A Solutions Lab is a collaborative initiative to solve complex housing problems using innovative methods and tools. For the organizations participating, a Lab is an opportunity to develop innovative solutions to a complex housing problem, as well as build capabilities for design, collaboration and problem-solving.
What is a Solutions Lab?
As part of Canada’s first-ever National Housing Strategy (NHS), the CMHC has launched several innovation and research programs to support Canadians in meeting their housing needs. One major NHS initiative is the Solutions Lab Initiative. This initiative provides housing stakeholders with funding and expert innovation lab consultants to help solve complex problems using innovative methods and tools. The goal is to co-develop innovative, bottom-up solutions to specifi c problems that have not been able to be solved using traditional approaches.
The Solutions Lab Process
A Solutions Lab convenes partners and stakeholders from across the housing system to follow a five stage process of solution development.
- Definition—Establish the scope of the problem and reframe the issue from the perspective of people at the centre of it
- Discovery—Generate insight through data and user research, understand the current state of the issue based on a range of methodologies
- Development—Co-design new ideas through Solutions Lab stakeholder input
- Delivery—Build prototypes to test and refine shared ideas and multiple potential solutions
- Roadmap—Communicate a clear path to realize the preferred solution and achieve solution uptake and replication
Lead Contact
Brock Hart Chief Design Officer
Adept at bringing people together around big ideas, Brock is a visionary thinker and an extraordinary facilitator. Brock leads the Transformation Design group at Overlap, guiding the team to deliver our work with excellence across projects, programs and sectors. Get to know Brock, see some of his work and engage with his ideas here.