One thing we all have in common is that we’re facing disruption. Trying to adapt & respond to how our customers want to access or use our services, to changes in how people will live and work in the future, and to wider changes like our democracy, the economy and the climate.
We also need to put ourselves in the shoes of our citizens who are facing disruption too, whether that’s needing to work out how to use ever new technologies, retraining to respond to a changing labour market, moving to a new area where they don’t know who to call to for support or finding it difficult in being a new parent.
These are the challenges where we need to innovate because they mean we have to rethink
• what we know about the world where we challenge our unconscious biases and instead experience how different people live their lives to better empower them
• what our role is beyond a service provider to one which is just as much a sense maker, storyteller, facilitator, campaigner, movement builder or protector
• how we work in a way where we don’t come with ready-made solutions, but instead test and learn in a way which is open and encourages challenge
• how we shape the place around us in a way which isn’t just funding, commissioning or regulating, but influencing different types of organisations to work innovatively around common causes
In Camden, we’re privileged of being at the heart of a global city, where we’re a gateway to Europe and the rest of the UK, we attract pioneering businesses & institutions to come and locate in our borough, people who are using Camden as a test-bed to trial all kinds of innovative ways to consume, work & live. But we constantly try and make sure that the way we support innovation is rooted in the distinctive identities of our neighbourhoods and the strengths & needs of our communities. And that it is fundamentally inclusive. As our “We Make Campaign” campaign shows, we want everyone to feel they can “make” Camden what it is. We don’t want to just be a borough where people innovate for the sake of it, but where we can be a test-bed for innovation which tackles inequality and builds social justice.
How can you support the neighbourhood & communities your organisation is based in to innovate and thrive?
What are the different roles your organisation has where you can innovate for social good? As a provider, employer, with your supply chain, with your customers?
What cause would you want your organisation to really mobilise on and how you could help? Be it to tackle the climate emergency, helping create safer neighbourhoods, getting people into good jobs?
