| Description |
Centre for Civic Innovation, Glasgow City Council |
| Organisation |
Glasgow City Council |
| Country |
United Kingdom |
| Sector |
Public |
| PI Contribution |
A group of nature-based businesses and social enterprises has been launched by Good Ideas and Glasgow City Council's H2020 Connecting Nature project pilot Nature-Based Accelerator programme in September 2021. This project will support their development, their evaluative and strategic skillsets and build a collective ecosystem that enables them to continue to thrive and deliver more social and environmental impact for Glasgow together than they could on their own.
This design exchange partnership will do this with the Centre for Civic Innovation (CCI) within Glasgow City Council by mapping the relational development of each nature-based enterprise, as part of a collaborative process of developmental evaluation. The vision is to develop this emerging sustainable enterprise eco-system into a strategic regional microcluster by building individual and collective sustainable development strategies. This aims to be driven by a strong shared understanding of individual and collective impact, inclusive of dialogue between new-start enterprises, sustainability expertise and local urban planners from the start.
The main area of focus is to develop and test a methodology of mapping and modelling relational forms of sustainable environmental development and adapt this into a programme of co-evaluation for the project partner and their constituents. The project would build on the associate's previous research applying a Creative Growth Model with networks of creative and cultural microenterprises, which framed more relational forms of growth through identifying new and enhanced networks, new knowledge, new value creation and new markets. The project would bring together such modelling with the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), which combines principles of sustainability with five levels of strategic development - systems, purpose, strategic, actions and tools. This would be guided by the project supervisor's research experience in participatory design for sustainability and the circular economy.
The project will be highly innovative in how it develops rigorous, novel methods to map and model sustainable growth for each nature-based enterprise in relation to their wider eco-systems of operation. In addition, collectively, the mapping of each supported nature-based enterprise will also feed into an innovative collaborative process of mapping and co-evaluating Glasgow's nature-based enterprise eco-system, as a whole. This aims to establish an ongoing process of design-led developmental evaluation that builds lasting relationships and shared understanding of sustainable development challenges across Glasgow that can only be addressed collaboratively. Well-designed evaluation should focus on learning and feed into policy and delivery improvement. |
| Collaborator Contribution |
The Centre for Civic Innovation, and Glasgow City Council's H2020 Connecting Nature project, are participating through time in-kind and cash provision as part of a working group to support the delivery of the project work plan with representatives from the Nature-Based Accelerator programme, a sustainability consultancy, and an academic supervisor as active contributor.
A work plan outlines the following contribution from the partner: i) a scoping session with the working group to gather and share detailed understanding of the Nature-Based Accelerator programme, knowledge areas/frameworks being applied, key objectives and roles in supporting the recruitment of nature-based enterprises, co-design and co-evaluation of the project; ii) a co-design workshop with the working group to develop an ecosystem mapping method based on the associates Creative Growth Model and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). iii) individual 'ecosystem mapping' sessions with participating enterprises to review progress to date and sustainable growth going forward; iv) the working group will be convened to review and identify approx. 3-4 shared development opportunities across the mapped nature-based enterprises and wider ecosystem, which will incorporate the working group's knowledge of eco-system level resource to enhance the viability of opportunities posed to nature-based enterprises to collaborate; v) collaborative development feedback, based on the identified shared opportunities, to co-develop responses and approaches to tackling the incumbent shared sustainable development challenges; vi) a co-evaluation workshop to review the progress, adaptations and learnings collected on the NBA programme, the nature-based enterprises and strategic sustainable development ecosystem for Glasgow. This will include developing learning and recommendations (e.g. further interventions, policy changes and adaptations, etc.) framed as strategic sustainable development proposals.
Quote for joint commitment statement: "CCI are keen to collaborate as active partners by committing staff members at CCI and the H2020 Connecting Nature Development Plan Group to attend working group meetings, engage with the mapping activities and methods, and develop upon co-evaluation and evidence-building, as part of their existing roles. As the non-academic partner, we are very happy to commit the maximum £3000 to bring in expert services on sustainability and social entrepreneurship (which paid for a sustainability consultant's involvement), as well as support early-stage nature-based enterprises to participate in design research activities (£50 per participant)." |
| Impact |
A co-designed mapping model based on Dr Johnson's Creative Growth Model and Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics Model.
A mapping of Glasgow's Nature-Based Enterprise Eco-system
Five Strategic Sustainable Development Proposals for Glasgow, which are currently undergoing co-development with the project partner and participating NBEs.
This project has combined design researchers, creative economy researchers, civil servants in local development and sustainability consultants. |
| Start Year |
2021 |
