geovation: how can britain feed itself? camp summary

NSC Insights Generation Service

‘from problem to pitch’

A summary of the iScout

facilitated support of the GeoVation challenge: ‘How can Britain feed itself?’.

November 2010

In this document

• What happened before the GeoVation

camp (pg 3 –

19)

• What happened at the camp (pg 20 –

64)

• What happened after the camp (pg 65)

• Appendices (pg 66 –

106)

What happened before the GeoVation

camp

• We planned for a problem framing workshop: a ‘Pow

Wow’ We visited Church Farm in Hertfordshire and met with Sam Henderson of Agrarian

Renaissance to understand the context of the challenge. This also allowed us to start thinking about questions we could ask of thought leaders to help unpack key issues for Camp attendees to respond to with their ideas.

Further information on Church Farm and the work of Agrarian Renaissance can be found in the following slides and at http://www.churchfarmardeley.co.uk/churchfarm/agrarianrenaissance.html.

http://www.churchfarmardeley.co.uk/churchfarm/agrarianrenaissance.html

What happened before the GeoVation

camp

• We ran a problem ‘Pow

Wow’ The goal of a problem Pow

Wow is to ‘unpack’

a challenge, such as Britain feeding itself, and discover within it, a range of valuable problems; those which if

met provide value for all parties. We spent time with people who have perspectives on farming, government policy, supermarket dominance, biological systems and much, much more.

We spent fours hours at Stoneleigh

Park, Warwickshire, discussing and capturing a whole range of issues. At the end of the session we had 165 ‘raw’

problems. We subsequently clustered these under six broad themes (farm production, process

and packaging, distribution, economics, education and communication) and distilled them into 23 new problem statements. These stated what the problem was and why it

mattered. They were used at the camp to help the innovators really think about how their ideas connected to issues that mattered.

In the images that follow, a sample of the 23 problems are shown. Please see the appendices for the full set.

What is the problem? Why does it matter?

How do you increase the number of farmers and farms (of all sizes) in the UK?

We need 10 times as many farmers as we have now but: farmers are getting older and retiring; agricultural colleges are closing and fewer people are becoming farmers.

Sample from the ‘farm production’

theme


How do you better integrate learning about food into all the educational stages of our lives?

Not enough people (young and old) know enough about how food is produced, where it comes from and the inherent links to being healthy.

Sample from the ‘education’

theme

Sample from the ‘economics’

theme


How do you influence how consumers spend their ‘precious’

disposable income?

Consumers are more than ever cautious about what they spend their money on and price remains a barrier to entry for sustainably grown food.

What happened at the GeoVation

camp

• Over 50 ideas were submitted to the GeoVation

website

• These submissions were written descriptions of the idea

• The judging panel invited a shortlist to develop them further

• Five teams then took part in the camp itself

What happened at the GeoVation

camp

• We structured activities around the components of innovation

We believe that innovation is a product of finding the best problem, responding with an excellent solution and then executing it in order to scale it and make it viable from a business perspective. Our summary equation for this is I = P x S x E.

As innovators had previously submitted ideas to the GeoVation

Challenge website in written form only, we felt it important to create activities that brought those ideas to life. At the same time, we wanted to challenge participants to ensure they really had thought about problems and were given an opportunity to build on their ideas. Where possible, we also wanted them to prototype aspects of their thinking in order to demonstrate to the judges a degree of robustness.

Over the following pages, there is a selection of images that show, in chronological order, how the camp unfolded from the initial gathering on the Friday night to the pitches on Sunday afternoon.

We assembled at The Hub, Kings Cross on Friday 5 November.

Chris Parker from Ordnance Survey welcomed everyone.

David Townson

from iScout

reminded us of the structure.

We got to find out a little about each other…

…by asking each other what our favourite foods were…

…and lining ourselves up in alphabetical order…

…Chris’s favourite is mango (David’s is haggis).

We created a map of the UK based on where we came from…

…then chatted

with those we now knew a little about.

