Administrative Processes Outline, Best Practices, and Suggested Process Diagram
Key Administrative Processes
Governance and Leadership
Establish a steering committee to guide the lab’s strategic direction, comprised of
academic leaders, industry experts, and community representatives.
Set up an advisory board to provide oversight and expert consultation on projects
and partnerships.
Project Management
Project Intake: Develop a standardized project proposal system for researchers and innovators to submit their ideas.
Sprint Scheduling: Create a process for organizing 10-week innovation sprints, with defined milestones and criteria for moving projects forward.
Funding and Budgeting
Implement a funding allocation system for lab initiatives, including budgeting
procedures for individual projects and operational costs.
Monitor grant applications and sponsor relations.
Stakeholder Engagement
Establish clear communication channels with stakeholders (e.g., email lists,
regular meetings, workshops).
Develop stakeholder feedback loops to ensure the lab’s activities align with
community needs.
Best Practices
Transparency: Maintain clear, accessible records of the lab’s governance decisions, project selections, and financial activities to build trust with stakeholders and funders.
Agility: Adopt agile project management techniques to iterate on ideas quickly and make data-driven decisions.
Inclusivity: Ensure stakeholder engagement processes are inclusive, with particular attention to underrepresented and vulnerable groups.
Example Process
- Ideation Phase – Open call for project proposals → Initial project scoping.
- Proposal Review – Evaluation by steering committee → Stakeholder consultation.
- Incubation Phase – Projects undergo 10-week sprint.
- Mid-Sprint Review – Assess progress → Provide feedback and resources.
- Final Evaluation – Project presentation → Selection for scaling or further research.
- Launch/Next Steps – Start Implementation
- Evaluation, refine
- Publish results/ findings → Ongoing support
List of Key Stakeholders by Category
Beneficiaries (Priority: High.)
Examples: vulnerable groups, marginalized communities
Academic Institutions:
Priority: High. These will provide the intellectual backbone of the lab, offering research support and a pipeline of students and faculty expertise.
Examples: Sustainability studies departments, environmental science faculties, social innovation centers (e.g., UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Stanford’s Center for Social Innovation).
Funders and Sponsors:
Priority: High. Essential for securing financial resources to ensure the lab’s projects are viable and can scale.
Examples: Philanthropic foundations (e.g., Rockefeller Foundation, Gates Foundation), corporate sustainability programs, governmental sustainability grants, venture capitalists focused on social impact.
NGOs and Nonprofits:
Priority: Medium. These organizations often work on the ground with vulnerable communities, making them crucial partners for implementing and testing solutions.
Examples: UNDP, WWF, Oxfam, local and regional charities. 4. Industry Partners:
Priority: Medium to High. Private sector companies can provide technical expertise, funding, and implementation partnerships, especially for circular economy and sustainable energy projects.
Examples: Renewable energy companies, tech firms (Google Sustainability, Tesla), waste management and circular economy firms.
Community Groups and Social Enterprises:
Priority: High. These groups will serve as primary beneficiaries and co-creators of lab projects. Their feedback will be essential for project success.
Examples: Local grassroots organizations, cooperatives, social enterprises working on social justice or environmental issues.
Policymakers and Governmental Agencies:
Priority: Medium. Engaging with policymakers early on will ensure that lab projects align with regulatory frameworks and can be scaled at a national or regional level.
Examples: Local government sustainability offices, international bodies like the European Commission’s Green Deal initiative.
Students and Researchers:
Priority: Medium. They provide labor and ideas for research and innovation, but they are also beneficiaries of the educational programs the lab offers.
Examples: Undergraduate and postgraduate students from sustainability, design thinking, and social innovation programs.
Lab initiative types (by impact pathway)
Behavior Change Initiatives (business sustainability challenges, public awareness, community empowerment)
Systemic Innovation Initiatives (social enterprises, incubation, policy, advocacy, field/capacity building)
Research, knowledge generation – innovation, collaboration
Qiestions:
Target groups
Scope
Partners network (interdisciplinary efforts)
Timeline
Evaluation
Administrative Procedures Document
Operational Standards
Operational standards define how the lab will function to ensure effective and consistent delivery of its programs and initiatives. These standards include processes for decision-making, reporting, project execution, and overall governance.
