Our work
Our work is organised into three areas: Research & Development, Strategic Advisory, and Knowledge Sharing. We transform ideas into practical solutions by taking innovations from concept to real-world testing. From there, we scale up processes and share proven methods to ensure lasting impact.
While we move between our three areas, we always focus on feedback and improvement to make sure our support, tools, and methods stay practical and effective. We are committed to bridging knowledge and experiences between different regions of the world, at a local, national or international level.
Research & Development
We conduct research to design new tools, methods, and technologies that drive real change. For example, we developed the ADDIS – Decision Thinking approach to help citizens and decision-makers work together toward meaningful change. We’ve launched and coordinated projects like the Global Assembly, the Governance Vocabularies Initiative, and the Citizen Engagement Platform. These initiatives rethink how we make decisions together at both national and international levels.
Strategic Advisory
We help governments, international organizations, and communities of practice adopt more inclusive ways of creating policies. For example, in Rwanda, we worked with young people, civil society, and government officials to design a national entrepreneurship policy together. We’ve also supported open policy discussions in countries like Senegal, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, leading to important reforms in innovation and digital economies.
Knowledge Sharing
We scale our impact by empowering change-makers to take control of their own futures. Through programs like the Entrepreneurship Policy Learning Series and Decision Thinking, we have provided training to hundreds of change-makers across the globe. These programs help them use participatory methods for different topics, promoting a more collaborative and informed way of making decisions.
Our Initiatives
The co>gov lab is i4Policy’s dedicated space for researching, experimenting, innovating, and implementing methods and frameworks in our own unique way, aiming to empower decision-makers, communities, and individuals with the tools needed to drive lasting, meaningful governance change.
Our Products
Ecosystem.build
Ecosystem.build is a collaborative platform that consolidates resources, methodologies, and expertise to foster better decision-making and grow entrepreneurial ecosystems across the continent.
Ecosystem.build products
- Ecosystem.build (Main Site)
- Entrepreneurship Policy Learning Series
- Entrepreneurship Policy Toolkit
- Policy Library of Startup Acts and SBAs
- Benchmarking Study of Entrepreneurship laws in Africa
- Pan-African Policy Taskforce
- Feminist African Manifesto for Entrepreneurship
- Africa Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index
The Decision Thinking website was created to guide users in influencing policy and fostering effective participatory processes. It serves as a tool for accessing and exploring participatory practices from around the world, encouraging users to engage with and contribute to a project aimed at rethinking global governance. The website offers a framework, along with guides and tools, to support these efforts.
The Citizen Engagement Platform is a collaborative space where the voices of African citizens shape the future of the continent. Developed in partnership with AUDA-NEPAD and GIZ, the platform empowers individuals to engage with the African Union’s initiative by learning, sharing ideas, and contributing their perspectives.
Our Projects
- Projects
In Ghana, i4Policy is driving a transformative shift in agricultural policy through the application of our signature, participatory ADDIS methodology....
i4Policy, in partnership with Miranda & Associados, is currently spearheading a transformative phase for Cabo Verde’s entrepreneurial landscape. This strategic...
In early October 2024, we supported the Burundi Policy Hackathon in Bujumbura, an event that brought together over 100 diverse...
We partnered with Participedia and seven other universities and organizations to launch the School on Transnational Democratic Innovations. This initiative...
We partnered with Participedia and the UM6P School of Collective Intelligence to launch the Governance Vocabularies Initiative at a conference...
We partnered with UNESCO and launched the #Don’tGoViral campaign to address the problem of misinformation on the African continent. Working...
We supported UNESCO in optimizing audience engagement with more than 5,000 people from 134 countries in order to draft the...
We partnered with AUDA-NEPAD to develop the Citizen Engagement Platform (CEP), an ambitious project aimed at empowering African citizens to...
A guide for entrepreneurship policy-making processes, developed in collaboration with Smart Africa. The Guide offers a comprehensive series of steps...