The Practice Guide
The Social Innovation Practice Guide
The open methodology behind SIPC certification — designed for development practitioners, written by practitioners, free for the field to adopt, translate, and build on.
English edition — translation in progress
What’s in the guide
The guide is a 46-page methodology, structured around the four phases of the social innovation cycle. Each phase opens with the question it answers, the activities that belong to it, the canvases and worked artefacts that support those activities, and the artefact that ends the phase and unlocks the next.
- Phase 1 — Discover. Mandate, analytical priming, problem and stakeholder analysis (AAA model), beneficiary identification, cause-and-effect mapping.
- Phase 2 — Define. SPICE problem-definition framework, gap analysis, SMART outcome framing, the “How might we…?” canvas.
- Phase 3 — Develop. Structured ideation — Brainstorming, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, TRIZ, Delphi, Nominal Group — solution enrichment, clustering, and shortlist canvases.
- Phase 4 — Deliver. Logic model, low- and high-fidelity prototyping, MVP, pilot, Net Promoter Score, the Pivot/Persevere matrix, Promise of Change, scaling, and the seven-part Call to Action pitch.
Each phase includes the canvases practitioners use in the field — printable, language-neutral, and reproducible under CC BY 4.0.
The methodology at a glance
Social innovation is the disciplined design and delivery of new solutions to social problems. The Practice Guide organises this around the Double Diamond of diverge–converge–diverge–converge: open the problem, narrow it, open the solutions, narrow them.
What is the Discover phase?
Diverge to understand the problem deeply. Map the social context, surface lived experience, analyse stakeholders (using the AAA model — Authority, Acceptance, Ability), trace causes and effects, and identify the primary beneficiary. Discover ends with a shared, multi-angled view of the problem space — not yet a fixed problem statement.
What is the Define phase?
Converge to define the problem precisely. Narrow the opportunity using the SPICE framework (Situation, Problem, Impact, Causes, Evidence). Set a sharp, evidence-anchored problem statement and SMART success criteria. Define ends with the boundary conditions every subsequent solution must respect.
What is the Develop phase?
Diverge to generate the best solutions. Open the solution space with structured ideation — Brainstorming, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, TRIZ, Delphi, Nominal Group — frame the question with a "How might we…?" canvas, then enrich and cluster ideas before any selection. Develop ends with a wide, deliberate menu of candidate solutions.
What is the Deliver phase?
Converge to deliver the solution with discipline. Build a logic model, prototype low- and high-fidelity (Role Play, Storyboards, MVP, Pilot, Beta), measure with KPIs and NPS, then decide deliberately — pivot or persevere. Deliver ends with a validated solution, a Promise of Change, and a Call to Action that can be scaled.
The cycle is iterative, not linear. Initiatives loop back from Develop to Discover when prototypes reveal that the problem was framed wrongly. The discipline of the guide is in being explicit about which phase you are in, what question that phase is meant to answer, and what evidence would change your mind.
The frameworks the guide teaches
The Practice Guide is hands-on — every phase ships with the canvases and frameworks practitioners actually use:
- AAA stakeholder model — Authority, Acceptance, Ability — to prioritise who matters and why.
- SPICE problem framework — Situation, Problem, Impact, Causes, Evidence — to define a problem with the rigour donors and review committees expect.
- SMART outcome statements, with paired indicators and means of verification.
- “How might we…?” canvas to translate problem analysis into a generative question.
- Structured ideation — Brainstorming, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, TRIZ, Delphi, Nominal Group Technique.
- Logic Model — Inputs → Activities → Outputs → Outcomes → Long-term Impact, with assumptions made explicit.
- Prototyping ladder — Role Play, Storyboards, Paper Prototype (low-fidelity) to Digital Prototype, Functional Demo, Service Simulation, MVP, Pilot, Beta (high-fidelity).
- Pivot/Persevere matrix with NPS, learning logs, and evidence maps.
