Then, now and next 



Before my SiG@MaRS job interview last month, I prepped myself with as much knowledge as possible until I felt fairly confident that I’d be able to carry on a coherent conversation about MaRS and its relationship with social innovation.

However, as my first month of employment quickly drew to an end, I found that (as with most things that require commitment) the more I tried to adopt the social innovation mindset, the more I realized there was still so much to learn.

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to catch the final webinar of the 2011/12 Canadian Social Impact Series called Innovation: then, now and next, moderated by SiG Communications Coordinator, Geraldine Cahill and presented by MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht.

Ilse explained both the evolution of MaRS and where it sees itself moving in the future. She covered MaRS’ roots and the best practices around the world that are informing its development. Especially helpful for me was hearing how MaRS embraced social innovation from the beginning and why it’s important that we all work together.

“Innovation works best in a system in which the dots are connected and where there is alignment of interest in the goals of that system… It’s going to take a collective effort if we are going to deal with these challenges [climate change, child poverty, aging populations, etc.] that have grown in intensity” Ilse Treurnicht.

Watch the full webinar to hear about the next steps for SiG and MaRS, and to get a more in-depth understanding of how this partnership has evolved.

Check out the slide deck here!

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Tags: SiG@MaRS, Social Innovation