Mapping the Big Green Challenge - The Skills & Learning ...

Mapping the Big Green Challenge 3emphasis on the limits to innovation in the third sector is expressed to differing degrees. The‘dissemination route’ model sees the limits as fundamentally insuperable and relegates communitiesto a route through which innovations from elsewhere are disseminated. This view still implicitlyinforms much policy discussion. The ‘diffusion deficit’ model, on the other hand recognises that aninnovation may originate at community level but that for it to be diffused more extensively needsadditional capabilities to be put in place. The nature of these capabilities and how they might beprovided remains underexplored.This study analyses the variety and pattern of over 350 community proposals for low carboninnovation which were induced by this challenge. It seeks to explore how these third sectorinnovators address the priorities of national climate change policy and whether they express thenew and neglected modes of innovating highlighted in UK innovation policy as needing moreattention. The intention is to lay the basis for general interpretations of the dynamics of innovationwithin the third sector as well as indicating specific innovative solutions which merit wider adoption.Both of these aspirations are in accord with the mission of The Lab, recently launched by NESTA toaddress public service innovation in line with the 2008 Innovation Nation white paper.Understandings of innovation and its contribution to a low carbon future are summarized in thechart at the end of this chapter.1.3 The Big Green ChallengeThe Big Green Challenge is a £1 million prize fund, launched in October 2007 to encourage andreward community-based organisations working on approaches to achieving significant reductions inCO 2 emissions. The Challenge was aimed at not-for-profit organisations (whether formallyconstituted or not). Explicitly excluded were individuals, groups based primarily outside the UK, andpublic bodies (other than parish, town and community councils).Organisations were invited to submit proposals that would lead to a measurable and substantialreduction in CO 2 emissions, that were innovative, were likely to be durable, and were likely to havesome wider impact in terms of being either scalable, replicable or transferable. The ideas wereexpected to involve the applicant’s ‘community’ (which they were left free to define) in developingor implementing the proposal.The application process involved a short web-based form that consisted mainly of word-limitedanswers to a number of broad questions asking for a description of the idea and the way it met thecriteria above. Some details of the group making the application were also required.The Challenge has been going through a number of stages between its initial launch in 2007 and itsfinal completion in 2010. Initial entries were submitted in April 2008 and over 350 valid ideas weresubmitted (applicants were able to submit more than one idea so there are slightly less applicants).An evaluation of these applications led to the selection of 100 ideas where the applicants were givenhelp to submit more detailed proposals. Further assessment rounds led to 10 finalists who havebeen given financial support to put their projects into practice between autumn 2008 and autumn2009. There will be a final assessment at the end of 2009 and a twelve month follow up of thewinner(s) to end of 2010.Appleby Ltd July 2009