News

Innovative Collaborations Workshop

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:07:00 +1000

The Social Innovator Dialogues are back in town this month and this time we've got Canadian collaboration innovator Tonya Surman at the helm with a series of highly interactive workshops in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.

This workshop invites you to bring your own collaboration challenges and experiences to a group learning space as we co-create a more robust tool kit for innovative collaborations.

For more info check out our Social Innovator Dialogues page.

Check out the vids of Ezio Manzini's tour

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:51:00 +1000

We were delighted to have Ezio Manzini tour as part of the Social Innovator Dialogues in July as we tackled issues around design for social innovation and sustainability. If you missed out, or want a second showing, then you're in luck! Ezio's presentations and video of his lectures are now available online.

Check them out here.

Ezio's tour sparked some strong debate and brought together a range of actors associated with social innovation in Australia. In particular, we're excited to see the emergence of a movement amongst designers, academics and design insitutions towards an Australian node in the DESIS (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) Network.

Our September tour, featuring Canadian social innovator and collaboration expert, Tonya Surman, is currently being finalised so keep an eye out for those workshops coming up at the end of September.

Meet the Challenge shortlist

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:43:00 +1000

At first there were 258 and now there are 12. The shortlist for the Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge has been made and now our 12 hardy survivors will be rolling up their sleeves as part of Stage 2. But before the hard work starts - here's a big congratulations to all 12!

Want to know who they are? Then check out our 2010 Shortlist page for more details. It's been a difficult task for the judges to choose between such a diverse array of inventive, thoughtful and worthy projects and there were so many more projects that showed a combination of either innovation, implementation or social impact.

The final 12 now move into Stage 2 of the Challenge where they work with TACSI to develop an implementable project plan that shows in detail why their idea is innovative, how it can be implemented and the social impacts it will have on communities in Australia.

We've put everyone's pitches online on our TACSI Challenge Vimeo Channel so you can have a look at the breadth and variety of projects that were offered.

We're also giving individual feed back to all our applicants because we think it's important to share our experience, decision-making process and reactions to their ideas to help more of these great ideas get off the ground.

We think the ideas in our shortlist are exciting and address a diverse range of issues affecting Australian communities in a wide variety of ways. The Challenge is really hotting up now - we've got $1 million to invest and our 12 finalists need to demonstrate over the next 3 months that their project should be supported. It's going to be an exciting time for us all!

Jobs at TACSI

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:40:00 +1000

TACSI has 3 great new positions open now for high energy, proactive, intelligent, resilient, flexible, versatile and genuinely dynamic individuals. These kinds of opportunities don't come along everyday - so what are you waiting for?!

We're looking for the consumate completer finisher to make sure our Centre runs like clockwork and two project officers who want to get their hands dirty on our Challenge and Ageing Society projects doing everything from research to venture support.

As a small not-for-profit startup everyone at TACSI has the opportunity to be involved with work above and beyond their roles and really sink their teeth in to some of the most interesting possibilities around. So come and join us - and get ready to inspire and be inspired.

All 3 positions are based in Adelaide, South Australia. For more information check out our Jobs With Us page.

Designing Innovation: Ezio Manzini

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:17:00 +1000

Join us as renowned sustainability and design thinker, Ezio Manzini, hits our shores for the Social Innovator Dialogues to share his insights and experience on social innovation and design and ways forward for sustainable environmental and social systems.

TACSI, along with partners ASIX and the Centre for Social Impact, have joined forces to deliver the Social Innovator Dialogues. An opportunity to engage with some of the leading thinkers and doers in the social innovation space.

And what a way to kick off. This July come spend some time with Ezio Manzini, Professor of Design at the Politecnico di Milano, Honorary Doctor at The New School of New York (2006) and at the Goldsmiths College of London (2008) and honorary professor at the Glasgow School of Art (2009).

Ezio Manzini is no stranger to the social innovation arena. His work includes building environments that encourage and support social innovation and how design-thinking, particular co-design (a project process driven by end-users, local groups and service providers) can create sustainable positive change. Several of his papers are available here.

Presently, his main interests are design for social innovation and he is promoter and coordinator of DESIS Network, an international network on Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability (http://www.desis-network.org ).

Masterclasses and free public forums are being held in Adelaide (12 July), Melbourne (14 July) and Sydney (15/16 July) so to register for your spot go to www.sidialogues.org.au.

Let the judging begin!

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:03:00 +1000

With a weighty tome of 258 applications, our Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge Judging Panel are engaged in a herculean feat as they read, discuss and score. And there's only a month til you find out what they decide!

