ABOUT THE NEW INCLUSIVE ECONOMY
The New Inclusive Economy (NIE) is a British Columbia (B.C.) based, province-wide research project that captures alternative economic approaches to inclusive employment and explores how employers recruit and retain people with disabilities.
A WorkBC Sector Labour Market Partnership project that will help guide the BC Government in supporting employers to become more inclusive and build back a more inclusive economy, the two-year research project will engage with employers and entrepreneurs with disabilities through an environmental scan, case studies, survey, interviews and focus groups, to answer the question: What workplace conditions and practcies lead to meaningful employment for people with disabilities? And what are the alternative economic approaches to providing meaningful employment?
B.C. has a vision of becoming the most accessible province in the country for people with disabilities – including having the highest labour participation rate. People with disabilities are currently employed at a far lower rate than people without, and inclusive employment has the potential to greatly benefit both B.C.’s Accessibility 2024 goals and the provinces growing labour market needs.
Until now, tons of resources have been put into training people with disabilities to fill gaps in the workforce, yet, many employers don’t know how to, or aren’t prepared to offer meaningful employment to people with disabilities. The New Inclusive Economy will result in a set of evidence-based practices that employers and entrepreneurs can use to cultivate inclusive and productive workplaces.
TIMELINE
Phase 1 (March-September, 2022) Literature Review (coming soon)
Phase 2 (September-December, 2022) Survey, Environmental Scan
Phase 3 (November 2022 – May 2023) Interviews, Focus Groups, Thank Tank, Case Studies
Phase 4 (June-September 2023) Share what we have learned with the community
OUR COMMITMENT
Our Project Leadership developed the following Guiding Principles for Ethical Conduct:
- We are committed to cultivating a working environment in which everyone feels valued and has a sense of belonging.
- We will centre trust, honesty, and kindness in our working relationships, with those we serve, and with the community. This includes protecting the confidentiality of all information acquired through this project, in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, and Personal Information and Privacy Act.
- We respect that all partners and participants have something to offer, and that relationships are reciprocal.
- We will work to create an inclusive environment without barriers to meaningful participation. All possibilities are embraced that allow every individual to grow and learn together in a way that maximizes their potential.
- We are accountable and reliable. This includes participating fully, being transparent, upholding our commitments, and engaging in dialogue.
- A broadly inclusive commitment and an awareness of positionality that encourages us to be mindful not only of a) what we are doing, but also b) how we are doing it, and c) what or who (and whose knowledge) we are omitting. It demands that attention be carefully paid to respectful relational processes, including but not limited to relationships with knowledge, with those whose knowledge informs the project, with the territories where the project takes place, and with those whose territory we are working on.
- We commit to a Social model of disability: A social model says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference.
- Nothing about us without us, making sure that people with disabilities are included in the research.
- We commit to making things easy to read and accessible as possible.
WHO BENEFITS FROM THE NEW INCLUSIVE ECONOMY?
The goal of this research is to share a set of promising practices with employers and entrepreneurs who want to be more inclusive and equitable, and to identify economic models that lend themselves well to inclusion. inclusion Powell River (as the project holder) ultimately wants this research to benefit people with disabilities who need and deserve to have a place in the economy.
How can I participate in the New Inclusive Economy research project?
