All posts tagged as ideas
Today we can announce that we have invited 100 competitors through to the next stage of the Big Green Challenge. We’ve chosen the groups with the most innovative ideas and who we think really stand a chance of reducing CO2 emissions in their communities.
Picking the groups wasn’t easy, and we hope those who aren’t going through to the next stage keep working on their ideas and taking action. Climate change presents us with some big problems. It also presents us with an opportunity to think differently about the ways we organise our lives. If the enthusiasm, commitment and creativity shown by all the Big Green Challenge groups across the UK is anything to go by, we really have a chance of using this opportunity to create postitive change.
Looking through our list of competitors, I hope you’ll find an idea you can be inspired by, or a group to support. All the entrants have the potential to make an important impact on tackling climate change, and anyone supporting the Big Green Challenge will contribute to the success of the projects.
Thank you and well done to everyone who managed to submit an application to the Big Green Challenge. We were delighted to see so many groups of people across the UK with the enthusiasm and commitment to work together to find new ways to tackle climate change.
We will be working hard over the next month to read all your applications in detail and select up to 100 competitors for stage 2 of the competition.
We hope that all of you who have shown an interest, regardless of whether you submitted an application or not and whether you are selected as a finalist or not, will continue to work together to develop your ideas and make them happen. For more ideas and support whatever your position, keep an eye on our links page.
We’re looking forward to announcing the competitors in early April, so watch this space!
Some last minute tips for ideas generation
Here are my top three tips for holding an effective ideas generation session - helpful if your group is still searching for its big idea or just needs a last minute injection of creative thinking!
1. Get everyone involved. Encourage everyone to share their ideas. Someone might have jotted down a gem of an idea in their notebook, but if they’re too nervous to speak up then you’ll never know about it!
2. Ban negative thinking. In an ideas generation session all ideas are good ideas. Quickly dismissing an idea as ‘bad’ or ‘impossible’ might hold others back from sharing their ideas – and a ‘bad’ idea might be the one that sparks a brainwave from someone else.
3. Find a fresh perspective. Try getting your group together in a different setting from your usual meeting place – a different perspective can help to encourage fresh thinking. Or if you’ve already identified a problem that you want to solve, then get together in a setting that helps you to focus on that problem.
You should also check out Doug Richard’s advice on how to come up with good ideas.
Remember that the deadline for entering the Big Green Challenge is Monday 3 March - so even if you’ve not yet finalised your ideas, it makes sense to start your application as soon as possible.
Doug Richard
Coming up with ideas
The ideas that work are often the most simple and straightforward. They need not even be new. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs have simply taken existing ideas and applied them in a new way or in a new field, whether that’s to give the market what it’s lacking or tackle a particular social problem.
At their heart, all ideas address a problem. What’s critical is the audience or market for the solution. You don’t have to hit that market straight away but the potential for wider impact must exist.
If you think you’ve identified the beginnings of a solution - the first step is to talk to people. Find out if they share your concerns, and what their own needs might be. More and more ideas spring from collaboration - different groups of people working together on a problem. Think about what you need to develop the idea and make it happen - is it finance, advice, specific skills, or all three?
You should also think about the people around you in terms of the skills they might feed in to the development of your idea - this is as true of a group initiative like the Big Green Challenge, where all different types of people in a community have a role to play, as it is with individual entrepreneurs, who will need to call on the support of others for issues outside of their skill-set.
Progressing an idea - whether it’s for profit or otherwise - is in many ways about finding a balance. You need to have confidence in your own vision but be willing to use others as sounding boards. You have to be willing to drive things forward and be able to draw on the expertise of others. This is especially true for the Big Green Challenge.
Why not register or login to fill out the application form now? Good luck!
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
Our recent survey found that the shower or bath is the top place for creative thinking! I think this shows that sometimes your best ideas happen when you’re not trying too hard to be creative and instead just let your mind drift and wander.
I find that getting out into the fresh air helps me to think about things from a different perspective and often come back from a walk in the park charged up with ideas and plans. Wherever it is that you do your best thinking, just make sure you’ve got a pen and paper handy so that your moment of genius doesn’t slip away!
The Big Green Challenge is about groups and communities taking action together, so once you’ve got an idea, share it with other members of your group. It’s often easier to build on an idea that’s already on the table than to think up something completely new. Take a look at these tips on how to get your community organised from our Green Angel Dick Stawbridge.
Where do you come up with your best ideas? Leave a comment to tell us what sparks your creativity.
Our latest survey shows that eight of ten people think they’ve had an idea that would have a positive impact on people’s lives, but few people follow up on their idea beyond that initial moment of inspired thinking.
The Big Green Challenge is all about unleashing new ideas for reducing carbon emissions in communities. If you’ve already got an idea at the back of your mind, sharing it with other people in your group or community could be the first step to making it a reality.
You probably have some questions about entering the Challenge, which we have tried to answer in the FAQs. Please also make sure you think about the criteria and read the application instructions before you submit your application. You have until 29 February 2008 to apply. We’re looking forward to seeing some really exciting ideas coming in!
If you have any questions about the Challenge that you can’t find answers to on this website, please contact us.
Apply for the Big Green Challenge
Sarah Beeny
Sarah’s Big Green Challenge top tips
1. Think creatively! I always try and come up with new ways of dealing with problems in my work. The best ideas are those which are innovative
2. Do you belong to any kind of group, club, society or association? Speak to the people you see regularly and encourage them to get involved
3. Take a look at what’s around you. Have you seen a good ‘green’ idea and thought you could make it better?
4.Think about the barriers to ‘going green’ - what is it that stops you from taking up existing ideas?
5. Even if you don’t already take part community activities, pester your friends, family and colleagues to join forces with you to come up with ideas
6. Have you got a friend or colleague who’s always dreaming up good ideas? Well join them to think about climate change and make an idea happen!
7. Remember the winning ideas, that groups can prove work, will be rewarded with cash
8. Visit the website of NESTA’s Big Green Challenge to register, find out more and get some inspiration: www.biggreenchallenge.org.uk
9. Try and think beyond the obvious - turning off lights and walking rather than driving are good ideas for saving energy, but something more is needed to achieve a 60% reduction in carbon emissions within your community.
10. Try and get other groups in your community to take part, and turn it into a local competition.
