A partnership to tackle the nature-climate crisis through innovation
CivTech and NatureScot are launching a joint initiative, Innovate for Nature, to identify and deliver a range of innovation projects which address the biodiversity and wider climate crisis. To do this we are seeking to engage with stakeholders across the public and third sectors who are interested in collaborating on possible projects. The first stage of this initiative is a series of workshops where we will explore key themes under which possible challenges could be developed. We are actively looking for participants to join these workshops and share their knowledge and experience.
As Scotland’s nature agency, NatureScot set out a commitment to harnessing technology to benefit nature in its 2019-2024 Technology and Digital Services Strategy. Through its Innovative Technology programme NatureScot is understanding need, developing innovative solutions and mainstreaming their use.
There is an increasing focus on challenges that address environmental problems and CivTech has identified the environment as a mission or important area for innovation in Scotland and has already delivered a number of Challenges in this area. CivTech has also had funding confirmed to support innovative projects over the remainder of the parliament, and the climate crisis is a key focus. This means developing a strategic approach to themed Challenges, so that we work to tackle the right problems and collaborate effectively.
Working together, CivTech and NatureScot have used the outcomes in the Environment Strategy for Scotland as broad themes where we will work with other partners and subject matter experts to understand the problems and develop Challenges. This partnership recognises that we are in an emergency; CivTech and NatureScot are determined to move at pace and focus on the delivery of solutions that will make a difference and enable action. As such, we are developing Innovate for Nature as an ongoing theme for a mini-cohort of Challenges, launching in autumn 2022, as well as building a pipeline of Challenges for future CivTech cohorts.
For the autumn 2022 mini-cohort we aim to launch up to five Challenges under the Innovate for Nature banner. We held an initial series of workshops in the summer and in order to develop these Challenges we have scheduled a series of follow ups focused on the areas outlined below. These workshops will be jointly led by a workshop lead from the relevant organisation and the CivTech team, and will follow a structured agenda based on the CivTech Programme’s Challenge Based Approach:
Mission 3 — Community
10:30 to 12:00, Monday 12th September
How can we value urban natural capital; how do we engage with communities at all stages of projects to ensure they feel supported and knowledgeable; how can we better understand the value of greenspace and include this in decision making?
Mission 2 — More than carbon
10:30 to 12:00, Wednesday 14th September
How do we connect people or groups who have ideas with people or groups who can fund projects; how can we provide “decision grade” data for investors across a wide range of projects; how can we prioritise which solutions to fund with both public and private sector investment?
Mission 1 — What is measured matters
13:30 to 15:00, Tuesday 20th September
How can we gather data that isn’t static and enables us to observe change in both detail and scale; how can we consistently measure biodiversity progress / health across different habitats; how do we create standard metrics and approaches to understand the current state of natural areas and how they can be improved?
Mission 4 — Living with climate change
13:30 to 15:00, Thursday 22nd September
How do we deliver high quality greenspace; how do we quantify the benefits of green solutions; how do we develop the required green skills?
For Public and Third Sector Bodies
CivTech and NatureScot are looking for participants from across relevant public and third sector organisations with an interest in and understanding of these topics to join the workshops and explore the themes in more detail so potential Challenges or longer term initiatives can be identified and taken forward.
If you or colleagues would like to join any of the above workshops please register your interest (including your role and organisation) via civtech@gov.scot. Please note that places will be capped at 15 for each of the sessions.
For Companies and Entrepreneurs
As noted above these workshops are open to public and third sector organisations working within the areas outlined. However, when the Innovate for Nature cohort of Challenges is launched later in the year we will be looking for people and companies like you to propose how these problems can be solved. To stay up to date with this and other CivTech news please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or join our mailing list.
If you haven’t already, please also check the current cohort of CivTech 7 Challenges which are open for applications until 28th June.
CivTech Innovation Showcase Event
CivTech is planning an Innovation Showcase Event in autumn 2022 which will showcase past CivTech Challenges (including those with an environmental focus), and launch the mini-cohort of Innovate for Nature Challenges. This showcase will be open to past CivTech Challenge Sponsors and companies, as well as those organisations collaborating on the Innovate for Nature cohort. Please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or join our mailing list to find out more.
