On The Edge

In today’s episode I speak with James Taplin, Lead Technologist for Urban Living at Innovate UK, about the benefits of a place-specific verses a place-agnostic approach in addressing the transition to net zero, and in particular about a £60m government programme called Net Zero Living working with 52 places to collaborate and accelerate the transition to net zero.  James was previously a Sustainability Advisor at Forum for the Future, and has a PhD in Biodiversity and Climate Relationships from the Uni of York He’s also a writer of really beautiful and thought provoking posts on instagram and I know that I am not alone in looking forward to reading his first book one of these days. And just so you know, in the interests of full disclosure Liminal are a current delivery partner of NZL and convening the 52 places and leading on the delivery of the Community of Practice together with Urban Foresight and Forum for the Future.We discussed the following: What is Net Zero Living and how did it come about? What are no-regrets Net Zero solutions and how to scale them. What are local authorities on the front line of the net zero transition. About the co-benefits of achieving your needs/goals in a better, net-zero way. How to balance hope and despair when working on climate innovation. Here are a few links to some of the things we discussed: ⁠https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/programme/net-zero-living/⁠  ⁠https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/perspectives/accelerating-net-zero-delivery-unlocking-the-benefits-of-climate-action-in-uk-city-regions/⁠  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestaplin/⁠  ⁠www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge ⁠ If you enjoyed this conversation then also check out Episode 52 with Dan Thompson about the Running Out of Time Climate Relay and Episode 51 with Hannah Scott who is the co-founder of the Climate Tech Supercluster.

In today’s episode I spoke with Dan Thompson who is the Founder of the Running Out of Time Climate Relay. He has a background as a successful founder and entrepreneur in several start up companies in the media industry including the likes of Renegade Software, he also has experience as an investor in companies including Gamesys and Graze. He is also a lifelong runner and his involvement in running relay races dates back more than a decade going coast to coast in America.  This conversation begins in 2022 when he co-founded the world’s first and longest climate relay race called Running Out of Time.  I really liked what he said about millions of us care about climate and nature issues in this country and 83% of people in this country want the government to do more and that councils are one of the most important organisations making the net zero transition happen. Here are links to a few things we discussed: https://running-out-of-time.com/ https://gccs.iza.org/rankings https://www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-thompson-a479/ If you enjoy this episode please check out Episode 51 with Hannah Scott who is the co-founder of the Climate Tech Supercluster. And also look out for episode 53 with James Taplin from Innovate UK about a hugely ambitious and exciting project working with 52 towns and cities on the transition to net zero called Net Zero Living.  ***If you are listening to this episode on 4th July 2024 then listen out for a few different ways to get involved in the final stage of the ⁠Climate Relay⁠ today.***

In this episode I spoke with Hannah Scott who is the co-founder of the Climate Tech Supercluster and also CEO of business network Oxfordshire Greentech, which aims to grow and support the county’s low-carbon economy. She is also an edie 30 Under 30 Class of 2023 winner, an initiative that aims to spotlight and support top UK sustainability professionals aged under 30.  In this conversation we talked about: 1. What is the Climate Tech Supercluster and why is it needed? 2. How to cultivate hope when feeling despair when working on climate change? 3. What climate policies and investments we would like to see in the forthcoming uk general election? Highlights include: - Within 4 hours train travel of London is the Silicon Valley of Climate Innovation but nobody knows about it. - Necessity is the mother of invention and we are in the most necessary period of history - With climate policies, start with transport innovation as it’s the sector that requires the most behaviour change. - Various Supercluster policies (e.g. Supercluster Visas, Green Patents) and projects (e.g. Oxford Industrial Decarbonisation Project, Net Zero Living) This podcast was produced by Liminal - a collective intelligence community. Thanks to all of our community members, clients, partners and patrons. Here are links to some of the things we discussed. https://www.climatetechsupercluster.com/ https://oxfordshiregreentech.co.uk/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-scott-8b51a9a8/  https://dealroom.co/guides/npa  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/forging-collaborative-partnerships-within-the-climate-tech-ecosystem-tickets-916219115037 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cleantech-venture-day-tickets-857090218917?discount=CVDVIPCCT  https://www.weareliminal.co/ Thanks for listening. Check out and buy the On The Edge book ⁠here⁠: https://www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge

