Nick Harrison

Earlier this month I undertook an assignment for DFID reviewing recent field research into the role of the private sector in developing country climate adaptation. Its now clear that even with the help of the international community, many developing country governments simply will not be able to ‘climate-proof’ their environment, communities and economies alone or in time. The private sector therefore has a vital role to play. Not only through protecting its own operations and value through climate proofing strategic, business and project planning processes, but also by helping the communities in which it operates (and relies on for staff, customers and suppliers) to do the same. Helping to build economic resilience to climate impacts requires innovation and delivery of many new products and services - everything from new agricultural and water technologies to supply-chain management and insurances services. All this will require stronger collaboration between businesses, government and communities at national and local levels and to effectively manage the risks and take advantage of the opportunities will require effective strategic leadership from business.

During 2010-11 I’ll be a member of a British Standards Institution (BSi) committee developing the British Standard for Sustainable Communities. The emergence of such a standard just shows how much sustainable development has become business-as-usual. The BSi is a non-profit distributing organisation, the world’s first national standards organisation and currently operates around 27,000 standards across a wide range of sectors. It has a global reputation for independence, integrity and innovation.

This month I’ve been working with the newly formed Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) supporting development of the global partnership strategy. The CDKN aims to provide key skills and knowledge to developing country decision makers through commissioning applied research, providing technical assistance and facilitating knowledge sharing to enable them to better adapt to the impacts of climate change and to build low carbon economies:

Over the coming three years it aims to facilitate ‘climate compatible development’ to helping to ensure that development goals are pursued in ways which do not further contribute to, or suffer from the impacts of climate change. The ambitious programme, funded by DFID is being delivered by a coalition of organisationsincluding PwC, ODI and LEAD International.

Using illustration for facilitating and communicating ideas can be an art form and here’s a nice example of it at work from a lecture by the RSA’s Matthew Taylor interpreted by the visual talents of Cognitive Media and edited together (by my cousin Raf) so the illustration synchronises with the speaking. There are more examples on the RSAnimate webpages.

In February I was a judge for the regional finals of the national design competition Sustain our Nation. The competition (run by the Audi Design Foundation) is open to design students who wish to set up viable enterprises that will also return environmental and social benefits. As judges we deliberated over what turned out to be some excellent proposals from some very talented young designers.

After a day of  ’Dragon’s Den’ style presentations from the finalists, after much deliberation we awarded the £10,000 prize to Jack Seal and Liam Curtis for their social enterprise initiative ‘Freeflush’ which utilises a simple rainwater catchment system allowing rainwater to be used for toilet flushing. It provides 75% of water used in flushing and creates potential annual savings of more than 20,000 litres of potable water per household. As judges we were impressed with how the design promised potential environmental benefits in water (and consequently carbon emissions) savings, along with social benefits providing training and jobs for local unemployed and clear economic benefits to the local economy and through savings for householders.

Jack Seal explains:  “Water conservation is a major challenge.  The south-west has the highest water rates in the country. By utilising rainwater we will be significantly reducing the water bills for many - initially for the south-west but obviously the initiative could expand to other parts of the country.”

Judges for the Regional Final for the South comprised:  Professor Isobel Pollock, Audi Design Foundation Trustee & Royal Academy of Engineering visiting Professor, University of Leeds; Ted Matthews, Project Manager, Urban ideas Bakery for British Council; David Constantine, Executive Officer of Motivation UK; Lucy Findlay, Chief Executive of RISE; Nick Harrison, Climate Change & Sustainability Adviser; Dominic Murphy, Executive Director of Creating Excellence; Mark Stevens of GSS Architecture; and Rebecca Edge, Consultant for the Audi Design Foundation.

October 18-24 I spent a week at Oxford University with students and staff from the ECI and LEAD fellows from over 17 countries discussing some of the key challenges in delivering solutions to mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts across the globe. The week was full of energy and vigorous discussion (sometimes lasting into the night) and I have the feeling will be the beginning of some long and fruitful relationships. It was great to meet many of the ECI team who are delivering cutting edge research into contemporary environmental challenges and this year’s MSc students who are a fantastic cohort of environmental leaders in the making! Additional to the various presentations and seminars throughout the week such as UKCIP’s director Chris West, we also attended a lecture by Jeff Sachs who neatly summarised some of the systemic governance failures which led us into the recent financial crisis and could (if not properly addressed) exacerbate looming environmental crises (listen here).

At the close of the week we also took the opportunity to discuss development of a LEAD Climate Solutions Group (leveraging the combined skills and knowledge of the 2000+ LEAD fellows across the world) which promises some exciting prospects for practical, cross-sectoral collaborations in future. Watch this space…

So I did it. In a steady 2 hours 9 minutes and 49 seconds and just 68 minutes shy of the British record! Coming 7,324th out of 16,177 (in the first half at least) this is the longest I’ve ever run without stopping and I’m chuffed.

So far I’ve raised over £350 for FRANK Water Projects and the pledges are stilling coming in so thanks very much to all of you who donated. Alot of people in India will soon have access to fresh, clean water thanks to your generosity and the great work of Katie, Tom and the team at FRANK.

In August I was invited by LEAD International to take part in their inaugural Climate Change Learning Exchange at Oxford University. From 18-23 October, myself and 19 other LEAD fellows working on climate change across the world will be joining research fellows and students at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI) for a week long forum of learning and debate, informed by the latest thinking and broad experience of tackling climate change across the globe.

Considering themes such as ecosystems adaptation, urban transformation and innovation in carbon management the 60+ strong forum will provide an excellent opportunity for reflection, bringing together budding thought leaders to consider the latest research and thinking with diverse professional perspectives from experience of leading change on the ground. Its set to be a stimulating week which is sure to incubate exciting new collaborations.

In July 2009 myself and Dr Angela Hartman (Bristol University) were awarded a grant through Bristol University’s Global Change Environmental Risk program which we will be using to undertake some focussed research examining drivers and barriers to the deployment of environmental technology. The grant will enable us to undertake a fascinating study of some of the individual, political and organisational dynamics involved in the transition to a low-carbon economy. With growing urgency to ensure both climate and energy security and an increasing appetite for renewable energy and environmental technology deployment here in the UK, we hope that what we learn through the course of the study will be both insightful and of practical value. Whilst still at an early planning stage, we are currently considering using the live consultation and debate around tidal power in the Severn estuary as a case study to explore the issues. Research findings are due to be reported in mid 2010. Watch this space or get in touch for more information or to contribute to the study.

On 6 September I’ll be running the the Bristol Half Marathon to raise money for my friend Katie’s charity FRANK Water Projects. FRANK ensures people have access to fresh, clean drinking water - something far too many still lack (click here for more).

There’s only a few of us in ‘Team FRANK‘ who’ll be running this year’s half marathon and we’re attempting to raise enough to ensure a whole village in rural India gets the essential equipment, skills and knowledge it needs to have access to fresh, clean drinking water.

I’m personally hoping to raise £500 so please  sponsor me if you can. You can sponsor by visiting the JustGiving site I’ve set up for this very purpose:  www.justgiving.com/nickharrison alternatively get in touch if you prefer donating another way.

I’ve never run this far before so its going to be quite a challenge and I’m training hard as run-day looms ever closer! If you’re interested, I’ll post up details of how I do here on the website in due course. Click on the FRANK logo below for more details of projects and on the JustGiving logo to sponsor me.