Changemaker Card Deck
Tools
Arts for social change work is about process. The deck includes a set of process-based tools and concepts coming from human centred design, the art of facilitation, theatre of the oppressed, and more. These are useful tools and approaches for working with groups.
The links on this page can help you learn more about where these ideas come from. To see the full text on the back of each Tools card, download a copy of the deck.
Wise Crowds
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The Wise Crowds activity is one of a set of Liberating Structures. Liberating Structures is a collection of facilitation tools and frameworks developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Wise crowds is inspired by Quaker Clearness Committees.
The Liberating Structures website provides a detailed writeup for each structure, including an overall description, step-by-step instructions and tips. The information is also available as a book: The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation.
Image Theatre
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Image Theatre is rooted in the work of Augusto Boal and the concepts of Theatre of the Oppressed.
Boal discusses Image Theatre more fully in The Rainbow of Desire.
Learn more:
Saxon, L. (n.d.). Toolbox: Image Theatre. Beautiful Trouble.
Boal, A. (2002). Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Psychology Press.
Coudray, S. (2017). The Theatre of the Oppressed. Culture Matters.
Rapid Prototyping
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Nyffeler, C., Stafford, L. (2019). (Why Everyone Should Prototype (Not Just Designers). IDEO.
Kelley, D. Make Your Ideas Tangible Through Prototyping: Sketching with David Kelley. IDEO.
Dam, R.F., Siang, T.Y. (2023). 5 Common Low-Fidelity Prototypes and Their Best Practices. Interaction Design Foundation.
Five Whys
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Five Whys is an approach credited to Sakichi Tayoda and Taiichi Ohno for addressing manufacturing issues at the Toyota plant. Five whys is one tool that may be used in a root cause analysis.
Mind Tools Content Team. (2). 5 Whys: Getting to the Root of a Problem Quickly. Mind Tools.
Pojasek, R. (2000). Asking "Why?" Five Times. Environmental Quality Management, 10:1, 79–84.
Wikipedia. (2023). 5 whys.
Tague, N.R. (2005). Fishbone Diagram (Excerpt from The Quality Toolbox). ASQ Quality Press.
Storytelling
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Wikipedia. (2023). Storytelling.
Places to Intervene in a System
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Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System is a fulsome reflection from Donella Meadows.
Dr. Donella H. Meadows, a Pew Scholar in Conservation and Environment and a MacArthur Fellow, was one of the most influential environmental thinkers of the twentieth century. After receiving a Ph.D in biophysics from Harvard, she joined a team at MIT applying the relatively new tools of system dynamics to global problems. She became principal author of The Limits to Growth (1972), which sold more than 9 million copies in 26 languages. She went on to author or co-author eight other books.
Meadows’ publications include Thinking in Systems and Limits to Growth. Learn more about Meadows’ legacy at The Donella Meadows Project.
Deep Listening
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The Centre for Deep Listening. (2021). About Deep Listening
Learn more about Pauline Oliveros, Hildegard Westerkamp, Heloise Gold, and Ione
Artist Shumaila Hemani, Ph.D. in Music and M.A. in Ethnomusicology, has taught courses on world music and soundscapes at the University of Alberta’s Music Department, and Semester at Sea. She is currently serving as an Artist in Residence at Mount Royal University and partnering with Alberta Ecotrust to work on research-creation and community-engaged arts related to energy poverty alleviation in Alberta.
Indigenous Evaluation: Principles
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Gladys Rowe is a Muskego Inniniw (Swampy Cree) person who also holds relations with ancestors from Ireland, England, Norway, and Ukraine. She is a member of Fox Lake Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba. She currently resides on the occupied lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples in Washington State. Gladys is a Scholar, Filmmaker, Poet, Author, Facilitator, Researcher, and Evaluator. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to her work and loves to think inside the circle when it comes to transforming the futures we are living into.
Indigenous evaluation is an approach driven by, with, and for Indigenous evaluators, knowledge keepers, and communities. It centralizes Indigenous knowledges, values, and worldviews. Gladys Rowe’s Indigenous Insights Podcast offers an entry point to learn more about these principles. Engage with Indigenous communities and experts for guidance, co-creation, and partnership in evaluation processes. Always approach with an open heart and mind, ready to listen and learn.
Indigenous Evaluation: Reflection
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Gladys Rowe is a Muskego Inniniw (Swampy Cree) person who also holds relations with ancestors from Ireland, England, Norway, and Ukraine. She is a member of Fox Lake Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba. She currently resides on the occupied lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples in Washington State. Gladys is a Scholar, Filmmaker, Poet, Author, Facilitator, Researcher, and Evaluator. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to her work and loves to think inside the circle when it comes to transforming the futures we are living into.
Indigenous Evaluation centralizes Indigenous knowledges, values, and worldviews. It deconstructs colonial influences and respects and centers the autonomy and sovereignty of Indigenous communities in evaluation processes. Decolonizing approaches addresses historical and ongoing power imbalances in evaluation work. Gladys Rowe’s Indigenous Insights Podcast offers an entry point to learn more about Indigenous Evaluation.
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
These cards grew out of the Artist As Changemaker program, supported by the Trico Changemakers Studio in partnership with Calgary Arts Development. Thank you to each of the artists and changemakers whose work made this possible.
Featured Artists & Changemakers: Art City, Americans for the Arts, Anique Jordan, Cirque Hors Piste, Gladys Rowe, Mixed Company Theatre & OAITH, Nicole Wolf (card illustrations), Quirk-e, Shumaila Hemani & Alberta Ecotrust, Tanya Kalmanovitch, and Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth.
Project Supporters: Sally Njoroge, Patti Pon, Helen Moore-Parkhouse, Lena Soots, Jordan Baylon, Jill Andres, Maya Pajevic, Robin Sokoloski, Pam Korza, and Barbara Shaffer Bacon.
This deck was illustrated by Nicole Wolf, designed by Amanda Chan and curated by Skye Louis with project support from Katie Pearce.