NESTA Creative Councils

Day One of the NESTA's Creative Councils Camp at Fazeley Studios in Birmingham. Phil Colligan and Geoff Mulgan kicked off the day with 17 councils shortlisted from an intial group of 137, all here with radical ideas to share. Between now and March 2012, each authority will work up their ideas; five or so will get £500k of support from NESTA to make their ideas happen. 

Charlie Leadbeater talked on "What kind of innovator do you want to be". He referred to collaborative consumption being the shift that will define the future of the car industry - the age of young people passing their driving test in the US is rising, and young people see cars more as a technology that helps them meet friends. 

What does innovation mean in terms of the range of people from Devout Followers to Rebels and Innovators who come up with ideas who can be pushed into the Rebel camp and excluded rather than being allowed back into the main camp. Passion important in terms of people caring about outcomes rather than the service, and because people need to overcome the scepticism about believing in investing time and money in something that does not yet exist. Innovation is about change happening, execution and more, not just ideas.

Towards a Sustainable Society - event

There's an interesting event coming up in West Wales on 11 November with David Boyle from the New Economics Fondation, Liz Burnett from NESTA, Peter Davies, the new chair of Wales' Climate Change Commission along with the redoubtable Charlie Mason and Marc Mordey from The Environment Network for Pembrokeshire. A bargain at a fiver for voluntary sector folk, and stil a snip for those from business paying £30. More info from www.tenp.org.uk