An introduction the the NICRE team, work being carried out and introduction tot he Climathon methodology.

1. The CCRI contribution

2. A National Partnership, launched in 2020
Core Research partners
The CCRI contribution
Core Business
partner
Resourced by
With over 25 network partners

3. The CCRI Team……………. ….and
alumni
The CCRI contribution
Demelza Jones
Research Fellow
Amr Khafagy
Inge Hill

4. We innovate
Together with our
network of partners,
we’re combining theory
and practice to
encourage new ways of
thinking and supporting
innovations that
provide tangible
benefits to rural
businesses and
communities
We research
Research increases our
knowledge and deepens
our understanding,
changing the way we
think about rural
enterprises, how we
address their challenges
and identify new
opportunities
We inform
Sharing the knowledge,
best practice and
practical experience
we’ve gained to inform
local, regional and
national policy making
and support for rural
enterprise at all levels

5. We research
The CCRI contribution
Partnering to
design and
analyse the ‘State
of Rural
Enterprise’
Surveys 2021 and
2023
Co-funding
projects with
national and
regional partners

6. We support and promote innovation
The CCRI contribution
Our Innovation Portal features
• Case study examples of rural
innovation – evaluated and
cross-referenced; and
• Other resources to support
business (e.g. toolkits, news
events, research links)
• CCRI’s developing Portal
topics:
• Agri-food transition to net-
zero
• Housing and net zero (with
RE)
• Models for business

7. We inform and engage
• Working closely with Rural England CIC nationally, Local government and agri-
rural LEPs in the region
• Defra rural policy team
• DCMS, BEIS, DHLUC teams working on enterprise, infrastructure, levelling up….
• All Party Parliamentary Groups and Parliamentary Commitees on Rural
Productivity, Land Use Framework review, decarbonising homes and businesses
• Business, social enterprise and industry groups and networks – FSB, CLA, NFU,
RCCs/ACRE
The CCRI contribution

8. State Of Rural Enterprise survey 2021: key results
• There was significant innovation in rural firms in their
immediate response to Covid, and in medium-term
term business practice
• Rural firms adapted rapidly, to benefit from / turn
turn around the crisis
• Rural firms showed more characteristics of workforce-
workforce-employer loyalty and flexibility than their
urban counterparts, but fewer accessed advice and
and external finance
• Rural firms’ future aspirations are at least as high as
high as urban firms, but contexts differ:
- More challenges with infrastructure – direct +
indirect
- More green - environment-oriented, climate-aware
• Farming businesses less negatively affected by Covid,
but challenged by parallel shocks – post-Brexit policy
policy changes and trading impacts, Ukraine war…..
The CCRI contribution

9. The Cotswold Climathon

10. What is a Climathon?
Short, intense period Multi-disciplinary City-based Ideas pitched to a
panel of judges

11. 2022 – developing the Rural Climathon approach
• British Academy-funded project to adapt the Climathon methodology for rural areas.
• Two Climathons delivered – Eden Valley, Cumbria and Bude, Cornwall.
• Adaptations: schedule, digital storytelling, collaboration over competition, food as an incentive.

12. The Rural Climathon Playbook
The Cotswold Climathon
Rural Climathon Playbook
developed by Maye et al., 2022.
Aim of the Cotswold Climathon is
to test and refine the playbook,
and develop locally relevant
climate solutions for Cotswold
District, in collaboration with
regional partners.

13. “Responding to the climate emergency is a collective
effort from which everyone gains. This is a challenge we
all must rise to”
Cotswold District Council Climate
Emergency Strategy 2020-2030, p.7.
Image source: #ShowYourStripes, 2023

14. Consortium building
The Cotswold Climathon

15. Alignment with local initiatives
The Cotswold Climathon

16. Creative approaches
Digital storytelling – amplifying farmer voices Visual notetaking
The Cotswold Climathon

17. Streamlined structure
• 24-hour period --> 90-minute webinar and a 9am-5pm workshop:
• Webinar: introduce the challenge, alignment with local initiatives, initial harvesting of ideas
• Workshop: ideation, teams work on priority solutions, pitch ideas, feedback from panel
• Outdoor element - situating the discussions in a local innovation context - 'RAU Amble'
The Cotswold Climathon

18. Sustainable food
• Working with RAU to provide a ploughman's lunch and buffet dinner for our workshop attendees.
• From their website:
• "We take sourcing our ingredients very seriously, favouring ethical, higher welfare and local
producers who use responsible methods to minimise wastage, packaging and environmental
impact. Alongside this we have set a goal of using 70% British produce by the end of the
academic year 2019/20".
The Cotswold Climathon

19. Collaborative culture
• Move from competitive to collaborative process of ideation and solution building.
• Feedback panel + peer-to-peer support.
The Cotswold Climathon

20. Follow-up stage
• Inform evidence for CDC Climate Emergency Strategy review.
• Contribute ideas for upcoming Cotswold National Landscape workshops.
• Supporting the alignment of work at District, County, and regional level – share event materials
with actors across all levels e.g. through talks with Climate Leadership Gloucestershire.
• Case study on NICRE Innovation Portal.
• Developing a database of Rural Climathons.
• Rural Climathon Playbook.
The Cotswold Climathon

21. Founding research partners:
Funded in partnership with:
Thank you
Janet Dwyer, Damian Maye and Aimee Morse
jdwyer@glos.ac.uk, dmaye@glos.ac.uk and amorse1@glos.ac.uk