Innovation Exchange

Innovation Exchange has launched its Green Next Practice programme, which will extend its work to cover the issue of the environment.  The Green Next Practice programme will provide brokerage support to five or six high-potential third sector innovations that can help to reduce carbon emissions or build society’s capacity to reduce carbon emissions.

NESTA’s excellent Big Green Challenge showed that many of the most promising third sector innovations that can help to reduce carbon emissions can do so by providing direct support to citizens and growing through the market. 

To complement and build on this work, Innovation Exchange will particularly focus on third sector innovations with the potential to green public services. These projects might:

a)    Seek to deliver public services;

b)    Work for public services; or

c)    Influence public service strategies to harness the potential of their innovations to reduce carbon emissions

As such, the projects might aim to influence behaviour change, achieve better energy efficiency or create renewable power generation in communities.

Reducing carbon emissions is a big priority for Government and public services increasingly recognising that they must play their part .  At the same time, across the third sector, innovators are developing new approaches to reducing carbon emissions.  Innovation Exchange’s Green Next Practice Programme will bring help to identify these stakeholders, connect them and support them to work together.  We believe that public services can play a leading role in greening the UK and that the ideas it needs are out there – our mission is to put them together to make a real difference to services and to the environment.

Innovation Exchange is proud of the success of many of the 15 innovation projects it has been working with over the last 18 months through its initial Next Practice Programme and how they have supported excluded young people and independent living.  It will look to help environmental innovators to do the same, developing the supportive alliances around their work that can be critical to their success.

Innovation Exchange is currently seeking high-potential third sector innovation projects that could be participants of this programme. To get an idea of the kind of projects we would like to work with, check out the Waste Oil Recycling Project. If you’re a third sector project working to green public services and achieve at least one of the above three objectives then complete this application form by 5pm on Wednesday, 2nd June 2010 for the chance to participate.

We are also working actively to scan the horizon and to build relationships with communities of innovators.  If you can help with this process or would like to recommend a project to us, we would also be delighted to hear from you.

Innovation Exchange’s Green Next Practice Programme has 6 things to offer the third sector:

• Practical support
• Links to policy-makers and investors
• Links to public services
• Coaching and facilitation
• Networking events to develop and share your work
• Promotion through Innovation Exchange

 About Innovation Exchange

Innovation Exchange exists to support innovation in the third sector.  Its starting point is that the third and public sectors are teeming with great ideas, but too few of them change the world. Innovators, investors and commissioners often lack each other’s phone numbers and the capacity and incentive to collaborate.  As a result, innovations get a start, but struggle for the connections and resources to sustain or scale. Innovation Exchange exists to tackle this problem, working as a broker to bring people together to grow third sector innovations.

Innovation Exchange works as a broker in three ways; through an innovation support programme, creative events and a leading edge website.

It’s Next Practice Programme is providing intensive support to fifteen high-potential third sector innovation projects, ranging from start-up social enterprises to household-name national charities. Its Festivals of Ideas are high-quality one-day events around practical social challenges that bring together innovators, commissioners and investors to identify opportunities for innovation and develop plans to drive progress. Both these elements of activity are supported by a new Innovation Exchange website, which enables people to connect around innovation, share ideas and collaborate.