The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and the Ottawa Social Housing Network approached Connect2Knowledge as leaders ready to take on a complex challenge: improving pathways from precarious housing and homelessness to permanent and successful housing. They recognized that moving forward required a collective process that could bring together lived and living expertise, frontline knowledge, and sector leadership in a way that was actionable and within their circle of control.
C2K designed and facilitated a sector-wide co-design journey that centred lived expertise, engaged frontline staff, and brought over 75 sector leaders into the process. Through early engagement, an environmental scan, and iterative co-design, we created the conditions for equity-centred dialogue and shared ownership. The result was actionable solutions grounded in the sector’s capacity and aligned with its priorities, demonstrating how a well-structured co-design process made visible the moments that matter and build momentum for lasting change.
At a glance
- Initiative: Moving UPP!
- Partners: Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and the Ottawa Social Housing Network (OSHN)
- Sector: Housing and homelessness
- The initiative: A facilitated collaboration that aligned lived expertise and sector leadership toward collective action
- Who took part: The Expert Steering Team, frontline staff, and over 75 sector leaders
- C2K’s role: Design and facilitation of a sector-wide co-design journey
Background
As Ottawa continues to navigate a housing and homelessness emergency, the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa has played a central role in bringing together partners across the sector. In collaboration with the Ottawa Social Housing Network, the Alliance launched the Moving UPP! initiative to explore how pathways could be improved from precarious housing and homelessness to permanent and successful housing. Addressing this challenge called for a collective action process that could align diverse voices into solutions the sector could truly own.
To meet this need, the Alliance engaged Connect2Knowledge to design and facilitate a co-design journey that placed lived and living expertise at the centre and engaged frontline staff alongside sector leaders. With clear framing, equity-centred dialogue, and real engagement, the process created space for the sector to identify the “moments that matter” and develop actionable solutions grounded in their shared capacity. The Alliance’s leadership in this initiative reflects both urgency and vision: ensuring that Ottawa’s housing system can evolve in ways that are simple, affirming, and sustainable.
Challenges
- Sector leaders wanted a way to move to concrete, actionable solutions
- A process to meaningfully integrate lived expertise into system-level planning
- Creating collaboration across organizations for coordinated efforts
- Frontline staff and leaders looked for a shared space to align priorities
- Structured facilitation was required to turn diverse perspectives into collective action
C2K’s role
Facilitated sector-wide co-design
We brought frontline staff and sector leaders into an iterative process that built shared ownership of solutions.
Centred lived expertise
We embedded lived and living voices at the core of decision-making.
Framed the design challenge
We clarified scope and language so every part of the process stayed actionable and meaningful.
Implementation
The Moving UPP! initiative unfolded in four deliberate phases, each designed to build trust, surface insights, and turn collective energy into actionable solutions.
Phase 1: Early engagement
The foundation of the project was trust and clarity. Working closely with the Expert Steering Team, a well-established group bringing deep knowledge from lived and living experience, we worked together to define what success would mean. From the beginning, their guidance centred the project on pathways that are simple, culturally affirming, trauma-informed, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and free from stigma. This early grounding ensured the process reflected real experiences and set the tone for equity-centred collaboration.
Phase 2: Environmental scan
To understand the landscape, we facilitated a sector-wide environmental scan. This included conversations with networks and thought leaders, input from frontline staff, and engagement with the Expert Steering Team’s peers. The scan provided a broad evidence base, helping validate emerging insights from the co-design work and strengthening the case for solutions grounded in the sector’s own capacity.
Phase 3: Co-design sprint
At the core of the initiative was a series of iterative co-design sessions. Starting with the Expert Steering Team and frontline staff, we expanded existing “Empathy Project” personas into full housing journeys — from precarious housing through to permanent, successful housing. These journeys mapped dozens of service interactions and revealed the “moments that matter” where a different approach could change an outcome. Building on this, we convened over 75 sector leaders to explore promising solutions, drawing on the wisdom of lived experts and frontline staff. The result was a collaborative, equity-centred process that kept ideas grounded in what the sector could realistically act on.
Phase 4: Consolidation and next steps
The final phase was about focus and ownership. Drawing on all input, the Alliance, the Ottawa Social Housing Network, and sector partners consolidated ideas into three actionable solution areas: enhanced shelter diversion, shared digital platforms, and stronger sector coordination. Each was rooted in lived expertise and shaped by frontline and leadership perspectives. The process also strengthened relationships between the Alliance and OSHN, paving the way for longer-term integration. Most importantly, the sector left with clarity, alignment, and a sense of collective responsibility to carry the work forward.
Key outcomes
- An actionable, sector-wide design challenge: Captured the scope and language needed to guide collective action.
- Mapped lived pathways: Co-created six lived-experience personas and journey maps that surfaced “moments that matter,” now being used as a guide to improve service interactions and outcomes.
- Three promising outcome areas: Co-designed solutions on shelter diversion, digital collaboration, and sector coordination; with shelter diversion already piloted and showing early success.
- Stronger sector integration: Supported the Alliance and OSHN in deepening their partnership, leading to structural alignment for ongoing collaboration.
- A replicable co-design model: Left the sector with a proven, equity-centred model for co-design, giving them the tools to repeat this process for future challenges.
The lasting impact
Connect2Knowledge’s role focused on what they could act on now, and ensured equity was centred at every stage. We created the space, structure, and tools that allowed lived experts, frontline staff, and sector leaders to work together on solutions they could own.
This approach built a stronger foundation for collaboration, led to structural alignment between the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and the Ottawa Social Housing Network, and left behind a co-design model the sector can continue using to guide future change.
Our work together showed what becomes possible when equity, clarity, and collaboration are protected in complex, sector-wide projects. Creating solutions that last, momentum that continues, and leaders who are ready to move forward with confidence.
Key takeaways
- Turned complexity into clarity: C2K defined a clear, shared design challenge that kept partners focused on actionable solutions within their control.
- Grounded solutions in lived and living experience: By embedding the Expert Steering Team throughout, we ensured the sector’s next steps were grounded in equity and real experience.
- Built tools for lasting change: From journey maps to co-designed solution areas, we left the sector with resources they now own and can continue using.
- Strengthened collaboration for the long term: Our process not only delivered solutions, but also helped align the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and the Ottawa Social Housing Network for ongoing collective work.
- Modelled a better way of working: Through iterative co-design, we showed how equity-driven collaboration can produce solutions that are practical, durable, and ready for implementation.
Closing reflection
This initiative showed what becomes possible when a sector plans with the people most affected by its decisions. The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and the Ottawa Social Housing Network brought the urgency and the relationships. Lived experts and frontline staff brought knowledge of where the system works and where it falls short.
C2K
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s role was to hold the structure. We framed a clear design challenge, kept lived and living expertise at the centre of every phase, and helped more than 75 sector leaders turn many perspectives into a few solutions they could act on.
For sectors facing complex, shared problems, this kind of co-design offers a practical path. It builds trust, keeps equity at the centre, and leaves partners with tools they can use again.
