Activation Hub

Design Thinking is a solutions-focused methodology used by designers in business to solve complex problems. The Activation Hub at SB’18 Vancouver brought design thinking to life.

A place to create a strategy for your business that drives innovation

The Activation Hub is not your average Expo – it’s a dynamic and collaborative space that helps you find tools and solutions to meet your business goals. It’s where you find inspiration, ideas, and companies who are already committed to developing business models and methods for delivering business growth based on a healthy and relevant vision of the Good Life. Attendees came to the Activation Hub to learn how to use Design Thinking to enable product and service innovation.

Empathize

Set aside your own assumptions and gain insight into user needs.

Inspiration

Define the problems or opportunities that motivate us to search for solutions.

Ideation

Divergent and convergent thinking helps us look beyond the usual methods of solving problems.

Prototype

Speed the innovation process to quickly test ideas.

Thanks to These Sponsors and More

Good Pavilions

As a primary source of inspiration, Good Pavilions were the heartbeat of the Activation Hub. Organized around industry or initiative, they allowed for co-creative conversation around specific content sectors. Industry leaders were anchored around each pavilion. Learn more about each one below.

Multidisciplinary professionals came together for a facilitated and moderated Design Thinking process. They all brought varying perspectives to a convergent thinking discussion focused on solutions.

The best ideas turned into rapid prototypes with the support of design teams assigned to each Lab. Over the course of the 2 days in these Innovation Labs, participants were able to see a complete design thinking process through, with tangible results.

Innovation Labs

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Programming

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The Activation Hub stage provided a platform for companies to share insights and trends, best practice case studies, educational panels and product demonstrations.

The programming brought inspiration to the Activation Hub floor, sparking new ideas and learning in a more casual setting.

The annual SB Innovation Open catalyzes the progress and impact of the next generation of better brands. Each year, mission-driven entrepreneurs are poised to challenge the status quo of business. Given the right support and exposure, these start-ups can contribute to an economically, socially and environmentally flourishing future.

Learn more about the 2018 Innovation Open finalists and winners.

Innovation Open

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The Activation Hub Good Pavilions

Good Cities

Hosted by PwC. How do we make our cities healthier places to live as they continue to grow? In this Innovation Lab we will use Design Thinking to generate a better/deeper question and then using this question to guide us in developing solutions that will address this challenge.

Pavilion Host

Featuring

PwC

PwC Partner Tables

Vancouver Economic Commission

intengine

The League of Intrapreneurs

Good Earth

New research is revealing the incredible damage that plastics and microplastics have caused in our oceans. How are brands helping to clean up our oceans and reduce the negative impact that everyday products have on the world’s oceans, natural resources, marine life, and people?

Featuring

Alive & Awake

Canadian Council of Foresters

Earth Group

EREMA

One Tree Planted

The Plastic Bank

World Tree

Good Fashion

In the Good Fashion pavilion, explore how innovative brands are using new technology, materials and processes to make, source and consume the fashion of the future. These companies are not only reducing the harmful impact that the traditional methods of creating clothing have on people and the planet, but actively promoting the principles of the Good Life in the process.

Featuring

Bank & Vogue

Green Story

Looptworks

Biji Biji

S’well

Savers | Value Village

UNIFI

Good Finance

Visit the Good Finance Pavilion to discover how the world of finance is rapidly transforming to accommodate consumers’ preferences for triple-bottom-line values and Good Life principles. How are companies breaking the traditional mold of finance and actually improving their processes while meeting consumers’ needs?

Featuring

EY

iCompli

TIDES

Good Food

Learn how Good Life Principles are being incorporated into our ever-evolving food systems. Explore the shifting tides of our food systems and find innovative products and services that are helping the food industry become more sustainable. Discover how brands are catering to changing consumer preferences, while ensuring a sustainable food supply for growing populations.

Featuring

Animal Legal Defense Fund

Clif Bar

Eagle Protect PBC

Nestlé

Padilla | FoodMinds

Spoiler Alert

U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance

Good Growth

Hosted by P&G. Learn how to navigate the delicate balance of a growing a brand while promoting responsible consumerism. Can large, growing brands still act as a force for good? Can brands inspire and promote responsible consumerism while still growing their business? Find out how visionary companies are balancing growth and sustainability, and how you can too.

Pavilion Host

Featuring

P&G

P&G Partner Tables

American Forests

World Scouts

CarrotNew York

The Embedding Project

Makersite

Good Materials & Packaging

Hosted by Braskem. Learn how businesses are using new, innovative materials and biomaterials to seamlessly replace outdated, carbon intensive ones. See how several brands, from industry giants to startups, are reducing packaging & circular principles in everyday products.

Pavilion Host

Featuring

Braskem

Braskem Partner Tables

BillerudKorsnäs

Boothster

Keurig Green Mountain

Recycle BC

Vinyl Business Sustainability Council

Good Retail

Visit the Good Retail Pavilion to see how retail brands are solving the big questions facing the retail industry of tomorrow. Discover how we can upgrade the retail experience to better match values consistent with The Good Life. Learn the best way to optimize sourcing and navigate emerging issues in the retail industry.

Pavilion Host

Featuring

RILA

LUSH

Smarter Sorting

Starbucks

Good Travel & Leisure

Traveling has a huge impact on our climate and natural resources so how can we explore all of these amazing places in the world in a more sustainable, low impact way?

Pavilion Host

Featuring

Soul Buffalo

Good Workplace

The research is clear. A new generation of workers is turning down traditionally sought-after jobs and seeking work that gives them a sense of meaning. Discover how brands are attracting, and retaining, top talent by innovating their company from the inside out.

Featuring

Cupanion

Porpoise

Good Supply Chain

In the Good Supply Chain Pavilion, you’ll find a plethora of brands and solutions providers that are improving transparency and accountability in the value chain. Discover how to implement circular principles while overcoming barriers to improve sustainability practices with suppliers.

Featuring

BullFrog Power

Intertek

Segura Weir-TS

The Sustainability Consortium

Trex Company, Inc.

WAP Sustainability

Water for People

Good Technology

Visit the Good Technology Pavilion to learn how brands are navigating the rapidly-evolving world of technology, in a way that promotes Good Life principles. Discover how new technologies such as AI, IoT and blockchain, among others, can steer customers toward new behaviors and anticipate potential unintended consequences.