Resource Library

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.

IDIN Summer Research Fellows Report- Nepal

  • Research

This report was produced by IDIN Summer Research Fellow Shweta Rajbhandari, who traveled to Nepal during the summer of 2015 to conduct exploratory research in two remote communities at the epicenter of the 2015 Nepal earthquake focused on understanding factors contributing to villagers' abilities to cope with the disaster and demonstrate resilience. 

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IDIN Summer Research Fellows Report- Myanmar

  • Research

This report was produced by IDIN Summer Research Fellow Reese Caliman, who traveled to Myanmar during the summer of 2015 to conduct exploratory fieldwork related to local innovation and waste management. 

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IDIN Summer Research Fellows Report-Ghana

  • Research

This report presents the research of two IDIN Summer Research Fellows, Grace Connors and Jessie Press-Williams, who traveled to Ghana during the summer of 2015 to conduct exploratory interviews with local innovators in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale. The report contains their research findings as well as profiles of 31 Ghanaian entrepreneurs of varying ages and backgrounds. 

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Watching the Smoke Rise Up: Thermal Efficiency, Pollutant Emissions and Global Warming Impact of Three Biomass Cookstoves in Ghana

  • Research

In Ghana, about 73% of households rely on solid fuels for cooking. Over 13,000 annual deaths are attributed to exposure to indoor air pollution from inefficient combustion. In this study, assessment of thermal efficiency, emissions, and total global warming impact of three cookstoves commonly used in Ghana was completed using the International Workshop Agreement (IWA) Water Boiling Test (WBT) protocol. Statistical averages of three replicate tests for each cookstove were computed. Thermal efficiency results were: wood-burning cookstove: 12.2 ± 5.00% (Tier 0); coalpot charcoal stove: 23.3 ± 0.73% (Tier 1–2); and Gyapa charcoal cookstove: 30.00 ± 4.63% (Tier 2–3). The wood-burning cookstove emitted more CO, CO2, and PM2.5 than the coalpot charcoal stove and Gyapa charcoal cookstove. The emission factor (EF) for PM2.5 and the emission rate for the wood-burning cookstove were over four times higher than the coalpot charcoal stove and Gyapa charcoal cookstove. To complete the WBT, the study results showed that, by using the Gyapa charcoal cookstove instead of the wood-burning cookstove, the global warming impact could be potentially reduced by approximately 75% and using the Gyapa charcoal cookstove instead of the coalpot charcoal cookstove by 50%. We conclude that there is the need for awareness, policy, and incentives to enable end-users to switch to, and adopt, Gyapa charcoal cookstoves for increased efficiency and reduced emissions/global warming impact.

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From Innovators' Perspective: Processes of Grassroots Innovation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

  • Research

This Masters thesis seeks to understand the innovation processes of grassroots innovators in two states in Southern India. Through interviews and case study research, the thesis sheds light on how each innovator has developed his innovation from idea to product, as well as on the enabling conditions that are needed in order to support processes of local innovation in Southern India.

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Understanding the relationship between place-based economic development strategies for innovation and inequality: the Innovation District in Medellin, Colombia

  • Research

This report presents the research of IDIN Summer Research Fellow Juan Constain, who researched an Innovation District in the Colombian city of Medellín as part of a larger project leading to his Masters thesis. This report documents and maps the players in the district and examines the strategies used to develop the district, paying particular attention to the role of the district in furthering or eroding economic and social inclusion of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

 

 

 

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Ghanaian Entrepreneurship and Innovation

  • Research

This undergraduate thesis presents the results of 28 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and local innovators in four cities across Ghana.  The thesis explores the motivations and backgrounds of these entrepreneurs, the factors that have led them to create their own businesses, and structural enablers and barriers to local innovation in the Ghanaian context.  This research builds on fieldwork conducted by the co-authors through the IDIN Summer Research Fellowship.

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Mapping of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Conakry, Guinea

  • Research

This report outlines the research of IDIN Summer Research Fellow Meghan McCormick, who spend her summer in Conakry, Guinea working to identify and map the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The report shares the methods she used to do so, key insights from her research with a variety of local stakeholders, and reflections on the city's innovation ecosystem. The directory of ecosystem players that emerged from her work can be found here.

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Creative Capacity Building in Uganda: Qualitative case research into the impact of CCB on individuals and communities

  • Research

This collection of case studies illustrates the range of outcomes that D-Lab's Creative Capacity Building trainings have had in communities across Uganda. The cases illustrate an evolution in the ways that CCB alumni apply the design process after the training is over: a progression from designing for income, to designing for resilience, to designing for development.

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Assembly Traders as Supply Chain Integrators for Smallholder Farmers

  • Research

This report summarizes the research of 2016 IDIN Summer Research Fellows Kate Collins and Bar Pereg, who conducted research on the role of assembly traders in the value chains for smallholder maize production in Uganda.  This report identifies three key barriers that currently prevent smallscale agregators from playing a more beneficial role in the supply chain and also identifies several promising and innovative local initiatives that are piloting solutions to the key challenges identified. 

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