Proposition of Internship

Project Context

The Climate Labs project seeks to strengthen the applied research and innovation capacities of ten partner universities from Mexico, Brazil and Colombia through the design and implementation of Social Innovation Labs for mitigation and adaptation to Climate Change. In a network with Universities from Spain, France, and Italy, plus Ashoka as a non-academic expert partner, the project aims to build interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder labs that will institutionalize the applied research and innovation for climate change in the territories the partners are inserted.

In a term of three years, it is expected to train scholars, students and staff members in Latin America, who together will form the changemaker leader teams for each lab. Accordingly, they will design and implement their Climate Lab according to the needs, strengths, challenges and characteristics of the institutions and territories they serve. In this period, each university will also implement a pilot project, get connected with international relevant networks as well as other national institutions, build the physical and virtual infrastructure of the lab, and develop strategies for the sustainability and scalability of the project.

The project seeks, ultimately, to build strong and connected areas of innovation and applied research within universities impacting the overall capacities and strategies of the partner countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

More information at the project’s website: http://climate-labs.org/

Mission of the Université of Lorraine

We, at the Université of Lorraine, are in charge of leading the design and implementation of the Climate Labs Incubation Program - CLIP. This program is conceived as a 4-month hands-on iterative process that should enable the partner teams to advance in the strategic design and launch of their Climate Lab and pilot project. The CLIP is built upon three fundamental conceptual pillars: Climate Change, Social Innovation and Innovation Labs.

Internship Goal

The Climate Laboratory project offers a 6-month internship for a master’s level student whose main objective will be to support from the operational development and research axes the implementation and monitoring of the Climate Labs Incubation Program.

Methodology / Main Activities

  • Conduct literature review on the concepts Climate Change, Social Innovation, Innovation Labs, Incubation and Strategic Design
  • Benchmark of incubation programs on social entrepreneurship, climate action and/or innovation
  • Development and support the content design and production for the CLIP (audiovisual supports, tools or activities, interviews, etc…) Monitoring and assessment of the implementation and results of the CLIP

Expected Results

  1. Formalization of the content for the Climate Labs Incubation Program - CLIP understanding the pertinence and identify main structuring points for the implementation.

  2. A compilation (toolbox) of methods and instruments to support the operationalization of the CLIP in the form of virtual workshops, tools, canvases, ice-breakers etc…

  3. A compilation of cases and experiences drawn from the collaborative process with the project partners. Support in the implementation of the program with the Latin-American partners.

  4. Final report (in English) with the compilation of the main learning and successful points of the implementation of the CLIP, as well as improvement points and perspectives

Internship Dates: March to September 2021

Candidate Profile

Master level students from industrial/urban engineering, design or business with focus on territorial development, innovation management or strategic design

English skills are required to be able to communicate with the project partners. Since this is a project with Latin-American, Spanish skills are desirable but not mandatory.

Contact

  • Fabio Cruz (cruzsanc1{at}univ-lorraine.fr)
  • Ferney Osorio (ferney.osorio-bustamante{at}univ-lorraine.fr)
  • Mauricio Camargo (mauricio.camargo{at}univ-lorraine.fr)