Saturday morning began with a brief intro from each team…

…before David reminded us of the structure (again).

We explored the problems that had come from the Pow

Wow…

…such as ‘How to increase the number of farms of all sizes’…

…then shared our thoughts on how our ideas related to them…

…here, showing where the idea was part of a wider system.

We then began sketching out ways to improve our ideas.

This enabled discussions

that, in turn, gave rise to new ideas.

Arranging sketch sheets allowed us to see the bigger picture.

Having project ‘sketch books’

meant we could show others.

We shared our ideas with the other camp participants…

…generating constructive feedback from others to evolve ideas.

Discussing ideas was in some ways a precursor to pitching…

…testing how well we understood and communicated our idea.

After lunch, we began to prototype elements of our ideas.

Some worked at super scale, making flip-chart sized apps.

Others made paper prototypes of web sites using A4 dividers.

A found hamper was used to package an educational toolkit.

We kept problems in mind at all times (some built a shrine!)…

…and practiced pitches to make sure we used five minutes well.

‘City Farmers’

kicked off the formal pitching at 2.30 pm sharp.

They were followed by ‘Food Nation’.

Presenters only had five minutes (a red card meant ‘stop!’).

Judges only had five minutes too and had to ask carefully.

‘The world’s a village: ontology link to data’

were next up…

…before ‘Ugly Grub’

completed the attendees’

pitches.

‘Integrated community food mapping’

beamed in by video.

After an hour’s debate, the judges returned. They said…

…Two ideas were invited to next year’s GeoVation Showcase and the chance to pitch for a slice of £25 000:

The judges were impressed that the Food Nation idea could be brought to market quickly and deliver impact. They felt that City Farmers had a well articulated problem that could link to other projects.

Both the judges and the team from GeoVation

were very impressed with all teams.

As ever, it was a shame that there had to be winners but GeoVation

will be working

with each of the pitching teams in taking their ideas forward and doing what they can to support them.

City Farmers

Peter Boyce and Helen Steer

Food Nation

Louise Campbell and Michael Ferguson

What happened after the GeoVation

camp

• Feedback sought to improve future camps In addition to the very positive informal feedback given by participants at the end of the

weekend, we also followed up with a short online survey. Feedback was extremely good, with some small suggestions for improvement made.

• Lessons learned for next challenges In addition to gathering feedback from participants, the GeoVation

team also reflected on the weekend. For example, this experience of both the camp, and the Pow

Wow that preceded it, had a direct bearing on the decision to readjust the time frames for future challenges.

• Camp activity refinement As this was the first time the camp had been run by GeoVation, we learnt much about the structure of the weekend and the activities within it. While the

overall structure worked very well, we spotted a few things to adjust. For example, how to communicate prototyping more quickly and ‘get in to it’

faster and how to make the five minutes of questioning at pitch

time work fairly are two of the areas being considered for next time.


Appendices

Appendices that relate to the iScout

facilitated support of the GeoVation

Challenge: ‘How can Britain feed itself?’.

November 2010


Full output from the Pow Wow

The following slides are what was produced following the problem Pow

Wow at Stoneleigh

Park. It is what was shown to

Camp participants (and was on display all weekend).

It was interesting to see the links between the resolved ideas and this material. All were influenced by it to some degree.


How can Britain feed itself?

Output from problem Pow

Wow

3 November 2010, Stoneleigh

Park

A workshop to identify important problems that innovators should consider as they develop solutions to help Britain feed itself.

Participants:

Colin Tudge, Biologist and science writer

Ruth West, Director, Campaign for Real Farming

Richard Barnett, New Forest Transition Network

Sarah Church, Food Policy Unit at DEFRA

Chris Parker, Ordnance Survey

Sean Miller, Innovation Scout

David Townson, Innovation Scout

7 people4 hours165 ‘raw’ problems23 insights6 themes

Farm production

Key problems associated with how land is used and managed for the growth of crops and the rearing of animals.

