Insights
Articles and resources on commissioned research, evaluation, knowledge exchange, membership strategy and turning findings into useful outputs.
New research reveals open access publications are more likely to be cited in patents than subscription-based research. For UK organisations, this suggests a clear competitive advantage: freely accessible research drives more technological innovation. The study shows Europe has particularly strong science-industry connections, positioning UK firms well to leverage this trend.
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Should SEO be everyone’s job - especially in universities and charities where so much page copy is written by academics, programme leads, or service teams.
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A new UK-based study reveals that giving teams total freedom to choose their own projects can backfire - unless you match autonomy with experience, structure, and smart project design.
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The ability to communicate those ideas - persuasively, accessibly, and with resonance - can be just as critical as the innovation itself. That’s where strategic storytelling comes in. In this blog, we explore why strategic storytelling is vital for innovators, how to do it well, and how it complements evidence-based thinking rather than undermining it.
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Co-ownership is not simply a new buzzword - it’s a shift in mindset and structure, where stakeholders aren’t just involved, but invested. In this post, we explore how to evolve co-production into co-ownership and why this matters for long-term innovation success
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SEO is just as critical for organisations working in civic innovation, education, or the non-profit sector. In this blog, we’ll demystify SEO for non-profits and civic innovators, sharing simple strategies to improve your content’s visibility and impact online.
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For innovation leaders and impact-driven organisations, the real power lies not in volume, but in how analytics are used to inform and sharpen strategic choices.
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Organisations are investing more than ever in research, insight gathering, and evaluation. But too often, those findings sit unused - confined to slide decks, reports, or knowledge hubs. The problem isn’t the research itself. It’s the absence of a practical bridge between insight and action. In this blog, we explore how to operationalise insight and ensure that your research findings don’t just inform, but influence.
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Strategic agility is the ability to stay committed to purpose while flexibly adapting how that purpose is achieved. It enables innovation to thrive without derailing the organisation’s overall mission.
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For leaders in innovation, research, and community-facing organisations, understanding the basics of SEO isn’t about chasing clicks - it’s about ensuring your ideas and offers reach the right audiences, at the right time, with the right message.
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Explore how participatory research strengthens innovation by grounding strategy in real-world insights and inclusive knowledge creation.
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Whether you're trialling a new engagement model, launching a research-led tool, or testing a digital product, the minimum viable pilot is a powerful strategic tool. In this blog, we’ll unpack how to design and run a minimum viable pilot and why it matters for inclusive, sustainable innovation.
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Scenario planning isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about preparing for plausible futures. At The Innovation Office, we use scenario planning to help organisations think beyond the usual ‘best guess’ strategies and design flexible, resilient responses to a range of potential developments. In this post, we’ll explore how scenario planning works and how you can apply it to innovation and strategic management.
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At The Innovation Office, we see co-design as a powerful method for making innovation more inclusive, relevant, and sustainable. In this blog post, we’ll explore what co-design really means, how it differs from other participatory approaches, and how you can start embedding it in your work.
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Innovation is not a solo act. Increasingly, organisations striving to deliver meaningful change are embracing a more inclusive, participatory approach to how ideas are generated, shaped, and implemented. At the heart of this shift is coproduction - a method that positions stakeholders not merely as beneficiaries or consultees, but as active partners in creating solutions.
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