Social Innovation Exchange
Bringing innovators together to spark and seed new solutions for Pittsburgh.
Participants at a Social Innovation Exchange event collaboratively brainstorm new ideas for Pittsburgh’s future.
Pittsburgh, 2012 photo: Pop CitySeeding new thinking to move Pittsburgh forward
In 2012, Pop City, The Sprout Fund, and a coalition of Pittsburgh foundations proposed a new series of forums based on the concept of social innovation. The goal was to enact change by bringing diverse groups of people together—from technology, the arts, health, and corporate sectors—to collaboratively solve problems around specific community issues. The intent was to build momentum and then follow up in a meaningful way to keep the ideas going.
The series consisted of three distinct events, or “exchanges,” each focused on a different theme: “Civic Design and Placemaking,” “Creating Headlines of the Future,” and “Connecting Your City”. Each event was designed to build momentum through extensive promotion and follow-up coverage. Sprout Fund staff assisted with the design and facilitation of the events, which included prominent speakers like Josh McManus, Ignite Talks, and facilitated dialogues to develop new ideas.
The SiX series brought together more than 235 enthusiastic thinkers and community leaders. The primary outcome of each event was a call to action through targeted Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The Sprout Fund committed resources from its Seed/Engage funding program to award grants to the best ideas, turning the concepts generated at the forums into innovative community solutions with tangible results.
In total, 20 small-scale projects were funded, providing a year-end burst of catalytic support for a more connected and vibrant Pittsburgh. The events successfully raised awareness, connected Pittsburghers to community issues, and inspired other organizations to consider new ways to collaborate and host similar events to enact change. The program also proved to be adaptable; when one funded project was unable to move forward, Sprout successfully reconciled the opportunity by reallocating funds to further develop another promising idea that emerged from the same exchange.
Program In Brief
Years Active
2012
Total Investment
$65,000
Funded Projects
20
Event Attendees
235+
SiX Events Held
3
Funding Partners
5 (Pittsburgh, Benedum, Buhl, McCune, and Sprout)
Programmatic Activities
The SiX series was structured around three key convenings in 2012:
SiX #1: Civic Design and Placemaking (Jan. 31, 2012)
The first event brought together over 75 thinkers to explore civic design and creative placemaking. The session generated hundreds of ideas related to community landscapes, leading directly to two RFPs focused on Pittsburgh’s steps and neighborhood gateways.
SiX #2: Creating Headlines of the Future (Sep. 24, 2012)
This event featured speaker Josh McManus and mock editorial sessions for 100 people to envision Pittsburgh’s social transformation by 2015. Facilitated dialogue recast ideas into headlines, which inspired new funding opportunities for public transportation and multicultural collaboration.
SiX #3: Connecting Your City (Nov. 5, 2012)
The final event featured Ignite Talks from local innovators for over 60 attendees. The dialogue focused on developing small projects to better connect Pittsburgh geographically, generationally, and by interest, resulting in a rapid, low-threshold RFP for $1,000 grants.
Funded Project Highlights
Ideas generated at the SiX events were turned into action through 20 catalytic grants awarded by The Sprout Fund.
From SiX #1: Placemaking & Civic Design
These projects focused on activating Pittsburgh’s unique built environment, particularly its iconic steps and community corridors.
Fineview Fitness Trail
Formalizing an urban hiking trail and using city steps to introduce runners and walkers to the vistas and history of Fineview.
Fineview Fitness Trail
$10,000 » Fineview Citizens Council, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Fineview Fitness Trail, a project of Fineview Citizens Council, organized the stairs in the Fineview neighborhood of Pittsburgh into a formalized network of trails that provide runners, hikers, and walkers with a clearly marked course and introduce them to the challenges, vistas, and history of Fineview.
Louisa Street Bicycle Steps Runnel
Creating a runnel—a grooved track that runs alongside a staircase, making it easier to transport bikes up or down the stairs—on the city steps found on Louisa Street in Central Oakland.
Louisa Street Bicycle Steps Runnel
$10,000, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Louisa Street Bicycle Steps Runnel, a project of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation (OPCD), designed and created a bike runnel on the city steps found on Louisa Street in Central Oakland between Coltart and McKee Avenues. A bike runnel is a grooved track that runs alongside a staircase, making it easier to transport bicycles up or down the stairs. The project, a collaboration with Springboard Design and the City of Pittsburgh, also included the plan to design a bicycle boulevard between Halket and Atwood Streets with particular focus on the public space improvements at the runnel. In a student neighborhood full of bikes, infrastructure like a boulevard and runnel would encourage safe cycling that benefits everyone on the streets.
Bike Steps/Light Rail
Initiating the design process by Springboard Design for a prospective bicycle stair channel (or “runnel”) with new LED lighting on a 165-step network in Oakland as a pilot project.
From SiX #2: Headlines of the Future
Emerging from the theme of creating a future-focused city, these projects supported public transit and cultural collaboration.
Transit Tales
Improving the perception of public transportation by amplifying the stories of Pittsburgh’s riders and operators.
