Labs can go many different ways. We’ve spent a lot of time building a model that we think will work. We know the landscape, or “ocean”, needs an entirely different outcome. And our start is the Narrative Change Lab. To develop the foundations for the Lab, we explored four critical questions: What do current … Continued
Setting out to clearly define our Lab has been tricky, but necessary. We work with narratives, but what defines a “narrative? “What is a “narrative system?” For the purpose of our Lab, we have adopted definitions from Race Forward’s Butterfly Lab. We view narratives as, “An array of related and connected stories and messages … Continued
The current landscape for Muslims in Canada is dominated by bad narratives. We approach narratives as a collection of thousands of interconnected stories that together tell us how we should feel, view, and relate to a specific subject, person, and community. Narratives are recognizable to both individual and society because when repeated and sustained long … Continued
Developing the Narrative Change Lab has not been an easy process. The ideas and timelines we began with have been set aside for something unlike what we imagined. The Lab has expanded and is now made up of three parts collectively focused on (1) creating and developing (new) narratives, (2) investing in research and (3) studying audiences. We have been challenged to dig deep and … Continued
It’s been four months since we began our work in the Narrative Change Lab. Our plan for the Lab has been to develop it in phases, while intentionally integrating different narrative approaches and theories, building networks of consultation and exchange, and inviting allies, supporters, and stakeholders into each part of the process. This initial phase … Continued
