Welcome to the FRANCIS Project!

This Frugal innovation by Citizens for Citizens project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101006220.

Register Now - Second FRANCIS Frugal Innovation Challenge!

Are you passionate about shaping the future of hotel, travel, and outdoor experiences? 

The second Innovation Challenge has started – Register now!
Jetzt anmelden – Der zweite Ideen-Wettbewerb ist gestartet – Jetzt registrieren!
El segundo reto ha comenzado – Inscríbase ahora!

 

News and Blog

Read our latest blog posts, articles, and announcements.

India Outreach Activities for the FRANCIS Hotel, Travel and Outdoor Challenge

India Outreach Activities for the FRANCIS Hotel, Travel and Outdoor Challenge

As part of the FRANCIS project, the outreach team in India successfully implemented a multi-faceted strategy to engage key stakeholders in the hospitality and travel sectors, promoting awareness and encouraging participation in the second challenge of this exciting initiative. Here’s a glimpse into the efforts and accomplishments that made this campaign a success.

Reisen neu gedacht: FRANCIS startet in den zweiten Ideen-Wettbewerb

Reisen neu gedacht: FRANCIS startet in den zweiten Ideen-Wettbewerb

FRANCIS gibt Gas! Das deutsche Team hat in den letzten Wochen gemeinsam mit Bürger*innen Ideen rund um Hotel, Reise und Outdoor-Erlebnisse entwickelt. Ziel war es, Gruppen zu Wort kommen zu lassen, die im Innovationsgeschehen sonst wenig Gehör finden. . In Vechta und Leverkusen diskutierten Senior*innen, was sie beim Reisen so richtig ärgert und wie man den Urlaub für alle angenehmer machen kann.

FRANCIS Project Presents at AHFE Conference

FRANCIS Project Presents at AHFE Conference

The FRANCIS project team attended the International Conference for Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) in July 2024, held in Nice on the beautiful French Riviera. We had the exciting opportunity to present our paper, “Driving Citizen Frugal Innovation: Leveraging Insights of the FRANCIS Project to Improve the Engagement of Marginalised Groups in Innovation Challenges”.

FRANCIS

FRANCIS’ consortium includes six partners from five European countries – Fraunhofer from Germany, VTT from Finland, Finnish non-profit organization InnoFrugal, The Behavioural Insights Team from the United Kingdom, the French tech startup Agorize and Turkey’s BSH Home Appliances.

The FRANCIS project aims to develop frugal innovations by citizens for citizens within the scope of open innovation challenges.

The project’s results will include a guideline with recommendations on how to involve different participant groups in the challenges and how to encourage the development of ideas (Citizen Frugal Innovation Framework and Toolbox). It will also aid with measuring the impact of Citizen Frugal Innovations.

Challenges

Launched in February 2021, the first phase of the project in 2021 and 2022 established a scientific foundation with recommendations on how to involve different participants groups in challenges and how to encourage the shared development of ideas. The second phase, which takes place from 2023 to 2024, runs two open innovation challenges, each mentored by industry coaches, who support the participants in detailing their ideas. The project ends in April 2025.

 

BSH FRANCIS Challenge 1

Contact Us

Project Coordinator

Liza Wohlfart
Fraunhofer IAO
Email: liza.wohlfart@iao.fraunhofer.de

Communication and Dissemination Manager

Venkata Gandikota
InnoFrugal
Email: venkata@innofrugal.org