Social Innovation Incubator: Concept Draft

Pre­Proposal
to
Create
a
Sustainability
Incubator,
 Community
Center,
and/or
Mixed­Use
Urban
Development
 in
Seattle
 Jay
Standish
 <­­DRAFT­
7.1.09­­>
 


Summary
 If
hyper­individualist,
consumer­based
cultures
have
wreaked
havoc
on
the
world,
how
 do
we
catalyze
a
self­supportive
community
focused
on
creativity
and
production?
 
This
project
aims
to
enhance
the
connectivity,
visibility,
and
accessibility
of
Seattle’s
 existing
sustainability
movement.
This
movement
is
currently
a
physical
“diaspora”
 of
green
businesses,
non‐profits,
Native
tribes,
government
agencies,
community
 and
cultural
groups.
By
housing
complimentary
organizations
and
activities
in
the
 same
physical
space,
this
project
seeks
to
leverage
“access
by
proximity”
into
more
 integration
and
success
for
this
community.

 


Potential
Programs
and
Tenants
 •

•

Shared
Workshop/
Fab
Lab
/
Pro­Am
Studio
Space
 o Decked‐out
with
high‐quality
tools,
machines,
computers
and
other
 production
equipment,
this
space
puts
expensive,
large
or
otherwise
 inaccessible
resources
at
your
fingertips.
Rent
a
machine
for
an
hour
 or
two,
buy
a
monthly
membership,
or
volunteer
to
earn
access.

 o This
shared
resource
model
could
be
applied
to
almost
anything;
 musical
instruments
and
recording
equipment,
3D
printers
and
laser
 cutters,
a
bike
shop,
a
commercial
kitchen,
etc.

 o Examples/
models:
TechShop,
Western
Massachusetts
Food
 Processing
Center,

 
 Office
(Upstairs
and/or
Ground
Floor
)
 o Shared
office
space
for
startup
social
enterprises
=
tiny
overhead
and
 access
to
critical
resources
like
scanners,
design
software,
conference
 rooms,
etc.
A
great
example
exists
in
Toronto.
 o Proximity
to
other
social
entrepreneurs
and
sustainability
experts
 makes
the
location
strategic.
 o Green
professionals
(architects,
lawyers,
sustainability
consultants,
 natural
medicine,
etc)
 o Examples:
Toronto
Centre
for
Social
Innovation,
Office
Nomads,

 


•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

Social
Enterprise
Incubator
 o An
affordable,
perhaps
academically‐supported
consultancy
for
 startups.,
either
for‐profit
or
NGO.

 o By
utilizing
the
established
sustainability
efforts
located
in‐house,
this
 incubator
could
be
the
collaborative
project
that
acts
as
a
common
 cause
to
catalyze
true
community
solidarity
within
the
building.
 (Perhaps
donating
some
pro‐bono
services
to
incubator
clients
could
 be
a
form
of
“membership
dues”…)
 o Possible
in‐house
micro
venture
capital
creates
an
intimate
circle
of
 trust
and
mutual
support
between
funders,
entrepreneurs
and
 coaches.

 o Models
and
potential
partners:
The
Hub,
Pratt
Design
Incubator,
MIT
 Green
Hub,
Good
Company
Ventures,

 
 Green
Jobs
Training
Center
 o As
described
by
Green
For
All
and
the
Living
Cities
Initiative
 (http://www.livingcities.org/green_jobs/index.htm)
 o Brings
more
social
justice
focus
into
the
mix,
to
add
more
 racial/economic
diversity
to
the
community
 
 Ground­Floor
Commercial
 
 o Retail
for
green
products
(clothing,
books,
specialty
foods,
etc)
 o Green
Art
Gallery
 o Shared
retail
space
for
Micro‐Businesses
 o Yoga,
spa,
wellness
services
 o Bookstore
or
toystore;
something
fun
and
engaging
 
 Hospitality
 o Local/Organic
bistro,
café,
tavern,
perhaps
even
a
boutique
eco‐hotel
 o Brings
foot
traffic,
new
people,
and
the
general
public,
thereby
 increasing
visibility
by
a
broader
network
of
people,
so
it
is
not
a
 hidden
asset
discovered
only
by
an
“in‐the‐know”
network.
 
 Residential
Apartments
 o Affordable
housing
priced
at/below
neighborhood
levels.

 o Market‐rate
housing
provides
revenue,
community
location
a
major
 draw.

 
 Work/Live
Studios
and
Lofts
 o For
the
passionate
entrepreneurs
and
artists
who
need
to
be
near
 their
work
at
all
times
to
tinker!

 o The
work/live
studio
connected
to
a
retail
environment
is
an
idea
 taken
from
Green
Exchange
in
Chicago

 
 Venue
for
Community
and
Cultural
Events


o As
a
vibrant
hub
for
multiple
communities,
the
center
will
have
 flexible
spaces
to
host
a
diversity
of
events,
workshops
and
functions.

 
 o These
might
include:
art
classes,
meditation,
town‐hall‐style
meetings,
 dance
performances,
health
workshops,
local
food
cook‐offs,
etc.
 
 o Volunteerism
could
be
promoted
through
a
volunteer
exchange,
 whereby
people
offer
“free”
classes
or
services
in
their
specialty,
and
 earn
“volunteer
credits”
which
they
can
redeem
for
other
services,
 classes
or
experiences.




