---
id: "govlab:project/project-the-govlab-public-projects-canvas"
type: "GovLab project"
title: "The GovLab Public Projects Canvas"
url: "https://thegovlab.org/project/project-the-govlab-public-projects-canvas"
authors: ["Beth Simone Noveck","Claudio Mendonca","Dino Cantú-Pedraza"]
summary: "How to catalyze more governance innovators and policy entrepreneurs?"
source: "The GovLab (thegovlab.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# The GovLab Public Projects Canvas

How to catalyze more governance innovators and policy entrepreneurs?

Project website: [http://canvas.govlabacademy.org/](http://canvas.govlabacademy.org/)

## Background

According to Forbes, the Valley of Death is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup. For most Public interest projects, the common death-traps include:

## Description

Based on our experience [teaching civic innovators](http://govlabacademy.org/), the GovLab designed the Public Projects Canvas, a 20-question, collaborative framework to help those working on civic projects to become more impactful. In contrast to developing the business plan for a for-profit product, public projects demand consideration of key issues not captured by traditional canvasses, such as Sustainability and Impact, which are captured by the GovLab Canvas.

## Results and impact

80+ teams from 20+ countries used the Canvas to take their project from idea to implementation

## Location

- Global

## Partners

- John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

## Team

- [Beth Simone Noveck](https://thegovlab.org/team.html#beth-simone-noveck)
- [Claudio Mendonca](https://thegovlab.org/team.html#claudio-mendonca)
- [Dino Cantú-Pedraza](https://thegovlab.org/team.html#dinorah-cantu-pedraza)

## Additional resources

- ['Canvassing' the value proposition of your public lab project](http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/tech4labs-issue-4-canvassing-value-proposition-your-public-lab-project#sthash.QtPH0Mtv.dpuf)