North Star Transition

Today North Star Transition and Mott MacDonald are collaborating to host a session at #WalesClimateWeek2024 on Understanding and Adapting a River Catchment. Unsurprisingly, the river catchment we will be discussing is the Wye and Usk landscapes, based on the work that both organisations have been doing in #WyeUskTransitionLab. Perhaps more surprisingly, the session will spread way beyond environmental issues to take in transport, health, governance, and housing, while also addressing food, farming and nature recovery. After all, adapting an entire catchment to the climate emergency is going to require a comprehensive rethink of what we do, how we do it, and how we enable a fair transition. The session will be chaired by Jyoti Banerjee, North Star Transition's CEO. Other participants are Stephen Lawrence and Charlene Rohr from Mott Macdonald, and Luke Penny from North Star Transition. You can register to attend Wales Climate Week here: https://lnkd.in/eu43nmw3. Our session is at 11am on Nov 12. #Wales #Climate #ClimateAdaptation #Catchment #Governance #Food #Transport #Climatefinance #RiverWye #RiverUsk #WyeUskTransitionLab #WalesTransitionLab

It’s a time for reflection and looking ahead. As we complete the fourth anniversary of our very first Transition Lab meeting, our chair Olivier Boutellis takes this opportunity to welcome North Star Transition’s newly appointed Advisory Council. To find out more, check out the full post on our website.   The rapid expansion of North Star Transition’s work means that we are increasingly looking to focus our offering and develop our capabilities. So, we have been thinking about how we can allow North Star Transition to stay agile whilst also develop a powerful strategy for change and development. To help us in our thinking, we have decided to set up North Star Transition’s Advisory Council. Our council comprises a wide range of differing perspectives from a variety of industries, professions and walks of life. Thus, the group integrates a diversity of expertise, generation, gender, culture and mindset that matches the collaborative methodology of North Star Transition, with the ultimate aim of providing us with strategic advice on the development of North Star Transition’s capabilities. We are very excited to introduce them to North Star Transition’s work and to develop North Star Transition’s future together. Our vision for the Advisory Council is that it will: * reinforce our governance and provide strategic advice and feedback to the North Star Transition leadership and team; * contribute further innovative thinking in North Star Transition’s development and its work on systemic change; and * enhance our network, visibility and access to resources, projects and partners Olivier Boutellis Jyoti Banerjee Vicky Vanderstichele Rebecca Annells Angela Druckman Vrushali Gaud Jenny Scott Sunil Sharma Corinne Soubies Philippe Lamberts Blog post announcing North Star Transition's advisory council: https://lnkd.in/ed3u6N-i Bios of our advisory council members: https://lnkd.in/ePfiRD5x https://lnkd.in/ePfiRD5x

Can a nation be Net Zero? Can Wales be Net Zero? Can it be Net Zero by 2035? This was the challenge laid on the Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group, and today marks the launch of our reports identifying the pathways by which Wales can be net zero, and can do so with urgency. The Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group, chaired by Jane Davidson, has published seven reports: * Enabling the transition to net zero in Wales by 2035. * What could education, jobs and work, look like across Wales by 2035?    * How could Wales feed itself by 2035?   * How could Wales meet energy needs by 2035 whilst phasing out fossil fuels?    * How could Wales heat and build homes and workplaces by 2035?   * How could people and places be connected across Wales by 2035?   All of the reports are available at the group’s website: https://netzero2035.wales/ North Star Transition played a key role in the work of the Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group. Jyoti Banerjee, North Star Transition’s CEO, was a member of the group, and co-chaired (alongside Karen Morrow, professor of law, Swansea University) the work on the factors that can enable a nation to transition to net zero. In addition, Jo Jones, Dan Ward and Luke Penny were all part of the secretariat supporting the work of the Challenge Group. Olivier Boutellis, co-founder and chairman of North Star Transition, welcomed the reports from the Challenge Group: “This report is yet another sign that Wales’s level of ambition is remarkable and should inspire other countries in Europe. North Star Transition is proud to have contributed thanks to our CEO’s thought-leadership.  Our vision that no one can transition alone, and that only a systemic and collaborative approach will help us “imagineer” a novel economic and social model, is making headways – and it must.” To find out more about the work of the Challenge Group, check out Jyoti Banerjee's blog on the North Star Transition website: https://lnkd.in/eQhp-GZj

Today North Star Transition starts a new Transition Lab journey. We are starting an investigation to test the feasibility of a Fens Transition Lab across the special landscape of the Fens across the east of England. We have been invited to this work by Anglian Water Services and the Environment Agency. The work builds on the Future Fens INtegrated Adaptation programme that was launched at COP26 by Peter Simpson, Anglian Water's CEO. That work has now brought together over 120 stakeholders from across the region. We are hoping that Fens Transition Lab will build on that work by involving stakeholders from beyond the environment and water sectors, including health, transport, energy, food, farming and finance. We are so pleased to be joined in our work in the Fens by our partners, UCL Climate Action Unit, Apella Advisors and Mott MacDonald. To learn more about this work, check out Jyoti Banerjee's article on our website: https://lnkd.in/eVEesE9S