With ideas ranging across the social innovation spectrum we're currently buried deep in research as we look at what's really innovative, what could have impact and whether implementation is feasibile.

Watch this space because in July you'll see just what Australia has come up with, which unmet social needs are high on the public national agenda in 2010 and just how they think those issues should be addressed.

We'll be sharing the pitches of all our applicants and you'll be able to comment on those ideas as well as celebrate the lucky few who make it to our final shortlist.

Those shortlisted applicants will have three months to develop a full business plan for implementation of their project and in October our judges will meet again to decide just who TACSI will be investing in for Challenge 2010.

Applications are now closed for Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:09:00 +1000

Applications are now closed for the Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge. Congratulations to all 254 of our applicants! We look forward to getting to know you better.

Next steps? We have to get down to the exciting, tough job of choosing our shortlist. It's not going to be easy but we're feeling inspired by the great ideas our applicants are sharing in the name of social innovation.

Keep an eye on the Challenge pages for all the latest and even some sneak peaks at some of those amazing projects...

Bold Ideas, Better Lives: Applications open

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:57:00 +1100

Applications are now open for the Bold Ideas, Better Lives Challenge. So if you've got a big idea we're offering up to $1 million and capacity building partnerships to turn your idea into reality.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity. Read all about it on our Challenge pages and apply.

We’re committed to supporting up to 10 projects that show the best and brightest ideas in social innovation across Australia. Your idea could deal with anything from healthcare to climate change, unemployment to the internet as long as it addresses a social need faced by communities in Australia.

The Bold Ideas, Better Lives Challenge is open to just about anyone - you could be an individual, a group of friends, an organisation, a private company - from anywhere in the world, as long as your idea addresses a social need faced by communities in Australia we want to hear from you.

So don't keep your ideas to yourselves - set them to work to make our world a better place.

What is social innovation?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:29:00 +1100

Coming up with a definition for social innovation is a labour of love but luckily our friends at the Gulbenkian Institute (Fundcao Calouste Gulbenkian) and SIX (Social Innovation Exchange) have come up with a great visual intro to social innovation as part of their Fix the Future program.

You can check it out on our What is Social Innovation? page.

2010: An Innovation Odyssey

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:00:00 +1100

Space may be 'the final frontier' but we think there's a whole lot more to discover back here on planet Earth. And part of that is answers to why we are still seeing significant social disadvantage and a whole host of unmet social needs across the globe.

As we launch into our 2010 Program, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation is looking at different ways we can address those needs. We're working to identify and support the innovative ideas, methods and people that will contribute to and accelerate positive social change.

Our 2010 Program is built around 3 key initiatives.

First - the Bold Ideas, Better Lives Challenge. We want to connect with individuals, groups and organisations who have an idea or a project that can create change in their society. Your idea could address anything from climate change to unemployment, discrimination to healthcare and everywhere in between. We'll work with you to build your capacity to implement your project and if you reach the finals you'll be one of ten projects in the running for funding out of a $1million dollar grant pool and the chance to actually get your project off the ground. Check out the Challenge page for more info.

Second is our Design Thinking for Social Services Project (check out our Design Eye for the Cardigan Guy article) where we're working with government departments to look at fresh ways of designing social services that respond to the needs of people using those services.

Thirdly, we'll be looking at the feasibility of training and support options for social entrepreneurs here in our home base of South Australia. Social entrepreneurs are the people that make social change happen and we need to find better ways at working with and for them.

And all of this is happening against a backdrop of building networks amongst communities, NGOs, government and individuals both in Australia and across the planet through events, meetings, workshops and more.

We're working to develop a bolder, better world and we hope you'll join us on this odyssey.

Design eye for the Cardigan guy

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:19:00 +1100

The old vision of a public servant in a brown cardigan (with patched elbows) and a mug of coffee in hand is fast diminishing as governments strive to build stronger, more responsive social services to deal with the diverse and ever-changing needs of social service users.

At the same time members of the design community are realising that there are better uses for their talents then designing better taps or a sleeker, smaller gadget. There is a growing movement of designers turning their 'design eye' to the challenge of how our society works and particularly on user-centred perspectives on social services.

The use of design thinking for social service redesign is being used for a range of excellent and impactful projects implemented internationally particularly in the UK and USA but also in developing countries across Africa and Asia. So now it's Australia's turn to use this fresh approach to working with users and communities.

For a taster about design thinking check out this TED talk by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO and if you're interested in knowing more check our our Design thinking for social services project.