Ideation Day – Co-creating Innovative Projects in Trondheim
In The News
30 Aug 2018
Wednesday 29 August 90 Nordic problem solvers gathered for Ideation Day at Scandic Hotel Lerkendal. The Ideation Day was organised by EIT Climate-KIC and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Scientists and academics met representatives from cities and business to get to know each other and work together on ideas as to how we can tackle climate change challenges. The day consisted of group work with projects spanning disciplines and industries and it was concluded with a pitch competition. Nine solutions were awarded project support from EIT Climate-KIC of NOK 145.000 each.
Wednesday 29th of August EIT Climate-KIC and NTNU for the first time hosted an innovation competition in Trondheim together. About 90 participants from universities, cities, companies and organisations from all over the Nordics were invited to present their ideas as to how we can tackle climate change through innovation.
This has been an incredibly interesting day. We were looking for projects with a positive climate impact and a realistic timeline. The winning projects considered citizen involvement and communication, aspects I believe are important to success in solving for climate change
Kristin Bergersen, Head of Communications, Nordic Innovation and jury member
Focus on Transport and Mobility
The participants were divided into three parallel tracks, of which one focused on sustainable mobility. There is a lot of knowledge on this topic in Trondheim, both at NTNU and in the city administration, as has been manifested through the ambitious and successful “Greener Trondheim” (Miljøpakkene). The ambition was for some of this knowledge to be transferred to other participants of Ideation Day and lead to projects with a positive climate impact abroad as well.
In the jury of the Mobility track were amongst others Helge Orten, Leader of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications in the Norwegian Parliament, and Daniel Molin from the Norwegian Environment Agency. They were impressed by what they saw on Ideation Day:
It’s been inspiring to see so many great ideas. Some of them have really given us food for thought. We are looking forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects – if they live up to the level of the pitches we really have something to be excited about.
Helge Orten, Member of the Norwegian Parliament and leader of its Standing Committee on Transport and Communications
The winning teams address everything from structural challenges for municipalities and how they can better make use of external knowledge to make innovative choices, to universal challenges related to public transport, to the “last mile” challenge raised by increased online shopping. The projects are ambitious and carry a large potential for learning between cities.
Daniel Molin, Senior Advisor, the Norwegian Environment Agency
Alternative Sources of Protein
Another track focused on alternative and sustainable sources of protein. As the human population is steadily increasing, the importance of finding nutritious and satisfactory replacement sources for animal protein does as well.
This is a big focus area in Norway, with organisations such as Gunhild Stordalen’s EAT Foundation, now a partner of EIT Climate-KIC, at the spearhead. One of the winning solutions from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) proposes the use of seaweed to produce cattle feed. This would reduce the need to cultivate farmland for soybeans and it may reduce methane emissions from cattle’s digestive systems.
A Tried-and-True Concept
The concept is called Ideation day and is a biannual event where problem solvers from all over the Nordics come together for a full day of working on climate innovation – spanning from climate adaptation, emission-reducing initiatives, financing initiatives for cities, and more. This was the fourth Ideation Day held, the first one took place in September 2016 at DTU in Denmark.
The best solutions often emerge with cross-disciplinary collaboration, and this is the purpose of Ideation Day. The pitching is an entertaining aspect which introduces a bit of excitement, however, the selection criteria include whether the partners consist of a combination of public and private sector actors, the potential climate impact, and how realistic and realisable the projects are.
Susanne Pedersen, Managing Director, EIT Climate-KIC Nordic
On the day, the participants gather to share experiences and help each other towards the final pitch. The jury consisted of representatives from local business, NTNU and EIT Climate-KIC. The contestants pitched for project financing for NOK 145.000 each.
