Society’s greatest challenges require coordinated, collective efforts. Many communities are looking for evidence-based solutions to help achieve their visions for the future, but they often struggle to mobilize their existing assets, such as knowledge, experience, and relationships, while at the same time a growing number of scientists are eager to do societally impactful research, however they often lack the forum or resources to connect to public stakeholders.
The Elevate Co-lab project, funded by the Dana Foundation and the Institute for Methods Innovation, is piloting a co-created, community-driven problem-solving process between neuroscience researchers, policymakers, and community members (such as teachers, local business owners, and community leaders). Our team will experiment with asset-based approaches which honor the unique skills and strengths of each partner in the process, so that societal impact can happen with communities and not for them. The goal of this initiative is to implement community-driven solutions to challenges at the intersection of neuroscience and society, such as how to embrace neurodiversity in education or the workplace. We are doing this through asset-based approaches to community design including:
- Exploratory workshops. Neurodiverse individuals and advocates will be asked to share their personal experiences and to develop strategies to create supportive and inclusive workplace environments for neurodiverse individuals.
- Pilots. Participants will help guide proposed solutions from the exploratory workshops.
- Demonstration activities. Participants will be invited to public events and meetings to discuss the progress of the pilot project teams.
