They say necessity is the mother of invention and this is no more true than in remote areas. What can we learn from different environments?
Organised by: Rural Design Centre Innovation Project
Location: Online
Price: Free
There are plenty of anecdotes about how physical remoteness tends to drive novel thinking. Having limitations around what we can do, whether they are geographic, technical, financial or cultural, tends to require different approaches than we could use in less constrained situations.
Rural businesses, like those we work with in the North East, tend to demonstrate higher levels of practical, iterative innovation than their urban counterparts. This is borne out by the government statistics on rural vs. urban businesses. As we've been working with these businesses we've started to recognise similar approaches to innovation as used in other remote environments. Whether somebody is in an isolated hamlet in Northumberland National Park, rowing across the ocean or working in Antarctica, when they're faced with an issue they can't simply pop to the nearest B&Q!
This event brings together speakers from different domains where remoteness is a factor and share learning across these. Our speakers include:
Ags Fryckowska was born in New Zealand with Polish ancestry and has lived and worked in the UK for 26 years. She is currently freelancing as a Flight instructor at Eshott airfield and spends her Austral summers in the Antarctic running a blue ice runway. A physical geography graduate, Ags specialised in hydrology and spent several years modelling waterways, determining flood risk and developing mitigation measures. With the good understanding of the meteorological cycle she was able to apply for a role as a wintering meteorologist with the British Antarctic Survey and her first contract consisted of living in the Antarctic for 34 months; a challenge in itself personally but it also taught her how to be resourceful in a remote environment when the next cargo delivery is 8 months away. As science support she was required to look after equipment and fix anything which may have broken, often needing to think outside the box due to availability of resources. Ags followed on as Base Commander and managed 3 of the 5 Antarctic bases over 11 years and was awarded a awarded a Polar medal by Her Majesty the Queen, for work in an extreme environment. Each station has different needs determined significantly by location so the resourcing is challenging both for physical items and the staff. The amount of forward planing and contingency that is involved with running these bases is one of the main factors that keep them going and the people safe. With the resilience she learnt, the practical skills and the knowledge of Antarctic weather and operations, Ags took on a new project of running a blue ice runway. Here she has been involved with the initial set up and start of the runway infrastructure at a new location. Back to basics of living in a tent, melting water for food and washing, running generators for limited time power, she was challenged to provide a service for the landing of private jets. She has watched this grow now over the years and seen the implementation of new and innovative ideas to manage living and working in a remote environment.
Phil Kite started his business career as a chartered accountant and spent almost 30 years managing heavy engineering businesses in the Northeast. His last senior role was as CEO of the Reece Group, an organisation that consisted of seven trading businesses, operating in the defence, oil and gas, construction, nuclear, rail and food processing market sectors. He was also Non-Exec Director of Make UK and Chairman of its Northeast Advisor board for ten years, a business organisation supporting UK manufacturing. After leaving the Reece Group in 2017 he led a team that rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in a Guinness world record time, for a mixed 4, of 42 days 10 hours. In doing so the team demonstrated that the innovative spirit was very much alive and kicking in the Northeast by showcasing products and services generated by local businesses’ colleges and universities. His last major adventure was a second row across the Atlantic Ocean in aid of the mental health charity Veterans at Ease. Not only have these adventures raised over £91,000 for local charities but they led Phil to recently launch the Adventurers Drinks Company. The idea for the business emerged when he discovered that drinks have been used to fund expeditions, boast morale, and celebrate success for centuries. His business now develops, and markets drinks inspired by modern day adventurers, with a goal to encourage others to lead a more adventurous lifestyle.
Stephen Roper is Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School, founding Director of the Enterprise Research Centre (www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk) and Co-Director of the Innovation and Research Caucus (IRC). He is a co-investigator in the ESRC-funded Productivity Institute and a member of the Institute's Executive Committee. He is currently leading another major ESRC-funded project on workplace mental health and well-being and its productivity outcomes. Stephen has spent over 30 years' researching issues related to innovation and enterprise policy in the UK and internationally and has published widely in both areas. He has led over 80 externally funded projects many involving inter-disciplinary and multi-national teams. He has worked closely in advisory roles with a range of government departments across the UK and regularly acts as a consultant for the OECD and the World Bank on issues related to small business development and innovation policy including projects in Austria, Abu Dhabi, Mexico, Israel, Columbia and Poland, Austria and Canada over the last five years. Stephen is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the RSA and Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Craig Morgan is Director of Vero Power, a North East based small business focus on renewable energy projects in places like Northumberland. An entrepreneur and business developer in the UK and Africa, Craig has thirteen years director experience in the Construction industry with a specialist focus on energy efficiency for mechanical & electrical systems. Renewable energy has become part of the company's business model both here in the UK and abroad, with a key focus on community engagement and empowerment. Their approach is focused on partnerships with both local communities and big business, which are essential to allow innovation to change lives. Business model development is at the forefront of Vero's evolving business. Craig's background in South Africa fuels his passion to support African communities and allows an innate understanding of culture and politics. He has used this to build a successful business network across the renewable energy sector to deliver projects in the UK and Africa.
The workshop is aimed at organisations based in Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle as part of the Rural Design Centre Innovation Project, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and North of Tyne Combined Authority.