Sustainable Livelihoods

Founded in 2019, Sustainable Livelihoods Canada (SLC) is a national, not-for-profit social enterprise. Applying the holistic strengths-based Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) framework, we support individuals and communities to build their resilience and capacity to achieve social and economic security. In solidarity with diverse changemakers, we are building a movement for systemic change to create the conditions that support sustainable livelihoods for all.

The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) approach emerged from research at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom with a focus on international development. IDS research identified and explored changes in a range of areas, to capture a whole picture of livelihood building strategies and activities.

SLC adapted the approach to the Canadian context grounded in the recognition that external forces beyond people’s control can significantly impact their ability to move forward. Through this lens, SLC has been able to clearly document the systemic abandonment of vulnerable populations by Canadian institutions and policies. A “sustainable livelihood” means more than simply having a job. It encompasses people’s inclusion and full participation in society and the economy. It also means that people recognize and enhance their inherent resilience to weather life’s challenges.

Key Elements of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework

Building the Conditions and Capacity for Sustainable Livelihoods

Sustainable Livelihoods require building both the “capacity” and “conditions” that can support people and communities to thrive. The more systemic barriers that hold people back, the more vulnerable they become to setbacks and the more challenging it becomes to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Using a strengths-based approach, SLC partners with individuals, organizations and communities to focus on two interrelated aspects of sustainable livelihoods development: 

• Build capacity to participate by identifying and growing existing skills, knowledge, ability and resilience to navigate systemic challenges and achieve self-determined goals.
• Build conditions for equitable social and economic participation through advocacy and systemic change efforts grounded in solidarity and social justice principles.

SLC offers both the tools and language to highlight existing systemic barriers as well as the transformative impact of SL-informed interventions and initiatives to diverse stakeholders, including communities, public and private sector partner organizations, and various levels of government.

Assets

Assets are the building blocks for making positive change and managing challenges in our lives. Rather than start with “What don’t I have?”, an asset-based approach asks, “What assets do I already have, and how can I strengthen them?”

SLC’s asset-based approaches and mapping tools help individuals, programs and organizations, and communities to identify and grow their assets. The asset mapping process is grounded in the recognition that external “conditions” and vulnerability context can impede people’s progress on their self-determined goals. The asset mapping process can thus also help identify specific systemic barriers that need to be addressed to build assets and achieve sustainable livelihoods.

SLC has documented the success of asset mapping tools as an effective and impactful way of conducting community-led research and evaluations of programs and organizations as well as for building practical strategies for sustainability.  

The six broad asset areas explored in SLC’s individual asset mapping tools include Basic Needs, Connections, Sense of Self, Health, Skills and Employability, and Money (see illustration above).  Our asset mapping tools can be customized to align with specific organizational or community changemaking goals and priorities.

The Stages of Livelihood Development

SLC helps to identify stages of livelihood development or the patterns that influence asset building pathways to a sustainable future. Recognition of these livelihoods stages have been proven to help organizations better align their services and programs to meet their program participants “where they are at”.  In doing so, organizations have been able to assess gaps in service areas while building conditions that help foster increased participant capacity and engagement.

The Vulnerability Context

All people, organizations, and communities are affected by factors they do not control. Applying the SL framework often begins with an exploration of the issues that create and perpetuate people’s vulnerability to social and economic exclusion. These unique vulnerability factors are identified at both individual and systemic levels and addressed through strategic interventions that can help create short-term and long-term change.

The Policy and Institutional Context

The SL framework highlights how systemic and structural barriers have a direct impact on the ability of individuals, organizations and communities to build and maintain their assets. These barriers may include cultural or social norms, policies and institutional practices that intersect in unpredictable ways.

The SL approach can help organizations build a policy and systems-change agenda to reduce social and economic exclusion and build sustainable livelihoods strategies for all.