About

Citizens can join the challenges via an online platform supported by local events. Mentors from industry and science support them in detailing their initial ideas to concepts and, finally, simple demonstrators. Extensive communication activities – by social media, videos and a blog – ensure easy access for the marginalized groups.
In general, FRANCIS puts a lot of effort into ensuring that the civil society is activated and motivated to participate in the challenges and potential barriers are overcome. This action is supported by behavioural tests and analyses, to gain insight into the barriers most typically encountered at different stages of the Frugal Innovation process and to generate effective mitigation strategies. The project also aims at aligning the challenges with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and indicators for Responsible Research and Innovation. The project is setting upan assessment for this purpose that is tested in the two challenges.

 

Project FRANCIS

The European project “FRANCIS” aims at the development of frugal innovations in open innovation challenges that involve citizens. FRANCIS is the abbreviation for “Frugal innovation by citizens for citizens”. Besides citizens, the project involves scientists and industry in the innovation process. In total, there will be two challenges.
 
The scope of the first challenge in 2023 was kitchen and household. The challenge made specific efforts to bring troubled families, people with a minimalistic lifestyle and elderly people managing their own household on board. It invited citizens worldwide to get involved while running dedicated outreach activities in three selected countries: India, Germany and Turkey.
 
The scope of the second challenge that is run in 2024 is hotel, travel and outdoor experiences. Citizens of specific relevance for the challenge are hotel pioneers, eco-conscious travellers, travel visionaries and outdoor enthusiasts. The second challenge’s outreach activities focus on India, Germany and Colombia.

FRANCIS Objectives

The FRANCIS project objectives are as follows:

Set up a “Citizen Frugal Innovation Toolbox”

The Toolbox is a collection of innovation methods to support citizens in concept development. The toolkit can be usedto support future Frugal Innovation initiatives with citizens.

 

Setup and run two OI challenges

Launched in February 2021, the first phase of the project in 2021 and 2022 has established a scientific foundation with recommendations on how to involve different participants groups in the challenges and how to encourage the shared development of ideas. The second phase, which will take place in 2023 and 2024, runs two open innovation challenges, each mentored by an industry partner, who supports the participants in detailing their ideas.

 

Develop an interdisciplinary “Citizen Frugal Innovation framework”

The CFI Framework will be based on available evidence that includes challenges and barriers, costs and benefits. It will serve as a hands-on guideline for interested stakeholders for future sustainable collaborations in the Frugal Innovation sphere to avoid barriers from the beginning and to optimize the project progress. Lessons learned from the challenges will be incorporated into the citizen frugal innovation framework at the end of the project, so that they can serve as a guide for future frugal innovation initiatives.

 

Project Timeline

FRANCIS project timeline updated

PERT Diagram

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