About Us

We research digital communications for the social sector and develop tools for you to use.

The betterplace lab in 318 seconds

(Note: Video in German. English subtitles coming soon...)

• What is the betterplace lab?
• How do we work?
• Who is the betterplace lab?
• Our Partners
• How are we financed?
• Our Workshops & Presentations

What is the betterplace lab?

We are a Think- and Do-Tank with a goal to improve and change the business methods of the social sector through research of applicable new digital technologies. We work closely with betterplace.org, strengthening the organisation's competence for social innovation and developing new opportunities and helpful content for the internet platform and its visitors.

To this end, we are devoted to providing relevant and decisive training, knowledge and tools to the most important players in the social sector - project managers, donors and social investors – so that they can act directly and efficiently.

How do we work?

The betterplace lab follows an application- and output-oriented approach that is further fine-tuned by feedback loops. We identify relevant themes and develop concepts through previously available studies as well as with our own independent research. Whenever possible, we then conduct pilot studies with chosen users (from the betterplace.org community) to empircally and quickly test our applications in order to discover the best possible methods. This form of "rapid prototyping" allows us to make any necessary adjustments to our results and tools so that we can offer them to a larger user group. The cycle is closed with a project evaluation phase, from which further pilot tests are run and the process is repeated. This methodological approach is reflected in our individual projects as well.

We inlist participants from research and practice to join in our work, through workshops or other events.

The betterplace lab is output-oriented and therefore offers studies, guides, visualisations, presentations and an abundance of other informational tools to the largest possible public use.

Who is the betterplace lab?

holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and is the author of numerous publications on the cultural effects of globalisation, migration and tourism including Dance of the Cultures, (Antje Kunstmann Publisher 1998, and Rowohlt 2000), Maxikulti (Campus 2008) and Seeing Culture Everywhere (University of Washington Press 2009). Joana Breidenbach is a co-founder of betterplace.org and directs the betterplace lab.

holds German diplomas in Biology and Journalism from the German School of Journalism. After founding the Magazine Magazin Humanglobaler Zufall (Global Human Coincidence) and working as the editor-in-chief for one year, he went into the social sector. At betterplace.org, he edited the “betterplace works!“ publication before switching to the betterplace lab, where the 33 year-old manages the editorial department. He also studies at the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance Public Policy.

holds a PhD in Economics. She was previously a research associate at the University of Cologne and subsequently worked as an analyst for DZ Bank in Frankfurt and London. At the betterplace lab, she manages the Knowledge for Development project, which integrates knowledge with betterplace.org. In addition, she analyzes the German donor market and the players within the (online) social sector.

studies Environmental and Resource Management at BTU Cottbus, currently in her last semester. Within the lab she iresearches cases and writes insights. Given her interest in social business /
social entrepreneurship and non-profit organisations she found her way into the lab occasionally.

Following studies in Hungary, Germany and China, received an MA in International Relations from the Free University in Berlin. Working at the Humboldt University for three years, he gained experience in the coordination of EU agricultural development projects in South-East-Asia and Latin-America. The 25 years old Hungarian joined the betterplace lab to support ‘stakeholder feedback’ with research.


In addition, the betterplace lab is supported by betterplace.org, its
advisors and various partners and sponsors:

founded goodroot after years of practical experience in development aid work. In cooperation with foundations, NGOs and international organizations, Susanna tests and implements monitoring and evaluation methods, which are further used to support the betterplace lab pilot projects in gathering direct onsite feedback from aid-project beneficiaries. You can learn more about this project at Stakeholder Feedback.

Stephan Breidenbach is a law professor at the Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder). He co-founded betterplace.org and the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance. He acts as content advisor to the betterplace lab.

Becky Crook hails from Seattle in the United States, where she studied Linguistics. She has experience in communications and research for institutions and nonprofits, including Seattle Pacific University, the University of Washington, The Other Journal, the King County Crisis Line, EarthCorps, Human Rights Watch and World Relief. The 29-year-old is a poet and the recent co-founder of SAND, an English literary journal in Berlin. She creates animations films for the betterplace lab.

Hannelore Knott studied journalism and has worked since the early 80's as a journalist trainer in aid development in Berlin, India and Namibia and for the UNESCO/IPDC. The 67-year-old acted as an advisor for gender mainstreaming and the promotion of women as well as a coordinator for water resource management in Cameroon. She has been involved at betterplace.org since its founding and now works together to advise the betterplace lab in her free time.

Hans-Jürgen Cramer studied business administration and psychology in Berlin and is a trained family therapist. For 25 years, he worked as a consultant and trainer in the energy industry, most recently as the director of Vattenfall Europe AG. Today he is an independent renewable energies consultant. He provides counsel for betterplace.org and is the financial advisor for the betterplace lab.

How are we financed?

We are a financially independent institution roofed under gut.org Inc. Our goal is to stand on our own two feet financially. To that end, our strategic and project partners support us with expert know-how, money and material needs. We seek for long-term partnerships however, depending on project-length, we are also open to short-term cooperations. We account for our work time transparently in each of our projects, as well as in our core lab team. The application of our funds and our management is further regulated through our annually published report.