 
 Design
Values
 


Replicable
Model­Building:
A
learning
community
to
utilize
and
contribute
to
 collective
intelligence
 The
development
of
this
community
will
be
carefully
chronicled
by
video,
web
and
 written
media.
Our
learning
process
will
act
as
a
resource
for
outsiders
who
would
 like
to
implement
similar
projects.
This
will
be
a
critical
priority
to
maintain,
as
it
 will
be
a
significant
effort
to
synthesize
and
communicate
the
development
process.

 Open­source
and
Transparent
 The
development
process
will
be
open
to
broad
community
stakeholder
input
to
 create
a
sense
of
ownership.
There
will
be
many
opportunities
for
public
input,
to
 enable
“crowd‐sourcing”
of
ideas,
and
produce
a
volunteer
base
of
active
 collaborators.

 Partnership
Structure
 This
development
will
be
a
collaborative
effort
from
inception.
Expanding
upon
 existing
connections
and
networks,
the
project
will
create
efficiencies
by
utilizing
 the
diverse
resources
and
abilities
of
its
members.
This
model
is
somewhat
similar
 to
cluster
economics,
whereby
proximity
to
peers
promotes
short
feedback
loops
 and
thus
more/better
communication
and
resilience.
 Diversity
(economic,
cultural,
ethnic,
biological,
ideological,
etc.)
 As
a
mixed‐use,
community‐focused
development,
diversity
is
a
critical
element
of
 this
community;
it
could
be
home
to
businesses,
artists,
NGO’s,
restaurants,
families,
 health
practitioners,
spiritual
mentors,
etc.
Furthermore,
a
focus
on
economic,
 cultural
and
ethnic
diversity
must
be
deliberate
and
may
necessitate
special
 provisions
(i.e.
rent
control,
scholarships,
grants,
academic
initiatives,
etc.)

 International
and
Interbioregional
Exchange


In
the
spirit
of
cooperation,
sharing,
and
cultural
exchange,
this
community
could
 also
house
programs
dedicated
to
international,
cross‐cultural
exchange.
As
such,
it
 could
act
as
the
“Sustainability
Embassy”
for
the
Cascadian
bioregion,
and
enable
 the
translation
and
sharing
of
stories
and
best
practices
in
the
realms
of
sustainable
 design,
agriculture,
wisdom,
etc.



Focus
and
Location
 Depending
on
the
specific
early‐adopter
tenants
and
the
culture
want
to
engender,
 this
center
could
be
designed
as:
a
shared
creative
workshop,
a
think‐tank
and
living
 laboratory
to
study
social
innovation,
a
business
venture
to
prove
the
model
of
 community‐supported‐enterprise,
or
a
flagship
for
neighborhood
revitalization.
 Ideally,
it
could
grow
to
incorporate
aspects
of
all
these
roles,
but
in
the
early
 phases,
a
core
program
should
probably
be
chosen
as
a
focus
to
initiate
and
build
 momentum.

 The
location
might
be
chosen
depending
on
which
sub‐community
(business,
art,
 underserved,
etc.)
would
have
the
most
access
by
proximity.
To
locate
near
existing
 sustainable
enterprises,
South
Lake
Union
or
Ballard
would
be
the
natural
choices.
 To
incorporate
more
artists,
SoDo
or
Georgetown
could
be
a
good
choice.
To
be
a
 resource
for
an
underserved
community,
the
Central
or
International
Districts
 seem
appropriate.

 Regardless
of
which
neighborhood
is
chosen,
the
long‐term
vision
is
to
establish
a
 “flagship”
eco‐social‐cultural
center
that
will
attract
and
inspire
the
emergence
of
 other
progressive
enterprises
in
the
neighborhood.
As
such,
the
center
could
be
 positioned
to
incubate
a
neighborhood
renaissance.

 


Similar
Projects
 


The
Hub
is
an
incubator
for
social
innovation
which
started
in
London
and
has
 spread
globally
to
twelve
cities.
A
blurb
from
their
website:
“We
believe
that
there
is
 no
absence
of
good
ideas
in
the
world.

The
problem
is
a
crisis
of
access,
scale,
 resources
and
impact.
So
it
felt
vital
to
create
places
around
the
world
for
accessing
 space,
resources,
connections,
knowledge,
experience
and
investment.”
 The
Global
Citizen
Center
is
also
in
a
startup
phase
and
will
be
located
in
San
 Francisco.
It
is
a
project
of
Global
Exchange,
the
creator
of
the
Green
Festival
series.
 http://www.globalcitizencenter.org/
 
 In
Portland,
the
Jean
Vollum
Natural
Capital
Center
is
home
to
EcoTrust,
City
of
 Portland
Office
of
Sustainability,
a
Patagonia
retail
store,
and
an
organic
pizza
 parlor,
among
other
tenants.
This
is
a
green‐renovated
building
on
a
light
rail
line
in
 Portland’s
Pearl
District.
http://www.ecotrust.org/ncc/


The
City
of
Portland
is
also
supporting
the
creation
of
a
cross‐cultural
Community
 Gathering
Center.
This
idea
sprung
from
world
café
forums
and
the
city’s
Vision
into
 Action
initiative.
More
info
at:
http://www.visionpdx.com/action/initiatives.php
 Chicago’s
Green
Exchange
is
a
“green
businesses
mall”
that
worked
with
the
city
to
 create
a
new
“live/work”
zoning
status.

 Following
the
artistic
current,
we
find
Damanhur‐
a
beautiful
intentional
art
 community
in
Italy,
every
square
inch
is
covered
with
exceptional
mosaics,
murals
 and
sculptures.
 Toronto’s
Centre
for
Social
Innovation
started
as
a
shared
office
facility
and
grew
to
 provide
organizational
mentorship
and
support
for
its
startup
tenants.