The Behavioral Economics Technical Assistance (BETA) Project is a partnership between CFED and ideas42 with key support from the Citi Foundation. The goal of the Project is to use behavioral economics theory to improve the effectiveness and reach of products and services that help people increase their financial stability.

The Project accomplishes this by designing and testing behavioral interventions through real world products, processes and services, and then sharing the lessons and insights from these efforts with the assets field in highly accessible ways that help drive improvements in practice and policy. The BETA Project will tackle a range of issues, but at the core of the project will be the work with the pilot organizations to design and implement manageable, low-cost program adjustments based on well-documented behavioral theory and findings from behavioral economic and psychology research. The BETA Project delivers impact through quick, powerful innovations adapted within the existing framework of a given behavioral problem.

In 2012, the BETA Project team issued a Request for Proposals for sites to pilot behavioral interventions. To learn more, read this brief which examines themes among the 99 proposals received and identifies common challenges programs are facing. Check back often to see what we’re learning through the Project.

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Jump on a CommunityMatters® conference call for a 60-minute conversation about critical issues, tools and inspiring stories of community building.

This event is free but registration is required.

After a design or planning process, most communities end up with scores of potential actions. How do you prioritize dozens of competing options? How do you get some cool stuff done without breaking the bank or exhausting your list of volunteers? Easy: start with the petunias. That’s one key lesson from the “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” framework.

Join us and learn how to find the easiest, quickest and most impactful ways to start making things happen in your town. If you've used a Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper approach to get things done in your community, tell us about it when you register for the call.  We'll ask a few people to share their story on the line!

What is Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper?

Here’s how it works: Forget trying to raise five-, six-, or seven-figure sums to implement all of your streetscape improvements right away. Instead, go spend $15 at a garden center, grab a helper, and transform one weedy corner with some new planter boxes. Once people see what a difference that can make, it won’t be hard to get $100 bucks and enough volunteers to create a sidewalk café for a day, showcasing the potential of the space. And when people see how cool that is, it won’t be long until you have $1,000 and to buy some tables and chairs and create a pop-up pedestrian plaza. And if that works? Then you think about shelling out more money and making it permanent.

>> Learn more

SPEAKER:

Brendan Crain, Communications Manager, Project for Public Spaces

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This call is part of a capacity-building series offered jointly by CommunityMatters and the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) and CommunityMatters are co-hosting a unique conference call series on Making It Happen. This three-part series will help you and your town move a design or planning process from paper to reality. Learn how to prioritize projects and score some quick successes, find the funding and resources for bigger projects, and build the long-term and support for change.

11:00 am to 12:00 pm Eastern

According to Statistics Canada, 8 million Canadians, or 45% of our labour force, are over the age of 45 and close to 20% are over the age of 55. As this population continues to grow, it is critically important to ensure that mature workers find success and that employers can harness the knowledge and experience of this important segment of Canada’s labour force.

Join us in exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with Canada’s aging labour force from both the perspective of employers and workers.

Teleconference Format

11:00 am to 11:20 am | Speakers' Presentations

11:20 am to 12:00 pm | Questions and Discussion

Participation is free but space is strictly limited! Don’t delay in registering for this event.

An electronic package for participants will be sent by email prior to the event.

Guest Speakers:

David Pourreaux

David Pourreaux, CPC, Regional Director at Hunt Personnel in Montreal, has worked with various sectors. His specialties include: talent acquisition, human resources, system administration, recruiting and finance.

Leslie Acs

Leslie Acs, Executive Director of La Passerelle, Montreal’s leading employment and career transition centre, possesses many years of diverse management and human resources experience in private, public and not-for-profit sectors.  Leslie is also a member of CEDEC's Mature Worker’s Committee.

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Champions for Change: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact is a multi-day interactive workshop designed specifically for the leaders of Leadership Roundtables, Coordinating Committees or Backbone Organizations of mature collective impact initiatives. The Tamarack Institute and FSG have partnered to develop this dynamic learning experience to offer leaders of Backbone Organizations an advanced learning opportunity designed exclusively to develop their capacity as collaborative leaders.  Participants of this learning event will:

• Strengthen their ability to guide collective impact initiative toward its desired results
• Learn from, and build connections with other experienced leaders of backbone organizations across a range of social issues
• Participate in creating new resources and tools for the field of community collaboration and collective impact practitioners, which will be disseminated after the workshop

Workshop sessions will include topics such as:

• Deeply understanding the roles and impact strategies of the Backbone Organization
• Developing and learning from shared measurement
• Community engagement initiatives to build the will of your community
• Making collaborative governance effective
• Sustaining funding for collective impact over the long term
• How to work in complexity and the importance of adaptive leadership
• Getting to true impact and systems change

To learn more view the event BROCHURE

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1:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Join Speakers:

Marc Maracle (Executive Director, Gignul Non-profit Housing Corporation)
Maynard Sontag (General Manager, Silver Sage Housing Corporation)

In a discussion on Aboriginal housing issues and solutions….

Non-profit Aboriginal housing providers across Canada are both managing older social housing stock and developing new affordable housing in an effort to redress the housing gaps between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people, and to ensure culturally appropriate housing options remain available. You will hear from two Aboriginal housing providers, one from Regina and the other in Ottawa, who will share the challenges they face as their social housing stock ages, and as to how and with what approaches they have developed new affordable housing properties for the Aboriginal community.

More information and to register.

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Join Speakers:

Donelda Laing (Community Social Development Manager, City of Grande Prairie)
Rob Gartner (Chief Operating Officer, Habitat for Humanity Regina)

In a discussion on Affordable Homeownership...

Affordable homeownership is being pushed out of reach for many Canadians in communities where resource development is driving a ‘boom’ economy. While economic growth brings prosperity, job creation and a rise in population to a region, increased demand for housing can cause property values to rise, leading to higher housing costs.

We’ll hear how two boom communities – Regina and Grande Prairie – are responding with initiatives that make homeownership more affordable and attainable.

More information and to register.