Alyssa Gilbert is Director of Undaunted which is a community of creative, proactive people exploring how innovation can help humans tackle climate change. She is also the Director of Innovation at the Grantham Institute which was established in 2007 to provide a vital global centre of excellence for research and education on climate change. Today, the Grantham Institute is established as a leading authority on climate and environmental science. She is an all round expert on environmental and climate change policy and science having worked in the field in numerous roles and several countries for over 20 years. In this conversation we talked about: Building open innovation Infrastructure for the climate ecosystem  Finding and scaling silver bullets and business models for climate innovation Cities and places as serendipity engines  Where could and should climate leadership come from?  Highlights include: Why she is not getting angry about the net zero backtracking where the object is to divide people and the solution is not to be divided. The role of place in driving climate innovation as part of a global supercluster of talent and technology. That it's great to care but you cannot take the world upon your shoulders - everyone has a role to play in addressing the climate emergency. This podcast was produced by Liminal - a collective intelligence community. Thanks to all of our community members, clients, partners and patrons. Here are links to some of the things we discussed. Undaunted https://undaunted-hq.org/ Grantham https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/ Climate Tech Supercluster https://www.climatetechsupercluster.com/ Conception X https://www.conceptionx.org/ Liminal https://www.weareliminal.co/ RethinkX https://www.rethinkx.com/ Notpla https://www.notpla.com/ Ministry for the future https://store.orbit-books.co.uk/products/the-ministry-for-the-future Thanks for listening. Check out and buy the On The Edge book here.

Welcome to On The Edge, a podcast and now also a book, about making unexpected connections everywhere and anywhere. Why should you embrace uncertainty as an opportunity not a threat? How can you connect people and ideas to engineer serendipity? Where should you start when embarking on a transition to something new? On The Edge will be your guide to navigating uncertainty based upon the experiences of a diverse group of creative and entrepreneurial people and organizations who have learned how to survive and thrive in our increasingly connected world, and is available to buy now as a book or ebook. What are you on the edge of right now? In this episode I read Chapter 3 called Into the Unknown. Enjoy. If you enjoy it then please consider buying a copy and giving both the book and the podcast a good review or rating, as that really helps get it out to new people. Others have described the book as: “A beautiful little book.” Tessy Britton “Succinct and insightful.” Dave Snowden “Realistic and wise.” Margaret Heffernan "A thoughtful meditation on how to navigate uncertain futures.” Anab Jain “An inspiring and orienting tapestry.” Cassie Robinson “Inspirational from the very first page.” Johnnie Moore “This is a great little book.” Jon Alexander “It’s wonderful! I have goosebumps." Noelle Dye “Read this book and take its insights to heart.” Rob Poynton "An inspiring and practical guide.” Ella Goldner This podcast was brought to you by Liminal. To find out more please visit www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge.

Welcome to On The Edge, a podcast and now also a book, about making unexpected connections everywhere and anywhere. Why should you embrace uncertainty as an opportunity not a threat? How can you connect people and ideas to engineer serendipity? Where should you start when embarking on a transition to something new? On The Edge will be your guide to navigating uncertainty based upon the experiences of a diverse group of creative and entrepreneurial people and organizations who have learned how to survive and thrive in our increasingly connected world, and is available to buy now as a book or ebook. What are you on the edge of right now? In this episode I read Chapter 2 called This is Happening. Enjoy. If you enjoy it then please consider buying a copy and giving both the book and the podcast a good review or rating, as that really helps get it out to new people. Others have described the book as: “A beautiful little book.” Tessy Britton “Succinct and insightful.” Dave Snowden “Realistic and wise.” Margaret Heffernan "A thoughtful meditation on how to navigate uncertain futures.” Anab Jain “An inspiring and orienting tapestry.” Cassie Robinson “Inspirational from the very first page.” Johnnie Moore “This is a great little book.” Jon Alexander “It’s wonderful! I have goosebumps." Noelle Dye “Read this book and take its insights to heart.” Rob Poynton "An inspiring and practical guide.” Ella Goldner This podcast was brought to you by Liminal. To find out more please visit www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge.

Welcome to On The Edge, a podcast and now also a book, about making unexpected connections everywhere and anywhere. Why should you embrace uncertainty as an opportunity not a threat? How can you connect people and ideas to engineer serendipity? Where should you start when embarking on a transition to something new? On The Edge will be your guide to navigating uncertainty based upon the experiences of a diverse group of creative and entrepreneurial people and organizations who have learned how to survive and thrive in our increasingly connected world, and is available to buy now as a book or ebook. What are you on the edge of right now? In this episode I read Chapter 1 called Start at the End. Enjoy. If you enjoy it then please consider buying a copy and giving both the book and the podcast a good review or rating, as that really helps get it out to new people. Others have described the book as: “A beautiful little book.” Tessy Britton “Succinct and insightful.” Dave Snowden “Realistic and wise.” Margaret Heffernan "A thoughtful meditation on how to navigate uncertain futures.” Anab Jain “An inspiring and orienting tapestry.” Cassie Robinson “Inspirational from the very first page.” Johnnie Moore “This is a great little book.” Jon Alexander “It’s wonderful! I have goosebumps." Noelle Dye “Read this book and take its insights to heart.” Rob Poynton "An inspiring and practical guide.” Ella Goldner This podcast was brought to you by Liminal. To find out more please visit www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge.

