The i-team project is now well under way and it’s been a rollercoaster of a summer. So far we have run a two-day Inspiration workshop at IDEO's London studios in June, where we introduced the local authorities to the innovation process and looked at how it can be used to tackle an issue like climate change at a local level. Each local authority identified a climate innovation challenge to work on and embarked on a journey through the design process in order to find innovative solutions to its challenge.

Having defined their challenges the local authorities then got stuck into some empathic research during the Insight phase. During this phase of the project the i-team spent three days with each local authority -- travelling up to St Helens, Ipswich and Huddersfield where we interviewed, observed and engaged with a whole array of interesting folk…

Up in St Helens, where they are working on how to engage and enable young people to live more sustainably whilst influencing others to do the same, we spent time with local children of all ages and those who work with them. We wanted to find out what engages youngsters, what activities and clubs they love and how might climate change be an issue they can be passionate about? We found that eight year olds know very well how to define Fairtrade and that five year olds clearly distinguish a wind turbine (a 'windy thing') from a coal-fired power station, describing one as 'good' and the other as 'bad'. It was encouraging stuff, and it was also evident that the majority of youngsters are motivated by and interested in learning-by-doing, preferably outdoors. Anything focusing on climate change had better be along similar lines…

We then set off to Suffolk to look at business mileage in their Adult and Community Service sector (mostly Social Services). We hung out with a selection of analogous service providers, from Age Concern to the central Fire Control Unit, to learn from the way that they organise their time and resources to ensure efficiency at all levels, including mileage. We also spent time with Senior Managers, Senior Practitioners, Social Workers and Customer Services Advisors to really get to grips with what their Monday to Friday life is like. It is essential any solution we design will not only integrate effortlessly into their routines, but also enhance their quality of working life.

Next, we were in Huddersfield with Kirklees Council. Together, we’re exploring how community centres can reduce their energy usage as well as influencing their customers to do the same at home. We had a fantastic three days spending time with people from all walks of life, including a young mother and her toddler, an elderly lady and a hockey player asking about the groups and centres they attend and working out how they use energy in their home. We also visited a great community centre and met the ambitious manager who gave us the low-down on what running a centre is like and how he thinks a centre could influence it’s users. Further research focused on what people perceive as being community spirit and how and why they engage in community activities. It was captivating stuff.

So all three local authorities are now moving out of the research phase and into the creative solutions-finding phase. We'll be bringing the i-team and each of the local authorities together for the Ideation workshop aimed at finding some brilliant, innovative solutions to their climate innovation challenge, based on all the fascinating learning from the Insight research phase.

Fiona Bennie is a Senior Sustainability Advisor - Innovation Projects, Business Programme