When we picture ‘innovation’, do we picture STEM? For many of us, perhaps that first mental image might be labs, coding, and emerging technologies. Yet across the humanities and social sciences (HSS), scholars are advancing these fields too, while crucially asking questions about how innovations affect our communities and society.
Our new Think forward installment explores how HSS scholarship drives social innovation by helping communities respond to some of today’s defining challenges, from affordability and food insecurity to AI and public trust in emerging technologies.
Innovation is strongest when it is developed with the human dimension in mind from the beginning. HSS perspectives bring a deep understanding of lived experience and social context into the earliest stages of new ideas, helping them respond to the realities of the people and communities they are meant to serve. That perspective is what allows innovation to move from possibility to practice, earning trust and creating meaningful change in people’s lives.
Innovation moves us forward when it moves with purpose. Equip yourself with the brief to bring HSS perspectives into conversations about Canada’s innovation future.
Explore the brief and access shareable resources
Think forward: Our future, shaped by the humanities and social sciences.