Thomas Carey, Adam Frye and Blake Melnick
Context: In a previous blog post reporting the Results of our research project on Workplace Innovation and Quality of Work, we noted three Future Directions where further work is needed (beyond the Research-to-Practice knowledge translation processes which were our focus with the individual workplace partners in that project). In this post we explore the first of those Future Directions: using existing collaborations for regional workforce development as the focal point for supporting research-informed advances in employee-led workplace innovation, by adapting a Living Labs model as the structure for ongoing collaborations.
Advancing Capability for Workplace Innovation within Regional Workforce Development
Regional Workforce Development collaborations are a promising level of innovation policy and programs for applying insights on Integration, Scalability and Responsibility for workplace innovation in Canada. In the regional context, there appear to be fewer intergovernmental barriers for collaboration on both economic and social prosperity, and the key decision-makers in the agencies involved already have direct experiences working together on shared goals.
For example, the Newfoundland and Labrador government recently initiated a network of Regional Workforce Development Committees with enhanced missions, including to “create and retain a diverse and inclusive, innovative, and productive workforce” to address “the health, well-being and economic prosperity of all of our regions”. This initiative is being led by our project partner, the NL Workforce Innovation Centre, who have fostered collaborations across regional employers, social sector partners and equity-seeking groups, local governments and numerous provincial-level agencies, including
Department of Industry, Energy and Technology
Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture
Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills
College of the North Atlantic
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Service Canada
In parallel, NL Workforce Innovation Centre is using the development and implementation of these Committees as a case study of innovative regional workforce development collaborations (as a strategic initiative supported by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre).
A complementary development is underway in the southwestern Ontario region served by our partner WEtech Alliance. Workforce WindsorEssex has already brought together a wide range of regional partners to address both economic and social well-being, as well as promoting workforce inclusion and belonging through initiatives such as the Local Immigration Partnership and Empowering Access for Migrant Workers. WEtech Alliance has also been instrumental in developing a community of practice for Workplace Innovation Catalysts across the regional innovation ecosystem, bringing together cohorts from the automotive, healthcare and energy industry sectors in addition to public and social sector partners.
The Living Labs Collaboration Model
In addition to exploring the Research-to-Practice adaptation of insights on workplace innovation capability, in our Workplace Innovation for Quality of Work project we also examined selected insights from European policy and program initiatives designed to advance regional innovation – for potential adaptation in Canadian contexts. The European Living Labs approach, intended to foster open-innovation ecosystems at a regional level, encompassed many of the elements we had identified for our regional collaborations to advance workplace innovation capability.
Here are the defining characteristics, as framed by the European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL):
Living Labs are user-centered, open-innovation ecosystems, often operating in a place-based context (e.g., city, region), integrating concurrent research and innovation processes within a public-private-people partnership.
Key Building Blocks:
Orchestration: the living lab operates as the orchestrator within the ecosystem to connect relevant stakeholders across sectors.
Multi-stakeholder participation: involving stakeholders from the quadruple helix model (government, academia, private sector, and citizens).
Co-creation: in a living lab, values are bottom-up co-created not only for but also by all relevant stakeholders, ensuring a higher level of adoption.
Multiple methods of experimentation: Living Lab activity is problem driven. A variety of approaches are used to align the problem, expected outcomes and stakeholders involved.
Real-life settings: a living lab operates in the real-life setting of the end users, infusing innovations into their real lives.
While using these building blocks to foster Living Lab cross-sector collaborations, our model of regional Living Labs for Workplace Innovation Capability adds these distinctive elements:
The major research emphasis is initially on adapting existing research insights and exemplary practices on workplace innovation for specific Canadian workplace contexts (building on our recent project). Where there are gaps in the research available to address our workplace needs, collaborative applied research as envisioned in the ENOLL model may be undertaken.
Higher education partners in our Living Labs will be contributing beyond collaboration on research. Since our college and university partners are also seeking to develop workplace innovation capability in their graduates, a close collaboration with regional workplaces will help the institutions to align graduate outcomes with employer needs (and vice versa). in addition to application in graduates’ other roles as community members and global citizens).
Insights from Canadian Living Labs
The most extensive adaptation of the Living Labs model in Canada is the Agricultural Climate Solutions – Living Labs initiative led by Agriculture and Agrifood Canada (along with a previous program, the Living Laboratories Initiative, 2018-2022). These networks of regional Living Labs follow the principles of the Key Building Blocks listed above to “bring together farmers, scientists, and other sector stakeholders to co-develop and test innovative technologies and on-farm practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in real-world conditions”.
