The team of UTM students will work together with the organization over a 16-week period to come up with an achievable solution for that problem. Volunteers can also decide to choose to join the Research stream which emphasizes developing efficient and ethical research practices as well as providing the opportunity to work closer with UTM faculty members and what they are researching!

As a volunteer, you will be working on real-life projects to develop an attainable solution for a community organization that you will present back. In addition to working closely with your community partner and student volunteer team, students will have the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor to connect to classroom learning and gain access to additional resources. Participating students will be able to develop the following competencies:

Community and civic engagement
Decision-making and action
Design Thinking
Collaboration
Professionalism
Strategic thinking
Teamwork

Responsibilities

Volunteers must:

Develop a project that meets the challenge of a community-identified issue, working with a team of other student volunteers and a project leader.
Volunteer two to five hours per week on your own time to meet milestones of your project (breaks for reading week and exams are accommodated).
Complete online training modules and attend weekly team meetings with your group of volunteers and CSE student staff overseeing the project
Arrange and attend (virtual) faculty and community partner check-ins: quantity and dates are up to students, but a minimum of three check-ins each are required.
Attend the Social Innovation Project Wrap-Up Event; students will prepare and present project details in the form of a poster.

Students will be required to attend synchronous virtual weekly one-hour team meetings but will be able to work on individual tasks asynchronously to fulfill project needs.

Important Dates:

Applications Open: Monday, September 11, 2023
Applications Close: Friday, September 29, 2023
Kick-off Event: Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Wrap-Up Event: Friday, March 15, 2024

2023-2024 Projects

Information About Neurodiversity for Crisis Responders at Caledon Dufferin Victim Services

Organization: Caledon Dufferin Victim Services

CDVS provides immediate short term emotional support, information and referral to victims of crime and tragedy in the Caledon and Dufferin area.

Challenge

Our organization supports victims of crime or tragedy, some of which are neurodiverse. Staff and Crisis Responders require information and training about neurodiversity in order to enhance our programs

Project

CDVS needs help to develop information about neurodiversity such as brochures and fact sheets which will be used to train our staff and crisis responders. CDVS also needs to create 'kits' to help neurodiverse individuals engage with our program and have a richer client experience

Helpful Skills:

Able to research topic's most up to date Canadian information available
Design/layout brochure/rack card
Knowledge of or interest in neurodiversity

Academic Areas:

Social Sciences
Criminology
Humanities
English
Professional Writing & Communication
Communication Culture Technology
Life Sciences

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

Plan to Elevate Intercultural Learning at UTM with the International Education Centre

Organization: International Education Centre

The International Education Centre (IEC) team at the University of Toronto Mississauga has a mission to be “an innovative, collaborative, and globally significant leader in the internationalization of the student experience” supporting students to become global citizens. The IEC serves a broad student population that includes both domestic and international students and provides a broad range of programming from supporting international students in acclimatizing to life as a student in Canada to providing intercultural learning and learning abroad opportunities for both domestic and international students.

Challenge

There is no shortage of programs and activities on campus and students are inundated with offerings from various campus departments. How do we get students to see the value in intercultural and global learning and prioritize it?

Project

Students are diverse, and international students are no exception. This project seeks to understand how culture impacts all students – both domestic and international, and asks an important question: how can we help all students to become global citizens?

Helpful Skills:

Socially Justice Awareness
Innovative
Communication

Academic Areas:

Anthropology
Sociology
Political Science

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

Volunteer-Recruitment Strategy for Community on Campus

Organization: Community Living Mississauga (Community on Campus)

Community on Campus is a program offered by Community Living Mississauga in collaboration with University of Toronto Mississauga that provides a university experience for people from the community who have an intellectual disability. Community on Campus participants and UTM student volunteers participate in various social, recreational and educational opportunities on campus.

Community on Campus is a program offered through Community Living Mississauga, a non-profit organization that has been providing supports and services to people who have an intellectual disability for over 65 years.

Challenge

Since returning from a 3 year closure due to Covid-19, Community on Campus is struggling to regain a strong, committed group of student volunteers to support the program.

Project

We are hoping to create a multi-faceted volunteer recruitment strategy to onboard student volunteers to support the Community on Campus program. This may include a social media strategy, on campus outreach and engagement through student groups.

Helpful Skills:

Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills
Creativity
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Advocacy

Academic Areas:

Psychology
Management
Sociology
Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
Political Science

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

UTM Community Garden Program with the UTM Sustainability Office

Organization: UTM's Sustainability Office

Established in 2004, UTM’s Sustainability Office develops and promotes initiatives under several categories:

Transportation
Academics and curricula
Research
Energy and climate change
Waste reduction and resource recovery
Environmental conservation
Community and campus engagement

Our vision is to foster the culture of sustainability to become a world leader in sustainable practice. Influenced by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), our commitment also encompasses the 17 United Nations SDGs.

UTM is a Silver certified institution under the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). The Sustainability Office serves the entire UTM community, through operations, academics, and engagement.

Challenge

UTM's Sustainability Strategic Plan's Food & Dining pillar goal 5.7 is to support on-campus food production. Currently UTM only has food production that supports UTM kitchens, but not the community.

Project

We are hoping students can create a pilot program for a UTM community garden (e.g. what would the program look like?, how would we roll it out?)

Helpful Skills:

Communication (respectful and timely completion of work)
Ability to take initiative
Organization
Resourcefulness
Critical thinking

Academic Areas:

Sustainability
Environmental management
Geography

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

Physical Activity Program for Jake’s House

Organization: J ake's House

Our mission is to provide meaningful support to families living with autism across Canada. We serve communities in the GTA, as well as London & Ottawa, through a variety of initiatives including: the Legends Mentoring Program (recreational weekly workshops throughout the year), the Employment Training Program, an Alternative Housing Program and social events.

