Resource:How to complete the Landscape Canvas

Background

The Landscape Canvas is a tool, introduced in October 2013 by the University Innovation Fellows Program, that allows students to classify programs, classes, infrastructure and other resources on and off campus that are in support of their schools' Innovation and Entrepreurship (I&E) ecosystem. Each of the five columns in the Landscape represent a phase in the process, from awareness to implementation. Inspired by the Wenger framework to evaluate value creation in 'Communities of Practice', assets on campus are categorized into one of five dimensions, as described below.

Discover

"Students, innovation and entrepreneurship is important. Make it a priority." (Perceived Value): In this stage, a workshop, student or faculty member is generating awareness about the importance of I&E to students, and possibly conveying their fundamental elements. Students not looking for this information may happen upon I&E through courses, events like TEDx, workshops, speaker series and/or marketing and communications mechanisms designed to profile such activities in higher education.

Learn

"So, you want to learn more." (Potential Value): In this phase, students realize I&E is important and want to get involved in a deeper way by learning more and developing their skill sets. Beginner-level information in the academic environment can be accessed by students through courses, extra-curricular clubs and program offerings, competitions and short-term ideation / venture creation activities like hackathons.

Experiment

"You want to apply your knowledge to a specific project." (Applied Value): At this stage, a student wants to apply their knowledge of I&E to a specific challenge or program. They may form a design team or work solo to explore the potential of a unique innovation or venture opportunity. Resources in support of this stage help students strengthen ideas into well-developed and viable opportunities. These may include experiential courses, infrastructure (like innovation spaces or labs), and engagement with external industry partners.

Pursue

"You have effectively engaged in I&E." (Realized Value): In this phase, a student or student-led team commits to an opportunity and works to see it through to impact, be it implementation in one location or commercial scale. The student(s) may license a technology, form or join a venture startup, attain legal status for their opportunity, and/or begin generating revenue for their innovation. Resources in support of this stage may include incubators / accelerators, seed funding sources, tech. transfer offices and grant writing resources on campus.

Spin Out

"You have fine-tuned your understanding of I&E and reframed your approach to your education and career." (Reframed Value): In this stage, a student venture is likely to move off-campus and look more like a typical growing small-medium sized enterprise or high-growth company. The student understands the innovation and entrepreneurship process and adopts an entrepreneurial mindset in all that they do. The student may demonstrate their command of I&E skills by applying it to changing venture strategy or pursuing new markets. A student may also join an existing venture or corporation, leading an intrapreneurial opportunity. Resources available to students in this stage may include technology parks, wet-lab and manufacturing space. Leadership assistance through business and capital networks, as well as mentors and advisors.

Mapping the Innovation and Entrepreneurship assets on your campus will allow you to visually see what areas represent strength on campus and what areas are weak. and sharing that data on this wiki will allow students to see, at a glance, all the ways they can plug into creative, design, maker resources that can have a positive impact on society.

Summary and Institutional I&E Pages Within Landscape Canvas

There are seven worksheets in Landscape Canvas allowing students to map the campus ecosystem from the perspective of student's journey and use of such resources. Five of the worksheets represent each of the five stages 'Perceived', 'Potential', 'Applied', 'Realized' and 'Reframed' as described above. The remaining two include a 'Summary' worksheet, allowing students to total the number of resources per stage, and an 'Institutional I&E' worksheet allowing students to list the array of Majors, Minors, Research Centers and other Institutional Resources that can be drawn upon to further I&E on campus.

Download the Landscape Canvas

View the Landscape Canvas and complete as follows:

Directions:
1) Create a copy of this Landscape Canvas google spreadsheet and rename it to reflect your campus.

2) Research your campus assets on the web and by interviewing students, faculty and administrators. Enter relevant program name, club, course or item in all worksheets of Landscape Canvas except for 'Example' worksheet. Include estimated enrollment numbers, key contacts & websites.

3) Get feedback. Don't worry about capturing everything before you 'Get out of the building' and interview other stakeholders for their perspective. Use the 'Share' feature to gather input and share your Landscape Canvas with others. Create a wiki page for your campus on UniversityInnovation.org and link to your Landscape Canvas.

4) NEW! Use the Landscape Canvas Google Slides to create an visually-pleasing presentation.

5) As your institution adds new courses, programs, resources and mechanisms that advance I&E on campus, update your Landscape Canvas google spreadsheet.