1 Farm production


How do you increase the number of farmers and farms (of all sizes) in the UK?

We need 10 times as many farmers as we have now but: farmers are getting older and retiring; agricultural colleges are closing; and fewer people are becoming farmers.

2 Farm production


How do you sustainably maximise the potential output of produce from the land given the terrain, fertility and access to land?

If we need more people growing things, then they need to know if the land is suitable and how to use it sustainably.

3 Farm production


How do you align what the farm can, and should, produce with what people want?

People desire a variety of produce in and out of season throughout the year, yet a single farm may not be able to meet all of their individual needs.

4 Farm production


How do you access the right resources (people, tools, technology, know-how, skills) to get the best out of your farm or even back garden (big or small)?

Growers need resources and know-how appropriate for their size, but this can be costly and systems do not exist to make sharing of resources easy.

5 Farm production


How do you ensure animal welfare is at its best when balancing being sustainable with running an efficient farm that meets demand.

Pressures to farm commercially successfully may result in welfare corners being cut, despite an increasing desire from consumers to buy produce that has been well looked after.

6 Farm production


How do you make more land available for those that want to farm and grow stuff?

Only 0.5% of land comes onto the market per year and navigating the planning permission system is challenging.

Process and packaging

Key problems associated with how produce from the land is made ready for distribution

1 Process and packaging


How do you reduce waste produced as a result of growing and consuming?

‘There never used to be any waste on farms, it was all fed to animals’. How do we efficiently use what we grow whilst minimising

wastage?



How do you ensure all livestock slaughter is humane?

Most farms do not have easy, local access to a suitable abattoir or have the capability to do it on-site themselves.



How do you ‘marque’ your farm’s produce so

that the attributes of the produce (locality, great taste, high quality) are effectively communicated?

People are bombarded with choice of ‘marqued’

produce and find it hard to make a purchase decision.

Distribution

Key problems associated with how local produce reaches local consumers

1 Distribution


How do you improve the delivery infrastructure to get produce to the right person at the right quality whilst minimising the environmental impact?

Some of the larger farms only supply big supermarkets and not local communities, while some people want produce that can’t be sourced locally.

2 Distribution


How do you improve relationships within the supply chain and bring stakeholders closer together?

Not all farmers and growers work comfortably across the entire supply chain and this may be to the detriment of their business.

3 Distribution


How do you replace supermarket dominance by mutually-beneficial relationships from farmer to consumer, based on sustainable principles?

Supermarkets currently perpetuate an unsustainable agribusiness rather than an agro-ecological approach to growing and utilising food.

Economics

Key problems associated with the costs of creating produce for consumers, the prices charged to consumers and what else consumers spend their money on

1 Economics


How do you make it compelling to use land for farming when other land use options are potentially easier and more profitable (for example, golf courses)?

Even if you choose the farming option, you face additional financial barriers (for example, free market economics, rising cost of fuels and stringent contracts with supermarkets).

2 Economics


How do you make the link between price and value (quality, locality, taste, environmental considerations) more compelling to a wider audience?

There is a perception that people are ‘better off’

buying from a supermarket rather than a farm but it could be a false economy.

3 Economics


How do you influence how consumers spend their ‘precious’

disposable income?

Consumers are more cautious than ever about what they spend their money on and price remains a barrier to entry for sustainably-grown food.

4 Economics


What are the innovative enterprise models that need to be developed to grow and use food sustainably?

Existing business models for growing, buying selling, consuming and using food perpetuate because the potential of alternative models is not widely recognised.

5 Economics


How do you transition from existing business and enterprise models to more sustainable ones over time, whilst maintaining resilience and stability?

Failure to do so may perpetuate the status quo and a retreat to what ‘works’

(albeit

unsustainably).

Education

Key problems associated with how people of all ages, knowledge and background learn about the benefits of how Britain can feed itself.

