• Written by IPAC
• Tagged as News

Call for Expressions of Interest
Municipal Innovation Conference and Book

Zachary Spicer (York University) and Joseph Lyons (Western University)

Municipalities of all shapes and sizes regularly engage in innovative activity. Whether it be designing new internal processes, harnessing emerging technologies or introducing new programs or services, municipalities are adept at taking advantage of new opportunities and solving problems in new and creative ways. This ability to innovate is an especially important organizational characteristic for municipalities, given the capacity, financial, and jurisdictional constraints they face compared to other levels of government. This project seeks to uncover how, why and under what conditions municipalities innovate. We intend to detail municipal innovation case studies for a new edited volume that will be published with McGill-Queen's University Press in 2024.

We are inviting municipal practitioners to take part in this project by sharing case studies about municipal innovation. Cases will be shared via a one-day workshop in May 2023 and then compiled into an edited book that will be released in 2024.

The Workshop

In collaboration with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), we will be hosting a one-day, virtual workshop on May 16, 2023. The purpose of the workshop is to allow municipalities to share the details of their innovation case study and receive feedback from fellow authors, the book editors (Spicer and Lyons) and McGill-Queen's University Press. These case studies will then be turned into chapters for the edited book.

The Book

After the workshop, the editors will send further comments and suggestions for each chapter. The final copies of each chapter will be submitted in August 2023. The editors will provide a template to follow for each chapter and will be available throughout the writing process for support. Each chapter will be copyedited prior to publication. The final publication will be released in Spring 2024.

Expressions of Interest

If you are interested in sharing innovative activity taking place in your municipality, please complete the following brief form by Friday February 10, 2023. The editors will contact you shortly afterwards with further details. If you have questions or comments about the project, please contact:

Zachary Spicer
York University
[email protected]

Joseph Lyons
Western University
[email protected]