Dec. 11 – Engineers Canada and Engineers Without Borders have joined together to launch an exciting new initiative – the Engineering Professionalism and Ethics Lab. The Lab will bring together 25 to 30 leaders representing a select group of organizations from all parts of the engineering profession in Canada: universities, associations, civil society groups, and companies. Together, they will build a Change Lab that will allow us to work together to unlock the full potential of our profession.
Change Labs are multi-stakeholder platforms created to address complex system challenges. The active participation of diverse stakeholders enables an experimental and systematic approach to designing solutions. The duration of a Lab typically runs for multiple years, depending on the scope of its objectives.
Reos Partners, world leaders in the Change Lab approach, have been engaged to provide process strategy and design support. Reos has guided the successful launch of labs that have tackled a wide range of challenges, including, among others, accelerating innovation in the US electricity sector and developing the future of democracy in Colombia. The Reos Partners team includes Adam Kahane and Monica Pohlmann.
The launch of the Change Lab will take place at a design workshop during the Engineers Without Borders conference in Montreal from January 16–18, 2015. Over the course of those three days, participants will work together to set the scope of the Lab’s ambition, agree on a name, establish required commitment levels from participants, and discuss how they want to work together.
Joining the Lab will give organizations the opportunity to take a visible leadership role in helping to shape the future of our profession. They will make tangible and significant strides in enhancing the performance of our profession in key areas, such as, ethics and diversity and gain a perspective on the cutting edge of new initiatives and the leadership skills required for driving change in complex social systems. For more information on the Lab, please contact Dr. J. Allen Stewart, P.Eng., Consultant, Engineers Canada.