● Consistency & Efficiency: Ensure all procedures follow documented processes to avoid ambiguity. For example, all project sprints should adhere to a fixed timeline (10-week sprint model) and employ key methodologies such as design thinking and ExO frameworks.
● Quality Control: Each phase of project work must meet defined quality metrics. These might include the timely submission of reports, successful stakeholder engagement, and adherence to sustainability goals.
● Accountability: Set clear roles and responsibilities for every team member and stakeholder involved in the lab. Each person should have defined deliverables and performance benchmarks to ensure the successful implementation of the lab’s initiatives.
Project Intake Process:
This process outlines how the lab accepts, evaluates, and prioritizes new project ideas and proposals.
- Proposal Submission:
○ Open a submission portal where individuals, organizations, or communities can
submit project proposals.
○ Each proposal should align with the lab’s focus areas (e.g., sustainability, equity,
social innovation). - Initial Screening:
○ A team or automated tool reviews the proposal based on pre-defined criteria (e.g., project feasibility, alignment with the lab’s mission). - Project Evaluation:
○ Projects that pass the initial screening undergo a more in-depth evaluation, which
includes expert reviews, stakeholder analysis, and a feasibility study. 4. Selection:
○ Once evaluated, selected projects will be assigned to a team for further development. - Sprint Integration:
○ Approved projects enter the 10-week innovation sprint, moving through phases
like ideation, validation, and prototyping.
Research Protocols:
As part of its function, the lab will conduct research to support the sustainability initiatives it incubates. These protocols ensure research quality and ethical standards are maintained. - Research Proposals:
○ Similar to project proposals, research ideas will be submitted for evaluation.
○ A dedicated research committee will review them based on criteria such as
contribution to knowledge, relevance, and alignment with sustainability themes. - Research Ethics:
○ All research involving human subjects must receive ethical approval.
○ Maintain transparency about funding, data use, and potential conflicts of interest. - Data Management:
○ Ensure that all data collected during projects and research initiatives is securely stored, anonymized if necessary, and follows privacy laws. - Publication and Sharing:
○ Research outcomes should be published in relevant journals, reports, or lab-led
publications to advance knowledge sharing. - Governance Structure and Operational Framework Governance Model:
● Executive Leadership Team:
○ The lab should be overseen by an Executive Director and a small leadership
team that is responsible for strategic decisions and organizational oversight. This team could include heads of departments like finance, partnerships, operations, and research.
● Advisory Board:
○ An external Advisory Board comprising sustainability experts, academics,
community leaders, and business stakeholders will provide strategic direction and industry insights. This board meets quarterly to review the lab’s progress and advise on upcoming projects.
● Project Committees:
○ For each initiative, consider forming a project-specific committee with representatives from
relevant sectors (e.g., a climate expert, social innovation leader, or community representative).
Decision-Making Process:
● Consensus-Based Decision-Making:
○ Decision-making for project approvals, partnerships, and funding allocations
should be based on consensus. In the event of disagreements, the Executive
Leadership Team has the final say. ● Voting on Major Initiatives:
○ For significant projects or lab-wide strategic shifts, a voting system with weighted votes based on expertise and involvement will be used. For example, the Advisory Board may have more decision-making power on long-term strategy.
● Evaluation and Feedback Loops:
○ After each project sprint, convene a debrief meeting to assess the outcomes, get
feedback from participants, and apply learnings to future initiatives.
Organizational Hierarchy: - Executive Director
Reports to: Board of Trustees or University Governance Body Responsibilities: Overall strategic direction, budgeting, and external relations. - Operations Manager
Reports to: Executive Director
Responsibilities: Day-to-day operations, managing administrative staff, and ensuring alignment of projects with lab’s goals. - Research Coordinator
Reports to: Operations Manager
Responsibilities: Overseeing research projects, managing ethics approvals, and
ensuring proper documentation of all research initiatives. 4. Project Lead (per sprint/initiative)
Reports to: Operations Manager
Responsibilities: Leading a specific initiative or sprint, working with stakeholders, and reporting on progress.
Sustainable Innovation – Tools and Techniques, Methods, Theories
Life-Centered Design
Systems Mapping
Design Thinking
Agile Development
Circular Design
Theory of Change (ToC)
Biomimicry
Ecofeminism
Lean Startup Methodology:
Indigenous Wisdom/culture/practices (eg. Ubuntu ethics)
Stakeholder Mapping