Toronto

evaluation research systems science 

Same and Different

June 10, 2019June 12, 2019 Cameron D. Norman 607 Views basketball, culture, data, ethnography, health, organizational change, research methods, sleep, sport, Toronto, toronto raptors, transformation

Our ability to affect change in organizations and systems is based heavily on our assumptions about similarities and differences between

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psychology social systems 

The healing power of curiosity

July 9, 2016August 2, 2016 Cameron D. Norman 249 Views Arthur Zajonc, Black Lives Matter, Brexit, community psychology, contemplative inquiry, love, mindfulness, mindset, protest, psychology, race, Toronto, United Kingdom, United States

  It has been a heavy few weeks in the world. In times like this we often raise our voice to

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behaviour change complexity psychology social innovation social systems systems science systems thinking 

Decoding the change genome

April 12, 2016April 12, 2016 Cameron D. Norman 256 Views behaviour change, complexity, evaluation, genetics, genomics, impact investing, Jason Saul, MaRS, meta-evaluation, program evaluation, psychology, research, science, social impact, social impact measurement, social innovation, systems change, Toronto

Would we invest in something if we had little hard data to suggest what we could expect to gain from

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environment systems science systems thinking 

Systems thinking and the simple plan

January 12, 2016January 12, 2016 Cameron D. Norman 260 Views boundaries, CENSE Research + Design, city building, complexity, developmental evaluation, evaluation, foresight, foresight methods, Michael Quinn Patton, planning, scale, strategic foresight, systems thinking, Toronto, urbanism

  Planning is something that is done all the time, but the shape in which these plans unfold is often

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behaviour change education & learning innovation 

Isolation: The New Innovator’s Dilemma

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014 Cameron D. Norman 338 Views Apple, CENSE Research + Design, change leadership, connection, innovation, leadership, learning, Paul Born, Silicon Valley, social innovation, Steve Jobs, Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement, Toronto

 Innovators transform the world around them in big and small ways and while a successful effort can be lauded by pundits, politicians

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journalism knowledge translation public health social media 

Sane truths in Crazy Town: What Rob Ford’s story offers politics, science and journalism

February 17, 2014February 17, 2014 Cameron D. Norman 217 Views Andre Picard, Ben Goldacre, book review, Crazy Town, Edward Snowden, evidence, Globe and Mail, journalism, Julia Belluz, Rob Ford, Robyn Doolittle, science, Toronto

A new book about Toronto’s (in)famous mayor reveals a great deal more than just a story of man known more

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journalism public health social media 

Public Health and Social Media: Catching Fire From Small Sparks

July 24, 2013July 24, 2013 Cameron D. Norman 464 Views Andre Picard, Cameron Norman, CENSE Research + Design, Globe and Mail, health communications, health promotion, Jenny McCarthy, journalism, knowledge transfer, Marshall McLuhan, media, media ecology, network theory, population health, public engagement, research, social media, social networks, Toronto, Toronto Public Health, Twitter, vaccination, youth

Public health is regrettably not a field that I often think of when I consider powerful examples of using social

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art & design design thinking environment innovation 

Design / Time

July 11, 2013 Cameron D. Norman 284 Views architecture, Calgary, Calgary Flames, Canada, design, design charrette, design thinking, Finland, Helsinki, innovation, Italy, rapid prototyping, Rome, Saddledome, social innovation, sustainable development, Toronto

Design’s relationship with space is complex and well documented in the literature on architecture, interior design, and product innovation. The

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complexity design thinking emergence systems science systems thinking 

A Flood of Complexity

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 Cameron D. Norman 197 Views Calgary, city life, complexity, emergence, environment, flood, foresight methods, infrastructure, New York City, policy, public policy, rainfall, rats, Rolling Stone, storms, strategic foresight, systems thinking, Toronto, transit, urbanism, weather

Yesterday Toronto was hit with a massive rainstorm that dumped more than 120mm of rain on parts of the city

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behaviour change education & learning health promotion innovation public health 

How Serious Are We About Learning?

July 26, 2012October 1, 2012 Cameron D. Norman 1385 Views behaviour change, Dan Pink, discovery, education, innovation, Jonah Lehrer, knowledge integration, learning, mindfulness, organizational change, psychology, public health, Robert Scott Root-Bernstein, social innovation, social systems, Steven Johnson, systems thinking, Toronto, University of Toronto

When journalist and book author Daniel Pink tweeted the above image the other day it provoked thinking about what real

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