How we validate social innovation - MWP · Legacy and Innovation Foundation

How we work - map

This page is our methodology (MWP and MVE). Four points first, then phases, cycle and an invitation to work together.

Values

Passion, help, community, knowledge, patronage, respect for property.

Create and try

Work with the partner: build, try, and quickly reject wrong solutions.

Research and social deployment

Pilot with people and institutions. First public validation field before a larger deployment.

Publish and grow

Lessons return to values. Outside the grant region, responsible further development is possible.

Lessons from step 4 feed back into values and the next trial.

More on working with an idea and protection · Request a pilot · Donate · Rights and licences

Why this methodology?

Academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer in Poland often lack early validation, while young innovators face a fear of failure. OECD findings indicate that only about one third of people aged 18–30 feel they have the skills to start a business, and more than half cite fear of failure as a main barrier.

The LEGACY AND INNOVATION Foundation (KRS 0001188002, Opatów) proposes a hybrid model: IP protection, research and third-sector structures. The mission joins Legacy (heritage, local identity) with Innovation (social pilots, purpose licences, knowledge transfer).

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Prosocial Validation Methodology (MWP)

MWP is a process to reduce innovation risk through controlled non-commercial deployment.

Social phase

Purpose licence, pilot with an NGO, local government or university, impact metrics, lessons report.

Scale phase

Outside the grant region, an optional commercial path or cooperation with public administration is possible, with value returning to the foundation's statutory goals.

Minimum Viable Ecosystem (MVE)

Instead of building a prototype in isolation, MVE joins people, place, knowledge and needs in one project place.

People

Students, placements, volunteers, local partners.

Place

Workshop, makerspace, a point in a cultural institution.

Knowledge

Operational experience, mentoring, universities.

Needs

Diagnosed social needs: seniors, schools, digital exclusion.

Work cycle

From diagnosing the need to publishing lessons. Amber marks the start; a pavilion marks the finish.

One path from the starting point to publishing lessons. — Path map

Purpose licences, the method-versus-technology distinction and the official rights pack are on Rights and licences.

Four MVE streams

Stream	Contribution	Example partners
Knowledge	Talent, theses, labs	Universities, student clubs
Mentoring	Business, legal, operations	Rotary, industry mentors
IP	Non-commercial purpose licences, priority documentation	Rights holders; official UPRP/WIPO sources
Social	Diagnosed beneficiary needs	NGOs, local government, care homes, schools

MVE is a safe innovation sampler: test hypotheses with end users before large commercial capital.

A simplified impact path (inspired by staged methods such as MIT / Explory), adapted for foundation pilots:

Diagnose a local need
Solution hypothesis
MVE scope (who, where, how long)
IP documentation / confidentiality
Lean prototype (CAD / 3D / protocol)
Pilot partner (NGO / local government / university)
Non-commercial purpose licence
Living lab — first measurements
Mentoring and hypothesis correction
Impact report (draft)
Decide: scale socially / spin-off / stop
Publish lessons and next cycle

Innovator journey (logic model)

Inputs	Activities	Outputs	Outcomes	Impact
Licence portfolio, volunteers, grants	Needs assessment, documentation, prototype, pilot	Trained innovators, prototypes, mentoring sessions	Field performance, skills, less exclusion	Spin-offs, commercialisation outside the grant region, lasting local change

SROI — how we measure impact

After a pilot we aim for an Impact Report with a Social Return on Investment (SROI) estimate:

[ SROI = \frac{\sum_{t=1}^{n} \frac{V_t}{(1 + r)^t}}{I} ]

where (V_t) is the value of social effects in year (t), (r) is the discount rate, and (I) is total investment (cash, in-kind, volunteer time). Any sample ratio used on presentation slides is an illustration of the method, not a guaranteed project result.