This working tool was co-developed by Antonio Moya-Latorre and Alejandra Boni at INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), together with Íngrid Vives Rubio, Núria Jové Company, and Núria Bayó Puxan at the Government of Catalonia, to support the organisation and steering of collective action towards Shared Agendas – collaborative, multi-actor, and challenge-driven initiatives designed to transform the socio-economic model of the territory towards sustainability and social equity.
The tool serves as a key support instrument for the deployment of the Transformative Social Innovation Laboratories (LIST), providing an enabling framework for Shared Agendas and collaborative governance processes.
This visual model serves as a functional tool for collaboratively addressing the challenges outlined in the RIS3CAT 2030 strategy. Specifically, it facilitates the rollout of Transformative Social Innovation Laboratories (LIST), which act as enabling environments for the development of Shared Agendas. The model is adapted from the EAPC’s “Competency Framework for Collaborative Work in Research and Innovation.”
It outlines the following core competencies – grouped into (A) investigative, (B) functional and (C) relational clusters – for designing, implementing and evaluating collaborative innovation projects aimed at systemic transformation – with an emphasis on the challenges listed in the RIS3CAT 2030, Catalonia’s strategy for smart specialisation. Self-assessment questions help individuals and teams reflect on their competencies, taking into account biases, roles, and power dynamics.
- C1. Systemic and critical thinking
- C2. Strategic vision
- C3. Flexibility and adaptability
- C4. Orientation toward the common good
- C5. Outcomes orientation
- C6. Planning
- C7. Teamwork and networking
- C8. Leadership
- C9. Positive conflict management
- C10. Communication
The tool organises collaboration between civil society, public administration, companies, researchers and community partners across four stages:
- Stage 0: Preliminary scoping (reflection before action)
- Stages I, II and III: Collaborative intervention (reflection in action)
- Stage IV: Final assessment (reflection on action and future steps
It can be used as a reflective learning framework or planning instrument to develop the competences for collaborative and reflective governance of Transformative Innovation Policy initiatives.
Acknowledgements
This tool was adapted from the EAPC Competency framework for collaborative work in research and innovation, which sets out:
- how collaborative research and innovation teams can work effectively across institutional boundaries;
- why certain competences matter for integrating diverse knowledge, reaching consensus on complex problems and navigating multi-stakeholder environments; and
- how these competencies support transformation and innovation in public governance, research, and policy design.
Citation
Moya-Latorre, A., Boni, A., Vives Rubio, Í., Jové Company, N., & Bayó Puxan, N. (2025). Tool: Transformative innovation initiatives in practice (TII) visual framework. TIP Resource Lab. Available at: https://tipresourcelab.net/resource/tool-transformative-innovation-initiatives-in-practice-tii-visual-framework/
Reflections on use
Page 1 is populated with questions that were designed for an innovation camp in Catalonia, which brought together partners from across four sectors—civil society, the private sector, public administration, and academia.
Page 2 is left blank for users to design their own questions
It may be useful for regional innovation policy makers initiatives, university–community partnerships or transitions project teams as a collaborative governance and reflexive capacity-building framework for transformative innovation projects.
It supports governance that:
- includes multiple actors (e.g., public administration, researchers, companies, civil society, community partners) working together rather than acting in silos;
- surfaces and questions assumptions, roles, power dynamics, goals and impacts while the process is unfolding – not only at the end; and
- addresses how decisions are made, responsibilities are distributed, and direction is set across institutions and sectors, rather than on one organisation acting alone.
