ACADEMY
Mentoring, training, and support for Futurenoughts
The Systems Change Bootcamp
The Systems Change Bootcamp was an invitation for Fast Followers to work at three different levels:
- Me: empowering each Fast Follower to develop individual leadership
- We: creating a cohort dynamic with a sense of collective agency
- System: enabling places to thrive
The bootcamp offered a crucial break from daily tasks to strategically focus on local net zero projects’ broader impact, supporting places to thrive. Emphasising context-specific practices over generic best practices highlighted the importance of tailoring approaches to each place’s unique needs.
Exploring tensions within projects allowed viewing conflicts as opportunities for growth, encouraging challenge of conventional roles and embracing disruption when necessary.
Understanding our roles in driving change underscored the need for flexibility and adaptability based on project phases and the evolving landscape.
Shifting from individual responsibility to systemic reconfiguration emphasised the power of small-scale experimentation in sparking broader change.
Before, in between, and after Bootcamp hours, Fast Followers enjoyed bonding as a group. There were group runs, small group trips to a local alpaca farm, and a lunch walk along Hadrian’s Wall.
We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and made it home safely with many insights to take back to their projects and places!
The Bootcamp gave me more confidence to push into challenges and tensions rather than lean away from them.”
Robyn Lees, Net Zero Innovation and Delivery Officer, Warrington Borough Council
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Business engagement sprint 2 - making procurement work for net zero
Procurement is an integral part of public sector operations. Incorporating social and environmental value into procurement processes is vital for achieving net zero targets in the public sector.
Innovate UK Business Connect*, Innovate UK’s expert partner for business engagement, recently hosted an online workshop to tackle these challenges. Through a sprint process, they delved into the specific barriers faced by local authorities in procuring net zero solutions.
Attendees engaged in breakout discussions, revealing issues such as skewed tender criteria and a lack of technical expertise within procurement departments.
Positive solutions emerged, emphasising the importance of showcasing social value in bids and leveraging examples of impactful schemes.
The workshop aimed to equip local authorities with practical solutions to enhance their net zero procurement strategies.
If you would like to get in touch with Innovate UK Business Connect, click the link below.
*Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network has been renamed to Innovate UK Business Connect.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Data skills workshop
Open data plays a critical role in promoting innovation in local authorities. Yet, place-based solutions are often hindered by siloed data practices.
Innovate UK aims to overcome non-technical barriers to data by supporting local authorities and their partners with dedicated technical assistance.
Zuhlke Engineering are Innovate UK’s expert partner on all things data – they recently held their first data skills workshop for all Futurenoughts.
The workshop covered the complexities of data ecosystems, focusing on topics like data contracts and support mechanisms.
Zuhlke Engineering outlined three primary ways that they will provide support:
- A public domain knowledge base accessible to all local authorities and their partners. This is available through the Future Ready community platform and directly here.
- Tailored one-to-one assistance to Futurenoughts or project colleagues.
- Further workshops focusing on specific data topics identified as valuable by Futurenoughts.
Suggested topics for workshops included:
- Data standardisation and navigation, especially data that has been collected in different ways by diverse stakeholders.
- How to apply data principles to specific contexts (especially as each project has various levels of involvement with data).
- How to initiate data contracts and share data (for example through open data triage processes).
If you would like to get in touch with Zuhlke Engineering, click the link below.