Supply-chain concentration
A chokepoint in East Asia.
About 95% of LFP cathode manufacturing sits in China (Mineral Flows Map). Every new European or Brazilian EV plant with LFP cells still routes its chemistry through East Asia.
From decision to actionable evidence, in weeks. Every engagement runs the same five stages.
"Start from a decision. Work from the human side. Report what the evidence says, including the inconvenient parts. That is the value of an independent research team."
One design conversation nails the real question, the population that holds the answer, and the evidence that would change your mind. Most research is wasted here. We would rather get the question right.
Where the question is about a niche technology inside an entrenched regime, the BReW framework enters at this stage.
Interviews where depth matters. Surveys where comparability matters. Baseline, midline, endline where the claim is about change. Validated instruments where they exist; bespoke ones where they do not.
Grounded in the interview guide; tracked through the impact-tracking template.
Trained researchers who already speak the language and know the place. Informed, recorded, revocable consent. Anonymised by default. This is the stage where most studies quietly fail.
Every study is held to international ethics standards.
Clean, code and analyse to the standard of the Lab's own published articles. Where a benchmark exists, we place your findings against it. Where none exists, we say so.
Reach, depth and experience structure the reading. See Impact Measurement.
Clean data, clear analysis, a decision-maker briefing benchmarked where possible and honest about the limits. Turnaround in weeks.
The instrument is left in a form that can be re-run, so month twelve is more valuable than month one.
Based in Delft, The Netherlands. Fieldwork through researchers and partners who already speak the language and know the place.
Where the Lab has worked on the ground, each engagement running the same scope → design → collect → analyse → deliver sequence.
Nairobi, Kenya · E-Mobility & Transport
Twenty-three interviews with riders, mechanics, a lender and a manufacturer on what actually decides whether the switch to electric holds after the first month.
Read the case →
Lombok, Indonesia · Agriculture & Ecosystems · with Pyropower
An open-source kiln that turns rice husks and coconut shells into cooking fuel and soil, tested household by household with the farmers who would run it.
Read the case →
Nairobi, Kenya · Energy & Water Systems · with MiMaji Foundation
An open data layer for informal-settlement water kiosks, co-designed with the residents who had never been on any water utility's map.
Read the case →
Lombok, Indonesia · Marine conservation · with Reef Support
Village rangers, in-water sensors and satellite imagery braided into one trustworthy picture of reef health, and a governance model to defend it.
Read the case →Supply-chain concentration
About 95% of LFP cathode manufacturing sits in China (Mineral Flows Map). Every new European or Brazilian EV plant with LFP cells still routes its chemistry through East Asia.
Field-verified unit economics
Riders, mechanics, lenders and advocates agree the electric motorcycle is cheaper to run than petrol. Nothing else about the transition is settled.
Policy measurement mismatch
The statistic published is application-to-decision. The number that decides whether the plant gets built is decision-to-operation, and nobody publishes it.
Missing market
The other five beneficiaries, from water utilities to insurers, are not on the invoice. The buyers-club framing turns that into a contract design problem.
The Lab's approach draws on socio-technical transitions (multi-level perspective, Geels), state capacity and industrial policy (Mazzucato, Rodrik), and applied social measurement in the OECD DAC tradition. What we add is fieldwork at the depth those frameworks call for, in the settings where it is hardest to gather.
If this reads close to a decision you are weighing, we would like to hear about it. A short note is enough to start.
The Lab is an independent research team, not an advocacy organisation. We do not campaign, endorse products, or accept commissions where a finding is expected in advance. Where a partner's own theory of change is what needs testing, that is a legitimate engagement, and the Lab tests it honestly.