Toolkit Type: Guidance

This document gives you the information you need to create your own lab. This could be a UNICEF lab—or could simply be a space of creativity that is aimed at solving significant global problems through the application of dedicated local resources. It provides background on labs, defining a lab's purpose, budget and scoping, and examples of different lab models (outreach/training, product development, service development, operational research, and content broadcasting). It also includes…

Features: Guiding framework, Techniques

Toolkit developed by the Australian central government, this resource offers 28 pieces of guidance, methods, or techniques for different stages of an organisational innovation lifecycle. The resource includes an Innovation Diagnostic to get a snapshot on which phase of the innovation cycle an agency might need to focus on.

Features: Glossary, Guiding framework, Interactive diagnostic

Grounded Change is an approach and social innovation methodology used by the company InWithForward. It means flipping the order in which most social policies & services are made. Rather than start at the top, in boardrooms, they start at the bottom, with user needs. They have named 7 kinds of interactions that they believe are the most important to weave into policy, procurement, service delivery, and community activities. This resource contains the context, reasons, and mechanisms of Grounded…

Features: Examples or Cases, Techniques

The Shift Surrey guide provides an overview of Surrey's design approach to date, including a summary of projects and suggestions for building an internal community of practice inside government. At the end of the guide, there are several typical design tools, tips and tricks learned through Surrey's experience and suggestions for related design resources.

Features: Guiding framework, Tactics, Tips&Tricks

This resource describes a comprehensive method for the BC Public Service (BCPS) to design services for British Columbians, although it is also applicable to other governments. The Playbook is intended to help ensure public service designers have the necessary tools and corporate support to make change. It includes an overview of service design, a discussion of when and how to use it, as well as detailed guidance and tools for the various methods used in service design. The methods are organised…

Features: Guiding framework, Tactics, Techniques

The guide offers practical guidance to local government officials on how to build a culture and practice of innovation and give local leaders an action-oriented framework for breakthrough innovation. It lays out nine “Imperatives” towards this end, with concrete action steps for each to help cities get started, along with illustrative case studies.

Features: Guiding framework

This web-based resource has been created by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art to share ways to design inclusively for a range of physical and cognitive abilities. It includes personas representing different abilities, an overview of typical daily activities done by those personas, a selection of design methods, as well as a collection of ethics for designers. The research method selection describes each by input, output, suitability, and characteristics, including…

Features: Techniques

This website and blog containing a toolkit based on the book GameStorming (not free) and intends to bring a playful or game-like atmosphere to group problem solving activities for the purpose of creating an mindset conducive to innovation and change-making. The site contains games for different purposes, including vision and strategy, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making. The online resources describe each method and technique in terms of: Object of Play, Number of Players, Duration of…

Features: Facilitators guide, Tactics, Techniques, Tips&Tricks

Challenge Prizes: A practice guide provides practical guidance and support to help explore challenge prizes and offers guidance on designing and running a challenge prize. The resource covers what challenge prizes are, guidance on deciding whether a challenge prize is right for your situation, and scoping and planning a prize--including a Challenge Prize Design Worksheet and Challenge Prize Schedule Worksheet.

Features: Checklist, Techniques

This toolkit is for officials and staff at governments and institutions that are interested in launching a participatory budgeting process. Its purpose is to build understanding of what it takes to start a participatory budgeting process and how to lay a foundation for success. It answers the questions: How does a typical PB process work? What are the impacts of PB? What budgets can be used for PB? What staffing and other resources are needed to implement PB? How do I get started?

Features: Guiding framework