Transit Tales
$20,000, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Transit Tales was a a multimedia storytelling project about how public transit affects the lives of people in Allegheny County. In partnership with the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group and Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Bricolage Production Company recorded stories about public transit from all kinds of people– riders, non-riders, and transit workers- and then shared them through radio, the Pittsburgh City Paper, social media, and live performance.
Africamericas
Africamericas
$5,000 » YMWAHA, 2013 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Africamericas, a project of YMWAHA, was a collaborative performance event and series of outreach activities incorporating music and dance from, and education about, Afro-Latin American music, culture, and history. The project encouraged COROLA and YMWAHA audiences and the general population to embrace Latin American, Caribbean, African and African American culture while still preserving the rich artistic heritage of the African Diaspora. Events included pre-concert workshops and a concert at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. A five day Cuban photo exhibit was additionally held at YMWAHA, with a discussion group and reception at City of Asylum.
Dia de los Muertos Pittsburgh
Providing a stage for Pittsburgh Latinos to come together and share with the non-Spanish speaking population through celebratory artistic and cultural events.
Dia de los Muertos Pittsburgh
$5,000 » Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, 2013 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Dia de los Muertos Pittsburgh, a project of Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, was an event for all ages that maintained and respected the cultural integrity of the Day of the Dead tradition, but also expanded it toward a modern aesthetic, providing “a memory for the dead and a party for the living.” In collaboration with La Escuelita Arcoiris and the Latino Family Center-AIU, the project acknowledged a growing interest in traditions and heritage crafts related to Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead / All Saints Day, traditionally celebrated in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd. The project provided a stage for Pittsburgh Latinos to come together and share with the non-Spanish speaking population through celebratory artistic and cultural events.
From SiX #3: Connecting Your City
This RFP provided a year-end burst of support, funding 14 small projects with $1,000 each to build new connections between communities, cultures, and generations using unique and innovative approaches.
Friend-Field Postcard
Capturing the largest group portrait ever taken in Pittsburgh of residents of Friendship, Bloomfield, and Garfield, which will be printed and distributed as a free postcard to be sent by residents to one another across neighborhoods.
Friend-Field Postcard
$1,000, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Friend-Field Postcard, a project by Felipe Castelblanco and James Southard, was a participatory art project that invited all the residents of Friendship, Bloomfield and Garfield to pose for neighborhood group portraits. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University visual artists Castelblanco and Southard, these portraits were then printed and distributed throughout the community as postcards, encouraging residents to reach out to each other across neighborhoods, developing relationships that tie the bordering communities closer together. The postcards were also available in the neighborhoods as a souvenir to represent the conviviality of collective action and community-building.
Made in PGH
Publishing an online repository of products made in Pittsburgh along with the people who make them, the companies that make them, and groups that are focused on making in general.
Made in PGH
$1,000 » Elliot Williams, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange sponsorship
Made in PGH, a project of Elliot Williams, was a website repository of products made in Pittsburgh along with the people who made them, the companies that made them, and groups that were focused on making in general. This project connected Pittsburgh makers to customers and to each other.
Ninety: Pittsburgh in a Board Game
Encouraging players to learn more about their neighbors across any number of rivers, gorges or bridges through a board game that lets players run for mayor of Pittsburgh’s ninety neighborhoods.
Ninety: Pittsburgh in a Board Game
$1,000, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
Ninety: Pittsburgh in a Board Game, a project by Adam Shuck, was a board game that lets players run for mayor across Pittsburgh’s ninety city neighborhoods. Born out of a city walkabout in summer of 2012 that toured all 90 of Pittsburgh’s distinct neighborhoods in eleven hours, Ninety is both an exceptionally entertaining board game and an exploration of the city, encouraging players to learn more about their neighbors across any number of rivers, gorges or bridges. With Sprout Funding, Shuck and his partners produced multiple copies of the game to take on tour around the city to let residents play and inspire conversation about the place we all call home.
SIX x ATE
Producing a free dinner and lecture series in Pittsburgh during which six artists are asked to present or perform work based on a theme, while one cuisinier creates a three course meal based on the same theme.
SIX x ATE
$1,000 » Casey Droege, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
SIX x ATE, a project of Casey Droege, was a free dinner and lecture series promoting local artists, a stronger arts network and a more interdisciplinary conversation in Pittsburgh during which six artists are asked to present or perform work based on a theme while one cuisinier creates a three course meal based on the same theme. This project connected local artists, the arts network, and dinner guests starting in March 2013 in the Strip District.
We Are Here
Creating an online map of Pittsburgh “Third Places” and colorful signs that lead people to the identified community gathering places that create a sense of belonging and encourage community engagement.
We Are Here
$1,000 » Lindsay Dill, 2012 Social Innovation Exchange project support
We Are Here, a project of Lindsay Dill, was an online map of Pittsburgh “Third Places” and colorful signs that lead people to the identified community gathering places that create a sense of belonging and encourage community engagement. This project connected Pittsburghers and visitors to Pittsburgh to “Third Places” starting in January 2013.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all those who made this program possible!
Supporters
- The Pittsburgh Foundation
- Benedum Foundation
- The Buhl Foundation
- The McCune Foundation
- An anonymous foundation
Partners
- Pop City
- The Sprout Fund
- LUMA Institute
Staff
- [Staff list not available in source documents]