Jake's House Legend's Mentoring Program has a variety of recreational programs for individuals and families living with autism. Paired with caring mentors, individuals with autism—or the mentees—gain a personal advocate to understand, encourage and guide them. Mentors and mentees spend regular, quality time together, developing relationships and sharing experiences that truly reward and can transform both sides.

Challenge

Jake's House Legend's Mentoring Program wants to provide as many recreational programs to our families as possible - as we are a small team we struggle to find the resources and time to develop programs from scratch.

Project

We are hoping to develop an active program for our January-March 2024 quarter to encourage physical activity in our community and provide those who enjoy being active with a comfortable space to do so.

Helpful Skills:

Leadership
Interpersonal Skills
Willingness to Learn
Organized
Collaborative
Positive
Empathetic

Academic Areas:

Social Sciences
Psychology
Life Sciences

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: Yes (details will be sent to project members).

Mental Health Workshop for Varman’s Smile Foundation

Organization: Varman's Smile Foundation

Varman's Smile Foundation is a non-profit organization focusing on mental health, specifically its effects on students. Our goal is to create a safe space for individuals to come and share their stories, as well as be able to find various resources that can be of help.

Challenge

How can we lessen the stress that many students face, where are these stress factors located and what can we do to troubleshoot or help solve this issue. Can these solutions be a long term and impactful.

Project

Research ways in which universities can improve mental health for students: their desired changes, feasible actions, and present to the board. Then with the data collected, create a workshop that is interactive and innovative, and aligns with VSmile’s mission and promotes mental health.

Helpful Skills:

Creative
Innovative
Problem-solving
Communicative
Organized

Academic Areas:

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

A Strategic Plan To Reduce CO2 Emission Via Emails With Let’s Get Together

Organization: Let's Get Together

We are a non profit organization whose mission is to make learning equitable and education accessible. We vision a world where every youth has equal opportunity to pursue higher education with no barriers and purposeful support. We achieve this through student-led initiatives that inspire youth connections and mentorship opportunities while helping parents understand the challenges youth face today so they can learn how best to support their child in building their own bright future. While our focus is on supporting students, who we help through students engagement are seniors, children, families and the greater community.

We currently help all members of the community by providing them a chance to own a computer, increase their digital literacy and tech skills, and then connect to resources and people who can help them advance their education, gain employment, connect to community/family and achieve well-being.

Challenge

Work alongside a group of high school students to reduce CO2 emission in the Peel Region by reducing email usage, better email account and data storage management.

Project

We would like to develop a strategic plan on how to reduce CO2 emission via emails amongst students and corporations and produce the marketing materials and resources required to execute the strategy. We would like to pilot parts of the strategy during the winter reading week.

Helpful Skills:

Media and social media marketing
Graphic design
Video editing
Use of canva
Business development

Academic Areas:

Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
Environment
Geography
Management
Psychology

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: TBD (details will be sent to project members).

Digital Literacy Workshops for Parents & Families with Let’s Get Together

Organization: Let's Get Together

Challenge

Our organization would like to help make learning more equitable and education accessible by giving families and students in need a computer to own. Then, we hope the UTM students can develop interactive workshops that will help increase the families digital literacy and tech skills so they can better navigate the school system and create their own digital literacy plan so they can better support their child in education.

Project

We are hoping to create a series of interactive digital literacy workshops (both online and in person) for parents and families to help them better understand their computers as well as navigate the school website and system so they can support their own learning and their child's education.

Helpful Skills:

Fluent in Digital Literacy
IT Skills
Creative
Graphic Design
Video Editing

Academic Areas:

Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
Psychology

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

Kickstart TikTok & Reinvigorate Social Media for Eden Food for Change

Organization: Eden Food for Change

Eden has been operating food banks in western Mississauga for over 33 years, and currently provide food access to over a thousand food insecure households and over 3500 individuals monthly, including newcomers to Mississauga. As well, Eden operates a cooking school for food bank members and a professional culinary training program for individuals wanting to be employed as chefs. In Eden’s commercial kitchen, they produce hot meals for the Meals-on-Wheels program throughout Mississauga and Oakville.

Prior the pandemic, Eden provided 492 000 pounds of food a year and its community engagement program provided over 30 000 culturally appropriate meals to households in the city.

However, Currently, the organization is experiencing a surge due to the rise in food cost and overall inflation in the country. With an increase of over 100% in people accessing Eden's food banks, the charity is expected to have given out over 1.3 million lbs of food, and over 100,00 lbs prepared meals to food-insecure families. Of the total individuals served each month by Eden, 40% are kids and youth.

Challenge

Currently, Eden food foe change is not getting as much social media interactions as we hope.

Project

We are hoping to kick-start a new social media account - tiktok, and also looking for ways to achieve more with the existing ones.

Helpful Skills:

Digital Marketing
Social Media Influencing
Content Creation
Graphics Design
Media Coverage (photography and videography)

Academic Areas:

Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
Digital Enterprise Management

Vulnerable Sector Check Required: No

Academic areas are suggestions to help find your fit. You are not required to be in one of the listed programs to apply to a project.

Building Partnerships

To develop new initiatives, we encourage partners in the community to connect with us to explore ways we can work together to provide these opportunities at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and in the local community.

We invite schools, parents and families, local community organizations, and UTM community mentors and student groups to explore how we can work together. If you are interested in partnering with the Centre for Student Engagement on Social Innovation Projects, please fill out the Community Partner Interest Form.

Inquiries

For all questions and feedback regarding Social Innovation Projects, please contact:

Marlo Young-Sponga
Community Engaged Learning and Partnerships Coordinator

CSE Connect Corner - DV2077 (Find us on a map here!)
Email: marlo.young.sponga@utoronto.ca