Recently, a community partner said to us: “Niagara Connects is doing what you do best: gathering the community in a safe, trusted social space for important conversations on emerging issues of Niagara-wide importance”. Another comment we often hear is: “Niagara requires the leadership you are providing right now”. Beginning in 2005, Niagara Connects has been built by the community […]

Data tells the tale. With 18,000+ page views in its first 7 months, the niagaraknowledgeexchange.com (NKE) tool is seeing steady growth in information-sharing activity. Exchange is happening within and across all 12 Living in Niagara Sectors and the platform now offers 163 resources & publications, 173 events, 52 partners & projects and 8 community blog posts. With […]

Niagara Connects launches online tool tracking 12 sectors of life in Niagara Niagara This Week – St. Catharines December 12, 2013 By  Steve Henschel WELLAND — Niagara Connects is taking its wealth of information online. Last week the Niagara-wide network focused on planning, learning and innovation for Niagara’s future celebrated the launch of niagaraknowledgeexchange.com. The website […]

Beginning eight years ago, the people building Niagara Connects envisioned a Niagara-wide culture of focused planning based on relevant, reliable information, and diverse evidence seen through the 12 lenses of the Living in Niagara Sectors. Now, those leaders’ vision is realized through the Niagara Knowledge Exchange and theLiving in Niagara report. Hundreds of people in Niagara have worked […]

Niagara, Ontario. Two individuals working for a stronger Niagara are among those short-listed for the prestigious 2013 3M Health Leadership Award. Now in its third year, this prize celebrates leaders who inspire change in communities across Canada. Both Catherine Mindorff-Facca, Senior Associate with Niagara Connects, and Terry Thomson, a Detective Sergeant with Niagara Regional Police […]

Welland, Ontario.  People from across Niagara honoured the Builders of Niagara Connects today by officially launching niagaraknowledgeexchange.com.  This online tool is a source of information for people seeking relevant, reliable information to support evidence-informed planning toward a stronger future for Niagara.  Forty-five community leaders were recognized for leading hundreds of people in building the Niagara […]

By Maryanne Firth, The Tribune Thursday, November 28, 2013 4:56:49 EST PM And to help it do that, the volunteer-led network has been hard at work over the past eight years creating tools to help strengthen Niagara’s future. During a networking breakfast Thursday at Riverstone Event Centre in Welland, the group officially launched its latest […]

By Don Fraser, QMI Agency THOROLD, October 29, 2013 THOROLD - This is a youthful generation under a world of stress. And while they’ve never been better educated, they’re often in deep debt and can take years to land decent employment. Their mental health is feeling the strain and many of them are becoming disconnected from their communities. It’s […]

Issues and hot topics that cross more than one of the 12 Living in Niagara sectors, in combination with timely, relevant, reliable information that informs focused planning fuel the community’s work through Niagara Connects. Cross-sector issues require careful up-front planning and decision-making, to ensure solutions are person-centered and supported by front-line community intelligence. Developing an age-friendly […]

On August 28th, Niagara Connects hosted 123 people at over 80 sites around Niagara for an online webinar to orient people to the Niagara Knowledge Exchange (NKE). It was exciting to see and hear the positive response to the NKE – a reflection of the fact that the community has built Niagara Connects and the […]

The Collective Impact model we championed at the launch of the Living in Niagara – 2011 report really does align with the work Niagara Connects leads on behalf of the Niagara-wide community.  Kania and Kramer wrote about Collective Impact in the Winter, 2011 edition of the Stanford Innovation Review. According to these researchers, “Collective Impact […]

The Niagara Knowledge Exchange (NKE) platform is now a reality.  Built by the Niagara-wide community, it’s a vibrant tool for learning, innovation, collective action and focused planning for a stronger future for Niagara. The Niagara-wide community’s vision to create the NKE began as early as 2005.  Since then, Niagara Connects (formerly known as Niagara Research […]

Niagara Connects is facilitating the work of Niagara-wide citizens, agencies and Mental Health experts as they work together to build a Mental Health & Addictions Charter for Niagara.  Through the leadership of Healthy Living Niagara, these citizens have expressed a desire to build a more person-centered system that can be navigated as a Niagara-wide continuum, […]

Niagara Connects (formerly known as the Niagara Research and Planning Council) is currently seeking applications for: Senior Research Associates, Community Research Associates, and Student Research Associates. Niagara Connects is a Niagara-wide network for collaboration, planning, learning, innovation and community action toward a stronger future for Niagara. Our mission is: “Generating knowledge that drives community action” […]

As a community partner of the Niagara Research and Planning Council, we wanted you to know that we are in the process of re-branding as Niagara Connects. Over the next few months you’ll see this new brand being phased in to all our work. Though our name is changing, our commitment remains true to the original vision […]