1 Education


How do you better integrate learning about food into all the educational stages of our lives?

Not enough people (young and old) know enough about how food is produced, where it comes from and the inherent links to being healthy.

2 Education


How do you make it easy for people to learn how to cook locally-sourced food?

Many people do not have a strong enough relationship with food: making time for it, knowing where it comes from, learning how to prepare and cook it.

3 Education


How do you enable those keen to grow their own food (at all scales) learn the skills to do so?

Many people have land of all shapes and sizes that they would like to grow things on but don’t know what to do next.

Communication

Key problems associated with how to engage hard-to-reach people in Britain feeding itself sustainably.

1 Communication


How do you help people navigate the excess of information available on approaches to sustainable food consumption?

There is much misinformation and badly-designed information about issues people need to better understand but it competes with well-

designed information on other types of food.

2 Communication


How do you create a common definition of what sustainable food production and consumption means?

Sustainability means many different things to many different people, which may devalue the efforts required to help Britain feed itself.

3 Communication


How do you compete with the messaging and communication from multinational food companies and supermarkets?

Consumers are exposed to thousands of brand messages each day; unfortunately not from those who can help Britain feed itself.


Online camp survey

In the two weeks following the camp, an online survey was distributed to all participants (idea developers, idea supporters and judges).

The following slides show some of the feedback taken from their responses regarding various aspects.


On the design of the camp and the support received

‘The time spent was invaluable and they taught me a lot which I did not know and the facilitation was brilliant.’

‘Given the rather open-ended idea we arrived with I felt that we got a lot of direction at the start when we needed it but were given enough space to develop our idea ourselves once preparing the presentations.’


On the venue

‘Absolutely wonderful! Fantastic light and space for working, great atmosphere and superb food & refreshments.’


On what was the ‘Aha!’

moment from the weekend

‘Defining the real problem workshop on the Saturday morning.’

‘Problem exploration, solutions sketching, planning and prototyping.’

‘Seeing lots of fuzzy workings being resolved to initial pitches for the first time.’


On how to make it better

‘Maybe suggest a couple of the books ahead of time. Lots of books were at the camp but really no time to read them.’

‘Maybe a few more stretch breaks as there was a huge amount to take in and I think the brains would have appreciated a little more 'chill' time.’


On how to make it better

‘I can find nothing to improve upon, genuinely a great experience.’

‘The framework, structure, energy and facilitation were brilliant. I've not seen it done better, anywhere!’


On advice you’d offer future participants

‘Go with an idea, listen to people with experience, have an open mind and be prepared to adjust both your approach to pitching and the parameters of your idea.’


On advice you’d offer future participants

‘Enjoy!!! a thoroughly amazing experience which I would not have got anyone else. It was so much fun bouncing ideas off people and making the most of the opportunity which we had.’

‘Get a good night’s sleep beforehand and come prepared to be flexible with your idea and how it can be developed.’


On whether you’d recommend the camp to others

‘Yes’

= 100%

‘No’

= 0%



‘It was fun and I felt like I learnt lots. Nice atmosphere and I met some interesting people.”

“Very high standard of training in innovation.”

“An idea environment to encourage and build on ideas, a very nourishing experience not just just

for idea winners but for supporters and

whose willing to give their time.”



‘It was, quite simply, a fantastic experience and I would happily bring my skills along to other Challenges to help other teams bring their innovative ideas out into the World. I've already spread the word about GeoVation…’

Thank youFor more information on any of the information

and approaches contained in this

document, please contact:

David Townson

[email protected]

07974 741315

For more information on the GeoVation

Challenge in general and this camp in

particular, please go to: http://www.geovation.org.uk/geovation-camp-how-can-

britain-feed-itself/

or contact:

Chris Parker

[email protected]

07867 553091

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.geovation.org.uk/geovation-camp-how-can-britain-feed-itself/

http://www.geovation.org.uk/geovation-camp-how-can-britain-feed-itself/

mailto:[email protected]

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