We’re really proud to announce that we have been selected by the Design to Deliver consortium to support a small cohort of SMEs as they develop solutions that unlock human behaviours to regenerate nature.
Design to Deliver is a collaboration between three Catapult centres: Connected Places
Catapult, Digital Catapult and Satellite Applications Catapult – developed in collaboration
with and funded by Innovate UK. The programme aims to unleash the potential of the UK design industry to benefit small businesses tackling some of the country’s biggest challenges. Outlandish will be one of six design consultancies to join the programme to support innovators as they develop their solutions.
Selection is currently underway for the 12 small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who will be
supported through the programme. We’ll be supporting two of the finalists.
We’re working in partnership with our long-time clients-turned-partners Tranquil City, who are experts in data-led environmental interventions for cities. By bidding for this project in partnership with Tranquil City, we were able to build an incredible team that has tech, design and SME support from Outlandish, plus the environmental specialist element from Tranquil City. They’re also providing an environmental psychologist to the team, which adds another exciting element to the project.
We’ll also be working alongside Arup, another design consultancy (and so much more!), and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which will act as a location partner.
The SMEs we work with will be using the Olympic Park as a testbed for their project. A couple of weeks ago, Richard and I went for a site visit there which was really eye-opening. The London Legacy Development Corporation which manages the park puts a huge emphasis on leveraging its resources for environmental and social innovation.
Alongside other key stakeholders in the park like the University of the Arts, the LLDC has set up SHIFT – an accelerator that supports some very cool innovative projects to use the Park as a testbed. We visited a gallery space that showcased a few including one which created paper from waste fabric and another which made building materials from biomass waste. Elsewhere in the park, sensors collect all sorts of data about wildlife in the park and all the data is made publicly accessible.
As well as Outlandish, Tranquil City, Arup and the Olympic Park, there are a bunch of other amazing organisations who are involved in this project. You can read more about them on the Connected Places Catapult site here.