The Joint Actions on Climate Change Conference will consist of representatives of governments, industry, retailers, researchers as well as NGOs, consumer organisations and the financial sector. It will bring these stakeholders together with the aim of fostering a fruitful dialogue and bridging gaps in views and positions on how innovation and design can tackle the crisis of climate change. This conference will be a building block towards setting targets for the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

1. Simon O’Rafferty: Senior Research Officer
The creativity gap? – bridging creativity, design and sustainable innovation

2. what does the Ecodesign Centre do?
established in September 2006 through core funding from the Welsh
Assembly Government
•applied research (knowledge creation)
– demonstrations with industry
•knowledge hub (knowledge transfer)
– policy
– academia
– education/training resource development and delivery
•international partnerships

6. climate change is not ‘a problem’ waiting for ‘a solution’

7. it is an environmental, cultural and political phenomenon

8. it is multi-dimensional

9. our response requires a heavy dose of creativity

12. new roles for business / new roles for government

13. lots of great programmes and initiatives on ecodesign
regulatory frameworks
information services
demonstration projects
R&D financing
grants
‘brokering’ services
BUT…
it is still not mainstream in design/innovation - especially in SMEs…

14. principles underlying interventions
market failure systems failure
neo-classical economics evolutionary economics
linear tools of innovation innovation systems
addressing inputs rather than knowledge & interactive learning
system
actors, infrastructure and culture
supporting firms in isolation
networks
capacity building frameworks

15. to enable ecodesign/creativity/innovation we require?
different forms of intervention – strategic competencies, capacity building
an innovation system perspective – knowledge, interaction, (clusters,
brokerage, mobility schemes)
policy instruments that address changes in behaviour for innovation,
dealing with strategic, informational, or organisational needs
an exploration of new (possibly informal) support channels - e.g. VC or
informal risk capitalists, entrepreneur networks, foresight programmes
greater policy coherence (supply and demand side) with “open borders”

16. “
The stimulus for re-invention
and for questioning the status
quo has probably never been
“
greater
Josephine Green – senior director of trends and strategy at Philips Design