The Social Innovation Lab
What is the Social Innovation Lab?
The Social Innovation Lab is an initiative of the Give Where You Live Foundation, designed to address the most difficult social and economic challenges facing our community.
Through the Social Innovation Lab, we seek to shift the conditions that hold complex challenges in place across our region. By bringing together people with different ideas and perspectives to collaborate, experiment and learn, we aim to uncover new insights, design and test place-based solutions with the potential to create meaningful social and economic change.
The Social Innovation Lab also provides the opportunity for volunteer Design Teams to learn innovation skills and for funding and support for targeted experiments, through the Foundation’s Innovation Fund.
Our Role:
- Define priority challenges based on local research, evidence and community need
- Assemble diverse design teams using innovation and systems-thinking
- Fund and support targeted experiments through the Foundation’s Innovation Fund
- Share learnings to drive long-term, sustainable change
THERE IS A NEED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. TO WORK
STRATEGICALLY
TO BUILD THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
Social Innovation Lab focus 2025–26: Homelessness challenges
Following the release of the Home Truths research report in August 2025, our first Social Innovation Lab will focus on homelessness challenges, taking forward the findings and recommendations from the report.
Of the five ‘Home Truths’ identified in the report, the Social Innovation Lab will focus on progressing three key research insights, challenges and opportunities:
- Prevention & Early intervention
- Flexible Service Models and
- Collaboration & information sharing
Get involved:
Expressions of Interest are now open for the next phase of the Give Where You Live Foundation’s Social Innovation Lab, focused on housing justice in Greater Geelong.
We’re bringing together people with lived experience, community knowledge, sector expertise and fresh perspectives to explore new opportunities for prevention and earlier intervention.
We’re particularly interested in perspectives relating to First Nations men, mothers with children escaping family violence, and single women over 50 experiencing housing insecurity.
Through four collaborative half-day workshops, you’ll have the opportunity to learn practical innovation skills, connect with others and help develop and test promising new approaches.
Bring your experience.
Challenge conventional thinking.
Help create lasting change.
EOIs close Saturday 31 October 2026.