Welcome to On The Edge, a podcast and now also a book, about making unexpected connections everywhere and anywhere.  Why should you embrace uncertainty as an opportunity not a threat?  How can you connect people and ideas to engineer serendipity?  Where should you start when embarking on a transition to something new?  On The Edge will be your guide to navigating uncertainty based upon the experiences of a diverse group of creative and entrepreneurial people and organizations who have learned how to survive and thrive in our increasingly connected world, and is available to buy now as a book or ebook. What are you on the edge of right now?  In this episode I read the Introduction called The Future is Fluid. Enjoy. If you enjoy it then please consider buying a copy and giving both the book and the podcast a good review or rating, as that really helps get it out to new people. Others have described the book as:  “A beautiful little book.” Tessy Britton  “Succinct and insightful.” Dave Snowden  “Realistic and wise.” Margaret Heffernan  "A thoughtful meditation on how to navigate uncertain futures.” Anab Jain  “An inspiring and orienting tapestry.” Cassie Robinson  “Inspirational from the very first page.” Johnnie Moore  “This is a great little book.” Jon Alexander  “It’s wonderful! I have goosebumps." Noelle Dye  “Read this book and take its insights to heart.” Rob Poynton  "An inspiring and practical guide.” Ella Goldner  This podcast was brought to you by Liminal. To find out more please visit www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge.

Welcome to On The Edge, a podcast and now also a book, about making unexpected connections everywhere and anywhere.  Why should you embrace uncertainty as an opportunity not a threat?  How can you connect people and ideas to engineer serendipity?  Where should you start when embarking on a transition to something new?  On The Edge will be your guide to navigating uncertainty based upon the experiences of a diverse group of creative and entrepreneurial people and organizations who have learned how to survive and thrive in our increasingly connected world, and is available to buy now as a book or ebook.  www.weareliminal.co/ontheedge In this episode I read the Preface called Gradually, Then Suddenly. If you enjoy it then please consider buying a copy and giving both the book and the podcast a good review or rating, as that really helps get it out to new people. Others have described the book as:  “A beautiful little book.” Tessy Britton  “Succinct and insightful.” Dave Snowden  “Realistic and wise.” Margaret Heffernan  "A thoughtful meditation on how to navigate uncertain futures.” Anab Jain  “An inspiring and orienting tapestry.” Cassie Robinson  “Inspirational from the very first page.” Johnnie Moore  “This is a great little book.” Jon Alexander  “It’s wonderful! I have goosebumps." Noelle Dye  “Read this book and take its insights to heart.” Rob Poynton "An inspiring and practical guide.” Ella Goldner What are you on the edge of right now? 

In this conversation I connected with Ella Goldner. Ella is a co-founder of Zinc - a fund that backs entrepreneurs, pre-team and pre-idea, to build new tech-enabled & mission-driven commercial ventures. She is also the co-founder of Alma Angels, a network that brings together new and existing angel investors who are committed to actively supporting female founders. In this conversation we talked about: The Zinc venture builder missions and how/why the best way to foster entrepreneurship in response to social challenges? How to mitigate the challenges of co-founder relationships, especially given that some people say that too much or too little co-founder conflict is the #1 cause of start up failure. A deep dive into the latest Zinc environment mission which just went live - to mobilise the climate innovation ecosystem through cross-sector collaboration and scale up capital, and shifting narrative from climate being (only) a big problem to (also) a huge opportunity. OpenCo/newCo? So I started out by asking her, What is a venture builder mission and who is it for? Enjoy! "The core components (of Zinc) are; can we get the talent to do that if we give them the right missions, can we build an ecosystem around them, an army of people who care about what they do and help them, and can we make that really powerful by underpinning with good research." "Every moment you hear the news (about climate) there is a reason to feel despair, so how do you turn that around and remind people of the opportunities and the covid an industry-led vaccine task force is a really good example of how to do that." "We want (Zinc) to be the best place in the world for anybody who wants to experiment and have impact at scale... if you are really talented and ambitious." https://www.zinc.vc/ https://apply.workable.com/zinc-ventures-limited/j/D79DBD1FC7/ https://www.zinc.vc/missions/environment/ https://gosupercritical.com/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172206/ https://newco.co/ https://www.channel4.com/programmes/jabbed-inside-britains-vaccine-triumph https://www.weareliminal.co/