Membership Requirements (Criteria)

Membership Requirements (Criteria)

To join the network, innovation centers must be committed to innovation and sustainable development and:

  1. Be located in North America (Canada, Mexico, United States)
  2. Be managed or affiliated with academic institutions
  3. Pledge to uphold the network’s mission and vision
  4. Be willing to establish and foster relationships among other innovation centers
  5. Be able and willing to share resources (expertise, information and time) within the network.
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About Innovation Centers

 

The EcoInnovation Network is composed of participating Innovation centers across North America.

Unsure if you qualify to be a member of the network? It does if your Innovation center includes:

  1. Each center employs full-time staff and serves students, faculty and staff, community members and local enterprises in entrepreneurial and design endeavors that support sustainable growth.
  2. Coworking facilities: Each center provides shared workspace and offices to encourage relationship building.
  3. Makerspaces: Centers furnish a physical space that provides community access to manufacturing and digital fabrication equipment, prototyping, and micro-manufacturing.
  4. Business incubation: Centers provide physical space that offers mentorship and business assistance, providing business relationships and resources beyond what the users can find on their own.
  1. Coaching, training and workshops: Centers offer structured courses on relevant topics, best practices, coding and software development, social media strategy, public speaking, accounting, investor management, and other topics as deemed necessary.
  2. Sustainability curriculum: Centers offer expertise, courses, and resources for users to incorporate sustainable development goals in the innovation and entrepreneurship process.
  3. Mentorship: Centers design and offer structured mentorship programs, providing users access to technical, financial, and sales expertise.
  4. Business acceleration: Centers devise a program of study and mentorship with a defined length of time focused on fast company growth, often incorporating investment opportunities and providing key relationships with investors.
  5. Legal services: Centers arrange access to low-cost or discounted legal services to assist with business creation and patenting.
  1. Centers connect to other campus departments for exposure and collaboration, and build relationships outside of the academic institution and campus, participating in and contributing to the community’s broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.
  2. Access to regional, national, and global competitions: Centers offer connection to global competitions, including those focused on sustainability, that offer cash prizes, investment, and publicity mentorship.
  3. Industry connections: Centers provide access to government entities and industry partners to improve access to resources and investments (e.g., angel investors, grants and funding sources) for sustainable development and provide the mentorship, capacity and resources required to cultivate businesses.
  4. Communications and marketing: Centers create broader publicity efforts to increase visibility of users.

If you do not have an Innovation center or if your Innovation center does not meet all the above criteria, do not hesitate to contact us. We may be able to help you create a new center or enhance an existing one.

Contact us for more information