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Toolkit of All Toolkits for Social Innovation

Sep 18, 2014
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Development practitioners are all too familiar with information overload on how they can do their jobs better. Sites like Learning Lab aim to curate some of that information so it’s easier to use. The DIY Toolkit (Development, Impact, and You), created by Nesta in cooperation with the Rockefeller Foundation, is a fairly new web-based resource with similar objectives. The simple-to-navigate site walks a user through a curated set of tools for those working on complex and fast-changing social problems. The creators undertook a rigorous review process to select and refine the 30 tools included in the toolkit. According to the site, many surveys were distributed to assess what users needed; pilots were conducted to apply the tools in a variety of contexts; and appropriate refinements were made to the tools.

The tools in the toolkit have wide application. To get the information they need, users can choose from several pathways, such as “I want to…develop a clear plan, collect inputs from others, generate new ideas, or test and improve.” Depending on the path you choose, several tools are presented. Below are just some of the types of tools you can access through the site:

  • Building Partnership Maps
  • Causes Diagram
  • People Shadowing
  • Fast Idea Generator
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Evidence Planning

Check out the video below, produced by the DIY Toolkit team, to learn more about what you can expect from this resource.

DIY toolkit: Introduction video from Nesta UK on Vimeo.

This is a toolkit on how to invent, adopt, or adapt ideas that can deliver better results. It’s quick to use, simple to apply, and designed to help busy people working in development.

To find out more about the Toolkit, visit: http://diytoolkit.org/about/