Resource:How to use your landscape canvas to attract investment and support for student innovation
The Landscape Canvas is an organizational tool that is designed to assist efforts for attracting investment and entrepreneurial activity on campus.
Problem
Many students find that support for student innovation is lacking in their schools and communities. Entrepreneurship and innovation can only thrive when students are afforded the opportunity to create, discover, and develop thier innovative ideas. Many schools may not even realize that this is problem on their campus, or if they do, the resources are not connected with the students on campus.
Before students and administrators begin soliciting investment and promoting student innovation, they must answer the question: "What currently exists?" The Landscape Canvas is an answer to this question.
Solution
The landscape canvas is a valuable organizational tool that can be used to determine which groups on campus are currently involved with entrepreneruship, which faculty members support student innnovation, and how all of the innovation resources are connected.
The landscape canvas is often manifested in the form of a spreadsheet or a diagram, with each listing containing its associated resources and impact.
By gathering all of this data, students may find it easier to bring the entrepreneurial-minded people on campus together to work towards a common goal that they otherwise could not have accomplished separately.
When looking for investment and support for student innovation, the landscape canvas can also be used as map of the professors and administrators on campus that support student innovation. These people are a great resource to get university funding becasue they know many of the important players at the university and in the community. The Landscape Canvas can also be used outside of the campus community to attract investment by showing how many people would benefit from funding for student innovation.
Critical People
1) Entrepreneruial-minded students/student groups
2) Supportive Faculty/Professors
3) At least one high-up administrator who will "go to bat" for you
4) Internal or External Investors/Supporters
Critical Steps
1) Interview key players and students on campus
2) Fill in the Landspace Canvas
3) Determine what resources are needed
4) Contact key players and students on campus to come together on the project
5) Pitch the project to high-up administrators who may benefit
6) Pitch the project idea to internal or external investors
7) Set up the project with your new support/investment
Important informaton for each group on the landscape canvas:
- Impact on campus
- Relevant and up-to-date contacts
Important considerations throughout the process:
- Who may benefit from working together in a multidisciplinary effort?
- Can you prove your hypothesis first with a smaller scale project?
The Landscape Canvas is a resource that is designed to empower you and other change-agents on campus. Have fun!