- Promise of Change and the seven-part pitch — Opening & Hook, Social Case, Social Solution, The Idea, Proof of Impact, Enablers, Call to Action.
Who this guide is for
The guide is written for people doing social innovation work in development contexts — and for the institutions, trainers, and educators who support them.
- Practitioners. Programme staff in NGOs, foundations, multilaterals, and impact-led organisations who design or deliver initiatives intended to create social change. The guide gives you a shared vocabulary and a tested sequence to organise the work.
- Students. Master’s and certificate students in development studies, public policy, social innovation, and adjacent disciplines. The guide grounds academic frameworks in field practice.
- Trainers. ADP-accredited trainers preparing candidates for SIPC. The guide is the canonical body of knowledge from which exam questions are drawn — every accredited trainer teaches from it.
- Organisations. Teams adopting a structured methodology for internal innovation work. CC BY 4.0 means you can teach it, adapt it, and embed it in your own playbooks without restriction.
How to use this guide
The guide is designed to work in four ways. Pick the one that matches your situation — or combine them.
- Self-study for SIPC. Read the guide end-to-end, then sit the proctored examination administered by certN. No course required, though most candidates prepare with an accredited trainer.
- Internal team training. Use the guide as the curriculum for an in-house programme. The four-phase structure maps cleanly to a multi-week training cycle, and the canvases are designed for group facilitation.
- University and classroom teaching. Teach from the guide directly. CC BY 4.0 means you can reproduce extracts, translate them, and assign chapters without permission — credit ADP and indicate any changes.
- Reference in live practice. Keep the guide open while you work. The phase summaries and canvas templates are designed for use under pressure, not just for first reading.
License and how to cite
The guide is published under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 — the most permissive open license suited to a body of professional knowledge. In plain language:
- You can share — copy and redistribute the guide in any medium or format.
- You can adapt — translate, remix, build on, or excerpt the material for any purpose, including commercial.
- You must give attribution — credit ADP as the author, link to the license, and indicate if you changed anything.
Recommended citation
For most contexts, this APA-style citation works:
Alliance of Development Practitioners. (2026). The Social Innovation Practice Guide (Edition 1.0). https://adp-international.org/social-innovation-practice-guide/
For Chicago notes-and-bibliography style:
Alliance of Development Practitioners. The Social Innovation Practice Guide. Edition 1.0. 2026. https://adp-international.org/social-innovation-practice-guide/.
Available languages
The Practice Guide was first written and published in Arabic — the language of the original authoring team. English and French translations are in progress through ADP’s volunteer translation pathway.
| Language | Edition | Status | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic (العربية) | 1.0 — March 2026 | Available | Download PDF (3.1 MB, 46 pages) |
| English | — | Translation in progress | — |
| French | — | Volunteer translator sought | — |
If you would like to volunteer for the English or French translation — or start a translation in a language not listed — email translations@adp-international.org and see the translation hub for the workflow.
Version history
| Edition | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 (Arabic) | March 2026 | Initial release of the Practice Guide, in Arabic. |
Subsequent editions will be published with a changelog summarising substantive changes. Edition numbers follow the convention MAJOR.MINOR — minor editions for corrections and clarifications, major editions for changes that affect the SIPC examination.
Submit feedback
The guide improves with practitioner feedback. Spot a correction, propose a clarification, or share a case example for a future edition — the editorial team reviews every submission.
Make the next edition stronger
Corrections, clarifications, missing case examples, or questions about the methodology — share what you found in practice.
Cite this in academic work
For peer-reviewed publications, theses, and academic working papers, please use one of the citation styles above and link to the canonical URL: https://adp-international.org/social-innovation-practice-guide/.
If you are publishing research that draws extensively on the guide — including studies of social innovation methodology, evaluation of practitioner training, or applied case work — ADP would value hearing about it. Email info@adp-international.org with a citation; selected work will be highlighted on the Standards page.