We have organised this guide according to 5 themes for inclusive innovation

But there are other ways to think about the topic, for example according to these 3 principles:

1. Equitable, accessible and empowering 
2. Participative and collaborative 
3. Regenerative and adaptive

Equitable, accessible and empowering

Ensure fairness, access, and agency across all systems – physical, digital, and social 

Consider: 

• Inclusive compliance and design:
  Test products/services with diverse groups (socio-economic backgrounds, abilities, regions), align with the Equality Act 2010 , and specific accessibility standards where appropriate (e.g., WCAG 2.2 AA for digital tools). 

• Embed DEI across organisation:
  Integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into hiring, workplace culture, leadership pipelines, and project cycles (e.g., bias-free recruitment algorithms, mentorship for underrepresented talent, equity audits). 

• Empower through education and access:
  Train a wide range of people in technical and digital skills (e.g., free coding bootcamps for marginalized groups) and try to make physical spaces accessible for: wheelchair users, blind and neurodiverse people, children and parents. 

Participative and collaborative

Engage diverse stakeholders in collective visions and problem-solving, embedding shared needs and ownership across physical, digital, and social systems. 

Consider: 

• Co-design with communities:
  Include people in the design process who are affected by changes in open innovation challenges (physical: community-led site redevelopment, digital: open data and open-source software development, social: participatory budgeting). 
• Leverage inclusive platforms:
  Create tools for cross-sector collaboration (physical: crowdsourced maps, digital: collaborative coding platforms, social: multicultural advisory boards). 
• Foster shared ownership:
  Build transparent governance models (physical: cooperative housing, digital: decentralized blockchain networks, social: community-managed public spaces). 

Regenerative and adaptive 

Create systems that heal societies and ecosystems, while flexibly adapting to change. 

Consider: 

• Feedback loops for adaptive resilience:
  Include ways to send and receive feedback, commit to continuous learning and reviewing latest insights or data throughout a project, plan in opportunities to review and make changes.

• Key regenerative focus areas:
  Good health, education, and social connections will always help people to do more for themselves. And the basics of healthy soil, unpolluted air, and clean water play essential roles in creating conditions for life. So improvements in any of these areas will lead to impact that multiplies over time. 
• Circular principles for lasting impact:
  Embed zero-waste production (physical), reusable code (digital), and share, reuse, recycle, repair within communities (social).