Designing a challenge is a first step in putting together an innovation competition. In order for the innovation competition to be successful and attract enough audience, a team of organizers should define the main challenge of the competition, how to select winners, judges, what is the selection process along with other details. Intentionally designing the challenge can enable you to systematically design open innovation events and reveal innovative ideas worth developing. (https://www.silearning.eu/tools-archive/designing-the-challenge/)
Name of Method
Brief description
Type/Level of Method
Challenges
Designing the challenge allows you to set the ambitions and constraints of a challenge for an innovation competition. By doing so, you can help ensure the responses to the innovation competition will be fit-for-purpose to take on the challenge at hand. Additionally, these kind of constraints can help innovation competition applicants think creatively within the bounds of what would be helpful.
Problem, Purpose and Needs
Designing the challenge is a way to frame the challenge within the context of an innovation competition. By designing the challenge, you enable applicants to better understand the scope of the challenge at hand and ideate possible approaches to address it.
To effectively design the challenge, you will need to run multiple workshops to (1) gain insight into what the scope and nuance of the challenge is and then (2) define the challenge objectives, selection processes and other important challenge features. This means you will need time, a working group or potentially a participatory process, and resources to run the workshops/process.
Relevance to Climate Neutrality
Challenges
Thematic Areas
Impact Goals
Issue Complexity
Issue Polarisation
Enabling Condition
Essential Considerations for Commissioning Authorities
This tool is extremely useful for defining problem/s, developing a portfolio, enabling participatory or public led social innovation, experimentation, and prototyping.
Engagement Journey
Governance Models and Approaches
Enabling Conditions
Democratic Purpose
Spectrum of participation
Communication Channels
Actors and Stakeholder Relationships
Participant Numbers
Actors and Stakeholders
Participant Recruitment
Interaction between participants
Format
Social Innovation Development Stage
Scope
Time commitment
Designing the challenge could take up to a month and can be efficiently accomplished using two workshops. In the first session gather as group to discuss challenge design. Set challenge objectives and try to define each step in the working sheet. Also, see if there are any gaps or team disagreements on specific topics. When you define gaps do your research and gather on the second session to finalize the challenge and get mutual group consensus on your challenge objectives, selection processes and other important challenge features.
Resources and Investments
Typical duration
Resources and Investments
In-house
Step by Step
In the first session gather as group to discuss challenge design. Set challenge objectives and try to define each step in the working sheet. Also, see if there are any gaps or team disagreements on specific topics. When you define gaps do your research and gather on the second session to finalize the challenge and get mutual group consensus on your challenge objectives, selection processes and other important challenge features. (https://www.silearning.eu/tools-archive/designing-the-challenge/)
As you define and design the challenge, consider:
What are the objectives of your challenge?
What are you uncertain about when it comes to addressing the challenge? What questions best describe what you don’t know and seem to need to know?
What is your most interesting question? Why is it interesting to your audience? Why is it interesting to you and your transition team?
How will you select the winners of your challenge?
Who will judge the ideas?
What is our recruitment plan?
What is the challenge process?
How will we incentivize people to take part?
Evaluation
A participatory process to scope the understanding of the challenge can serve as an essential way to assess the validity of the way you understand the challenge.
Connecting Methods
Innovation Competitions.
Flexibility and Adaptability
The two parts of the process should not be compromised. Time should be dedicated to define the challenge from a participatory perspective. Time should also be dedicated to scoping and designing how the challenge can/should be taken on. The way those sessions are carried out can and should be adapted to the context of your city.
Existing Guidelines and Best Practice
https://www.silearning.eu/tools-archive/designing-the-challenge/
References and Further Resources
“Designing the Challenge.” Silearning. European Commission . Accessed July 13, 2022. https://www.silearning.eu/tools-archive/designing-the-challenge/.
Tuna en: Head of Explorationtr: Keşif Yöneticisi, Gökçe. “The Challenge of Designing an Innovation Challenge – Part I: United Nations Development Programme.” UNDP. UNDP, July 28, 2021. https://www-dev.undp.org/turkiye/blog/challenge-designing-innovation-challenge-part-i.
Tuna en: Head of Explorationtr: Keşif Yöneticisi, Gökçe. “The Challenge of Designing an Innovation Challenge – Part II: United Nations Development Programme.” UNDP. UNDP, April 22, 2022. https://www-dev.undp.org/turkiye/blog/challenge-designing-innovation-challenge-part-ii.
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