3rd ENoLL Living Lab Summer School Research Day

1. Innovating organisational
relationships to support co-
production and co-operation in
planning for climate change
Dr Rob Wilson, Senior Lecturer
Business School
Centre for Knowledge Innovation Technology and
Enterprise (KITE)
Newcastle University
Rob.Wilson@ncl.ac.uk

2. Newcastle Living Lab
• Historical roots early framework programmes
which created ‘middleware’ and the Arizona State
University ‘Decision Theatre concept.
• Most recent iteration from the problem of
organisations attempting to collaborate around
tackle ‘wicked’ problems (e.g. Child Protection,
Street Crime, Care of Older People) – FP,
• Projects focussed on helping organisations to
understand the complexities of the problem and
in turn move toward innovating their
relationships (see Wilson et al. 2012)

3. Presenting Problem
• Climate change is coming – however responses
and activity require innovations in collaboration
• Local Authorities in England have a statutory duty
to create a local plan around climate change
adaptation.
• Newcastle City Council were struggling to engage
partners (e.g. colleagues, communities, health
services, business sector)
• Discussions began with University Geomatics
department who had developed a Flood Model of
Newcastle and KITE who had developed.

4. Event 1: ‘The Storm’
• This event explored the citywide impacts of a 1 in
a 100 year storm event in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The scenario comprised both strong winds and
intense rainfall impacting upon transport
infrastructure and service, power supply, schools,
hospitals, residential and commercial properties,
and began to explore the inter-connected and
long-term implications of decisions by
participating organisations. Stakeholders
included: Newcastle City Council, Environment
Agency, Newcastle Primary Care Trust and
Climate North East.

5. • The theatre consisted of four screens. Screen 1 presented the storm as
it passed over the city.
• Screen 2 described the scenario and the impacts occurring through
time. It also displayed interactive buttons that enabled different layers
of information to be shown on screens 3 and 4.
• Screens 3 and 4 showed maps of the city at two different scales. Both
highlighted the impacts on various infrastructure and services during
the duration of the weather event.
• Participants considered whether a local bridge, which is frequently
closed due to high winds, could be adapted. or indeed whether a
replacement might ultimately be more reliable and a cheaper option.
• Subsequent discussions focused on flooding issues in the city centre
and the impact upon a range of council services, local businesses,
transport and access to the city’s hospital. This led to a more informed
discussion and prioritisation of adaptation options. The debate led to
the co-creation of the second event.

6. Newcastle in the ‘storm’

7. Event 2
• Development of tools to present maps of depths of
surface water flooding for both a 30 minute and 60
minute, 1 in 100 year rainfall event.
• A range of policy options including adding permeable
or impermeable surfaces and the introduction of roof
storage.
• Stakeholders were able to interact with the tool
directly to explore these options. Debate focused
around the impact and co-benefits of alternative
adaptation approaches, alongside discussion around
the innovative business models required to implement
these new infrastructures.

8. Reviewing the options for adaptation

9. Supporting Innovation in Relationship and Decision-
Making Processes
• Living Lab
• Stakeholder interaction
• Research-informed decision
making
• Co-development of research

10. Conclusions
• Role of the ‘Living Lab’ twofold
– Initiating a understanding of the problem between
organisations – supporting the development of
partnership through shared ‘sensemaking’
processes
– Supporting the accessibility and application of
government policy and scientific data – grounding
it in the ‘real’ world of options appraisal and
decision-making

11. Then it happened for real...’Montoon’