At IDIN, we’re all about learning, especially when it’s hands-on. Here we’ve compiled some of our favorite resources, many of which are used at our trainings and summits around the world.
Resource Library
IDIN Innovation Center Tips to Engage Community Members
- How-to
This document gives Innovation Centers in the IDIN Network ideas on how to engage local community members in their activities and trainings.
Build-It: Battery-Operated Wood Block Phone Charger
- How-to
This Build-It describes the tools and processes needed to build a battery-operated wood block phone charger.
Build-Its are curriculum designed to help experienced designers guide potential innovators through a design process and help familiarize new innovators with tools. All Builds-Its are a work-in-progress. Please master the Build-It individually before leading a larger group.
Tips for Writing a Grant
- How-to
This document provides guidance on writing a grant for a project. It is tailored to IDIN Network members applying for a microgrant, but its lessons are also applicable to other grants.
IDIN Mentorship Toolkit
- How-to
This toolkit is designed for IDIN mentors and their mentees to build productive and meaningful relationships during the microgrant process. It includes tips for mentoring as well as individual tools and progress trackers.
IDIN Targeting Checklist
- How-to
This checklist was designed to help IDIN partners assess their targeting and outreach strategies.
For more information on the assessment, see the IDIN blog: On target: How do you get the right people in the door?
Guide to Starting an IDIN Local Chapter
- How-to
This is an all-inclusive guide on how to start an IDIN local chapter in your country.
Handbook for Biomass Cookstove Research, Design, and Development
- How-to
This handbook presents insights and methodologies from recent biomass cookstove R&D programs at multiple institutions to achieve higher performance, lower cost, and improved usability. This handbook will help cookstove designers and enterprises to integrate the latest R&D innovations into their products and support further innovation.
This handbook was written by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology D-Lab, led by Dan Sweeney, with research and editorial support from Megha Hegde, Kendra Leith and Amy Smith, in partnership with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. This was inspired by their work with small- and medium-scale cookstove and fuel manufacturers, including at the International Development Design Summit for Cookstoves in East Africa in 2017. Participants used design thinking and cookstove R&D to develop creative solutions to challenging problems in household and commercial cooking in the region.
The Metrics Café
- How-to
Funders need impact metrics. Grantees do, too. So who decides what gets measured?
Because funders’ and grantees’ measurement needs clash, they wind up with reporting systems that serve neither. This framework can help reconcile their needs, turning a tangle of metrics into genuine learning.
We explore four models:
- Prix Fixe: All grantees report on same set of metrics.
- A La Carte: Grantees choose from a menu of standard metrics.
- Made-to-Order: Funder and grantee work together to come up with a set of metrics.
- Bring your Own Lunch: Grantees come with their own metrics.
The framework presents pros, cons, implications and recommendations for each model. Drawing on cases from Root Capital, Development Innovation Ventures at USAID, Mercy Corps’ Social Venture Fund, and the Autodesk Foundation, this framework can help funders decide what model is right for them.
Rice Cultivation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Review and Conceptual Framework with Reference to Ghana
- Research
This paper reviews various studies on the impact of rice cultivation on greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the review, researchers from IDIN Academic Partner KNUST developed a conceptual framework that evaluates the impact of rice cultivation on greenhouse gas emissions in Ghana.
Investigating the requirements of an online emergency response platform
- Research
This paper highlights some of the difficulties experienced by volunteers and members of the general public when coordinating a response to an emergency in Pakistan, and discusses a participatory approach to investigating the requirements of an online emergency response platform that links volunteers with donors. The approach builds upon the use of a prototype platform in a simulated emergency situation with real users to test assumptions and learn about the design requirements for such a platform. The paper details the design process and the features of the prototype, and the feedback it received from users.