Living Lab – Ontario Co-development Workshops

Client: Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA)

Expertise Applied:

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Workshop planning and facilitation

  • Plain language writing & information synthesis

  • Ontario agricultural industry leadership and agri-environmental BMP knowledge

We collaborated with OSCIA to plan and facilitate the 2024 and 2025 Living Lab Ontario – Co-development Workshops. Living Lab – Ontario is a four-year initiative taking collaborative action on climate-friendly management practices for crop and livestock production systems.

These workshops provided an opportunity for Living Lab collaborators to:

  • Develop connections and build relationships

  • Increase shared understanding of the needs, goals, and values of farmers, partners, and researchers

  • Exchange ideas, generate solutions, and guide the development, testing and evaluation of best management practices (BMPs)

“Very well done! It was tough to cover so many topics in two days, but it the day was very well organized. Wilton did a great job facilitating the event.”

- Post-workshop survey respondent

Workshop Participants: At a Glance

2024 Living Lab – Ontario Co-Development Workshop: 88 collaborators

2025 Living Lab – Ontario Co-Development Workshop: 82 collaborators

To ensure the successful delivery of this important event, we:

  • Collaborated with OSCIA to develop the workshop agenda and facilitation plan

  • Led outreach and planning with workshop speakers   

  • Created an information package for Living Lab – Ontario collaborators

  • Moderated and facilitated the workshops

  • Prepared, distributed, and analyzed a post-workshop survey

  • Prepared a report summarizing the highlights, main takeaways, and next steps from the workshop

We used a variety of facilitation strategies to achieve the desired outcomes from these workshops, including plenary discussions, breakout discussions and hands-on activities.

We also supported OSCIA in the development of the proposal for this Living Lab; you can learn more about that work here.

Is your organization looking to host a workshop that enables participants to develop connections and build relationships? Are you looking to encourage participants to roll up their sleeves and contribute their unique expertise to help address real-world challenges and opportunities in the agricultural industry? Our team of professionals can help!

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