FSC Community of Practice

In 2019, Research Impact Canada partnered with the Future Skills Centre to support knowledge mobilization and to help foster a network of innovative partners in the skills and workforce development sector. As part of this partnership RIC is helping to support a Community of Practice focused on the skills training and workforce development sector across the country.

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The Future Skills Community of Practice

Connecting a community of people who are helping Canadians gain the skills they need to thrive in a changing labour market

The term ‘Community of Practice’ (COP) refers to a community of people who share a common interest, have similar goals, and who come together to learn, share, and achieve individual and group objectives. As the world of work rapidly changes, many organizations across the country are working on improving skills development and training services to help Canadians transition.

The Future Skills Community of Practice is an active and growing network of 1400+ stakeholders in the skills development and training ecosystem who are working to help Canadians recognize the skills they need and how to get them. We invite researchers, non-governmental organizations, training services providers, and anyone interested in the future of work to join. 

COP OFFERINGS AND RESOURCES

The FSC Community of Practice (COP) enables participants to grow their networks, collaborate with peers from across the country, access practical tools and resources, and advance their learning. In-person and online activities have been developed to accommodate the requirements and preferences of participants.

In partnership with FSC, Research Impact Canada is supporting the CoP by co-organizing offerings in the following areas:

People to PEOPLE

Meet people across the country who are preparing Canadians for the future of work, and participate in peer learning and exchange.

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People to KNOWLEDGE

Access curated products, case studies, and tools with actionable insights and innovative practices.

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People to LEARNING

Learn from experts, access learning supports, and participate in professional development opportunities on relevant and timely topics.

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Sign up to be the first to know!

Conversations 2 Community is our monthly newsletter and the best way to stay up to date on upcoming events, innovative programs, news and resources to support your organization. We cover a broad range of topics impacting skills training and workforce development practitioners and the future of work. Sign Up and Connect with Us!

Members of our Community of Practice have the opportunity to share their experiences in the sector in our monthly editions of ‘In Conversation With…‘ Access the Community of Practice’s ‘In Conversation With…’ editions here.

Connecting People to People

Meet people across the country who are preparing Canadians for the future of work, and participate in peer learning and exchange.

 

Conversations to Connections (C2C) was an initiative designed to directly engage with stakeholders across the Canadian skills and workforce development sector. The experiences and voices of nearly 300 professionals representing organizations in every province and territory of the country have been compiled into a several resources including actionable recommendations that can serve to drive practical changes across the sector:

PLGs provide an opportunity for you to connect with and learn from similar people and organisations across diverse sectors and industries. These sessions will focus on themes that have emerged across our network as common interests and challenges.

We’ve run a number of peer Learning Groups to date. Resources from these groups can be found below.

PLG Resources:

See more under our ‘Past Event Resources’ section.

Stay tuned for more information about our Cohorts of Engagement Initiative.

Connecting People to Knowledge

Access curated products, case studies, and tools with actionable insights and innovative practices.

 

Insight Bytes are short, engaging pieces of online content that summarize key findings from the Future Skills Centre reports. The goal is to give skills and employment service practitioners access to emerging data in the workforce development sector and promote evidence-based decision making and use of data in organizational practices. Some examples are linked below.

Beyond Blue and White Collar: A Skills-Based Approach to Canadian Job Groupings

Data Bytes are short, engaging pieces of online content that discuss new and interesting topics in the world of data. Created by the Regional Analytics Laboratory at Memorial University, the purpose of the Bytes is to encourage skills and employment service practitioners to think about data from different perspectives and to promote evidence-based decision making and use of data in organizational practices.

Some examples can be found below.

NAICS and NOC: What You Should Know

5 Common Data Caveats

What is metadata and why is it important?

From Start to Finish: A Walk-through of the Data Journey

Data Releases are Fast and Furious

Water Cooler Chats are posts highlighting current or topical issues and conversations which aim to promote and connect people to knowledge by linking to aligned FSC research or projects

Stay tuned for more information about our Resource Hub!

Connecting People to Learning

Learn from experts, access learning supports, and participate in professional development opportunities on relevant and timely topics.

 

As part of our ‘People to Learning’ offerings, Research Impact Canada has hosted a number of workshops. View them under our ‘Past Event Resources’ sectiom.

On August 18, 2022, Future Skills Centre hosted a virtual panel event via Zoom, called Bridging the School-to-Work Transition to explore the experiences of students and young adults navigating the postpandemic workforce. Over 200 people attended the panel to hear how skills training and guidance services are supporting learners and how the skills ecosystem can advance to better serve youth through educational and training systems.

As part of the event, RIC piloted a 30-minute postpanel networking reception with three breakout rooms, each facilitated by a moderator and a panelist for Q&A, discussion, and networking. A recording of the event can be found below.

On October 6, 2022, we piloted the User Centric Design in the Skills Ecosystem Roundtable. The roundtable reflected on emerging learnings in user centric design with a small group of experts and Future Skills Centre projects. The discussion moved beyond buzz words of participatory design, co-creation, and inclusive design to generate tangible insights relevant to policymakers and practitioners.

The event touched on:
• Best practices for removing barriers to participatory design for end-users
• How to amplify voices of the communities being served to ensure agency and ownership
• Different pathways to holistically including users’ voices when scaling for impact, including scaling in ‘depth’ to prioritize building deep, meaningful relationships with users.

Upcoming Events

Past Event Resources