User:I.pinnell/sandbox

Flourishing Business Canvas
The Flourishing Business Canvas is a collaborative visual design tool that uses a common language to enable more effective collaboration by a group of stakeholders to design the economic, social and environmental aspects of an enterprise's business model. The canvas has three contexts (economic, social, and environmental) that frame four perspectives (Outcomes, Value, People and Process) and 16 key questions.

It is an extension to the popular, but uniquely financially focused, Business Model Canvas. The Flourishing Business Canvas was created based on the Ontology for Strongly Sustainable Business Models, peer reviewed research undertaken at York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies and Schulich School of Business. The project is a collaborative initiative of members of the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group, a community of innovation practice hosted by the OCAD University Strategic Innovation Lab.

The Canvas aims to encourage enterprises to work towards the idea of sustainability-as-flourishing, defined by MIT scholar John Ehrenfeld "sustainability is the possibility that humans and other life will flourish on Earth forever". This is in line with current work on B Corporation certification, social entrepreneurship, sustainable business, social enterprise and future-fit business. However, the Canvas can be used by an enterprise with any range of goals, from businesses that are purely profit focused, to ones aiming to have a triple bottom line or be tri-profitable: financially sustainable, socially beneficial and environmentally regenerative.

Description
The canvas has three contexts; economic, social, and environmental, with the view that these are nested systems. The economy exists within, and is reliant on society, which in turn is within and reliant on the natural environment. Within these contexts are 16 questions, separated into four perspectives (Outcomes, People, Value and Process).

This is more complex than other existing business model canvases, but the team behind the project argues this complexity is necessary for enterprises to take into account if they do not want to miss opportunities, expose themselves to risks or create unintended consequences in the economic, social, and/or environmental contexts.

Canvas Sections

 * Outcomes - What outcomes demonstrate whether this business has achieved its Goals over time? How do these outcomes relate to the Stakeholders’ definition of success?How will these be measured?
 * Goals: What are the Goals for this business environmentally, socially and economically?
 * Benefits: How does this business choose to measure the Benefits that result from its business model (environmentally, socially and economically)?
 * Costs: How does this business choose to measure the Costs incurred by its business model (environmentally, socially and economically)?
 * People - Who are all the people involved in this business: the people this business does it to, for and with?
 * Ecosystem Actors: Who are all the actual and potential human and non-humans who may choose to engage with this business?
 * Needs: Which human and non-human Ecosystem Actors’ fundamental Needs is this business; intending to satisfy (co-create value) or might prevent an Ecosystem Actor from satisfying (co-destroy value)?
 * Stakeholders: What roles do each of the Ecosystem Actors who are involved in this business take?
 * Relationships: What Relationships with each Stakeholder must be established, cultivated and maintained by this business via its Channels?
 * Channels: What Channels will be used by this firm to communicate with each Stakeholder (and vice versa)?
 * Value - What value is co-created and co-destroyed now and / or in the future between this business and all the Stakeholders involved?
 * Value Co-Creations: What value is co-created with each Stakeholder, satisfying the Needs of the associated Ecosystem Actor, from their perspective (world-view), now and / or in the future? This is similar to the idea of Value Propositions.
 * Value Co-Destructions: What value is co-destroyed for each Stakeholder, hindering the satisfaction of the Needs of the associated Ecosystem Actor, from their perspective (world-view), now and / or in the future?
 * Process - How, where and with what does this business co-create its value to achieve its Goals?
 * Partnerships: Which formal agreements have been made with Stakeholders to make them partners to the business?
 * Governance: What are the Governance arrangements for this business – single decision maker, multiple decision makers, unilateral, negotiated, consultative, majority, or consensus? Which Stakeholders have the information and power to make certain decisions?
 * Resources: What tangible (physical materials from one or more Biophysical Stocks, including fixed assets, raw materials and human beings) and intangible Resources (energy, Relationship equity, brand, tacit and explicit knowledge, intellectual property, money – working capital, cash, loans, etc.) are required by this business’s Activities to achieve its Goals?
 * Activities: What value adding work, organized into business processes, is required to achieve this business’s Goals?
 * Biophysical Stocks: Which Biophysical materials – living and non-living – are moved, flow and / or are transformed during the Activities that achieve this business’s Goals?
 * Ecosystem Services: Which Ecosystem Services are used in, required by, harmed or improved by this business’s Activities?

Applications and Public Use
The Canvas was designed to be a collaborative tool, allowing multiple people to contribute their ideas and perspectives. It is commonly printed on a poster-sized canvas, allowing a team of stakeholders to collaboratively discuss elements of the business model and add post-it notes to each section. The Canvas also has an alpha digital version to allow for online collaboration.

It was designed to be usable by all types of enterprises (for-profits, not-for-profits, co-ops, benefit corporations, government agencies, etc.) and all stages of development (start-up to established enterprise). More work needs to be done to make it applicable specifically to different types of enterprises and different sectors. It is currently undergoing final testing but will be released under a Creative Commons Licence.

The Flourishing Business Canvas is currently being used by a global community of "first explorers" who are working with a core team from the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group to continue improving the tool and add supporting resources. They are applying the canvas to start-ups, established businesses, consulting engagements and in education on sustainable business. The Canvas and methods have been used by entrepreneurship accelerator programs at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, Canada, integrated into a solar energy course in Brazil and used in social enterprise coaching in London, Canada. It also also being used by numerous academics and post graduate students in research on sustainable business models.