In addition to the research around sustainable agriculture, this initiative is also conducting research on adaptation of the Living Labs model for their specific goals and context [McPhee et al 2021; Beaudoin et al 2022] and is helping to host an International Forum on Agroecosystem Living Labs in October 2023 in Montreal. This contextualization is of particular interest for our proposed adaptation of a Living Labs model for new goals – advancing capability for employee-led workplace innovation – in a new collaboration context – regional workforce development.
We have also had productive discussions with two Canadian Living Lab initiatives with strong links to regional economic development:
The Summerside Living Lab in Prince Edward Island: The city of Summerside offers “ access to virtual and physical assets that innovators need to develop, deploy, and test solutions” using the city as a Living Lab, with an emphasis on innovations in Sustainability and Net-Zero. In return, the city (and its residents) gets access to leading edge solutions for local infrastructure and service delivery challenges.
The success of this Living Lab led to the city initiating further industry support via the Summerside Xchange, a Startup Accelerator program providing opportunities for innovation testing in real-life contexts, to aid in customer validation for securing further funding or in introducing a product to the North American market. A Living Lab for Workplace Innovation Capability could leverage Summerside’s Living Lab experience to provide another mechanism supporting workplace success, local economic development and inbound investment.
The Pier Living Lab at the Halifax Port Authority in Nova Scotia: The Pier is “a sector-focused living lab for maritime transportation and logistics”. The Pier’s Workforce Development initiative aims to support member organizations in building a more “skilled, diverse, and engaged workforce”. Our discussions suggested complementary opportunities to explore how Living Lab activities in Workplace Innovation Capability could contribute to this goal:
Our model of employee capability in workplace innovation is framed around Skills, Knowledge, Experiences and Motivation to engage effectively with innovation. Leveraging that employee capability also requires organizational capability to encourage, enable and leverage workplace innovation. Research on advancing workplace innovation in the logistics sector [Putnik et al 2019] or in port operations [Szymanowska et al 2023] could provide insights and exemplary practices for potential adaptation by The Pier’s member organizations.
We know that diverse perspectives can be an important asset for innovation teams, especially for breakthrough innovations. Engaging higher education students from a wide range of backgrounds has been a key development in our work with academic partners, now being extended via our proposal for work-integrated learning. This seems to fit well with The Pier’s interest in WIL experiences “to advance a net-zero economy” and its recent WIL partnership with the Business Higher Education Roundtable.
Acknowledgement: The Workplace Innovation and Quality of Work research project was supported in part by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre.
We gained valuable insights from our discussions on The Pier Living Lab with Sherry Scully (Director of Workforce Development) and on the Summerside Living Lab with Mike Thusaska (Summerside’s Director of Economic Development) and Allan Smith (Summerside Xchange Chief Innovation Officer). Thanks to our colleague Anahita Baregheh for making the connection between Living Labs and our goals.
Authors: Thomas Carey is Principal Catalyst for Academic Partnerships with the Workplace Innovation Network for Canada and Executive-in-Residence for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Monash University (Melbourne). Tom was previously a Professor and Associate VP at the University of Waterloo.
Adam Frye is currently a Business Development Manager at ViRTUS in BC and was previously Director of Operations and Partnerships for the WEtech Alliance innovation centre in Windsor (ON) where he led the Innovation Catalysts program. Adam was also a successful entrepreneur in the not-for-profit sector.
Blake Melnik is WINCan’s Principal Catalyst for Workplace Partnerships previously held Chief Knowledge Officer and Chief Operating Officer positions in a variety of industry sectors. He has provided executive support for knowledge strategies in Business, Government, Education, and Not for Profit organizations.
Acknowledgement: Our project on Workplace Innovation and Quality of Work Life is supported by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills program
References:
McPhee, C., Bancerz, M., Mambrini-Doudet, M., Chrétien, F., Huyghe, C., & Gracia-Garza, J. (2021). The defining characteristics of agroecosystem living labs. Sustainability, 13(4), 1718.
Beaudoin, C., Joncoux, S., Jasmin, J. F., Berberi, A., McPhee, C., Schillo, R. S., & Nguyen, V. M. (2022). A research agenda for evaluating living labs as an open innovation model for environmental and agricultural sustainability. Environmental Challenges, 7, 100505. See also Toffolini, Q., Hannachi, M., Capitaine, M., & Cerf, M. (2023). Ideal types of experimentation practices in agricultural Living Labs: Various appropriations of an open innovation model. Agricultural Systems, 208, 103661.
Putnik, K., Oeij, P., Dhondt, S., Van der Torre, W., De Vroome, E., & Preenen, P. (2019). Innovation adoption of employees in the logistics sector in the Netherlands: The role of workplace innovation. European Journal of Workplace Innovation, 4(2), 176-192.
Szymanowska, B. B., Kozłowski, A., Dąbrowski, J., & Klimek, H. (2023). Seaport innovation trends: Global insights. Marine Policy, 152, 105585.