The Bazaar approach to transforming a landscape At North Star Transition, we have been discussing, deliberating and deciding on exactly how to develop a plan to transform a landscape. Of course, the landscape we have in mind is catchments of the Wye and Usk rivers, where we have been running a Transition Lab since March 2023. Rebecca Annells, our resident scientist, wrote a blog post on the North Star Transition website, summarising where we have got to in this endeavour. Essentially, Wye-Usk Transition Lab brings together over 180 stakeholders from across the landscape, and has identified six different topics which need to be part of a transformation plan. The task of developing the transition plan – internally, some of us have started calling it The Good Plan – is the main focus for the second phase of Wye-Usk Transition Lab. The expected bill for finance is north of a billion pounds. Instead of constructing an exact plan, we feel that we need to lean into an emergent process approach, This is balanced against the need for  pragmatic application of timelines, clear communication and demonstrating progress along the way. This means emphasis will be placed on learning and adapting as we progress, rather than strict adherence to a precisely defined blueprint. Jyoti Banerjee, North Star Transition’s CEO and co-founder, has a preferred analogy to explain this is: we are co-creating a bazaar, rather than building a cathedral. This is an idea developed in the tech world as a way of showing how open source software contrasted with mainstream software development. Cathedrals are undoubtedly impressive, complex and often beautiful, but they are also linear, ordered and rigid in both design and construction. They also need large-scale resourcing, with all parties aligned on their actions from the outset. Put another way, cathedrals are not an accurate model of the problems we are trying to solve in transition labs, thus cathedral-thinking – though big and ambitious – is not the most appropriate approach for solving these problems. Bazaars on the other hand, whilst united in a broad aim to sell a host of different wares, reflect the complexity, flair and potential of problems and solutions that are interconnected, organic, flowing and remarkably adaptable. To find out more about Wye-Usk Transition Lab, check out Rebecca's original piece here: https://lnkd.in/edzMScHe #LandscapeTransformation #Wye #Usk #WyeUskTransitionLab #TransitionLab #Nature #

We at North Star Transition are delighted to welcome back an old (!) hand - Rebecca Annells interned with us when we were starting out and now she's back as part of the team, having completed a PhD en route and become Dr Annells, no less. Congratulations Becca on your achievement, and the wisdom of making the decision to return to the North Star Transition fold. If you don't know Becca, she is a science and systems researcher with a BA Hons in Cell and Systems Biology from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Bath. Alongside strong research skills, Rebecca has passion for science communication, systems thinking and championing equality, diversity and inclusion. She is also a podcast-nut and keen cold-water swimmer, currently based in South East Cornwall. At North Star Transition, Rebecca works on the Wye-Usk Transition Lab as well as the OFWAT Mainstreaming Nature Based Solutions project.  

Our work in developing #finance approaches for #naturebasedsolutions continues to attract interest. Check out today's interview on 8point9.com between ffinlo Costain and Vicky Vanderstichele. Vicky is part of a team that includes Martin Rich, Jenny Scott, Matthew Phan, Jérôme Tagger, Brendan Bromwich and Jyoti Banerjee who are investigating this work.

There is an urgent need for large-scale funding of #naturebasedsolutions across many landscapes to address the environmental, social and health crises the planet is facing. This invites questions about the potential role of institutional investors and lenders. In a study supported by the Environment Agency, North Star Transition has been exploring ways in which this funding can be sourced. We approached a group of institutional investors with two questions: what do investors want? and what do the assets they will invest look like. The report summarizes their answers, on revenues, risks, governance and financial structure, and proposes a schematic deal structure. Tellingly, we learned that activating private finance requires looking at a range of social and economic activity across a landscape – as opposed to a unique focus on environmentally beneficial interventions. We also learned that investors prefer landscape projects to have a local anchoring in terms of governance. For more detail on our 2023 work in this area, and to download a report, please check our website: https://lnkd.in/e-zwXCPb. If you are interested in finding out more about North Star Transition’s work or want to discuss the findings of the report, please reach out to us at info@northstartransition.org. Jérôme Tagger Vicky Vanderstichele Jenny Scott Matthew Phan Martin Rich Brendan Bromwich Jyoti Banerjee Melissa Swartz

North Star Transition is pleased to be partnering with Academi Wales (led by Alexandra Walters) and UCL Climate Action Unit to create and deliver Winter School 2024, a 4 day residential programme on Forward Looking Leadership in a Complex World. If you are a top public sector or NGO exec in Wales, this could be your chance to start to address the deepest systemic crises you are facing. It's happening Feb 28 to March 2 in the beautiful surroundings of Nant Gwrtheyrn in North Wales. Let's face it: the crises we face (finance, climate, biodiversity, health, inequalities, etc etc) are creating challenges that can seem too big for leaders to find a way through. We find ourselves firefighting when we know that real sustainable change is needed. What's your challenge? Bring it to this year's Winter School and share it with other Welsh public service leaders and experts in systemic change. Imagine being able to influence the system in such a way that the challenges you are facing within your organisation, often shared by leaders in other sectors, begin to align in a way that enables you to find a way through together, emphasising the power of building connections with your peers. Winter School 2024 provides an opportunity to challenge your leadership and amplify your impact. You will delve into the theory of why collaboration is important and explore innovative ways to collaborate. But this is not a theory discussion. You will practice new approaches and find tools to look beyond what you can immediately see, know, and do. You will explore challenges and create new insights and connections to other parts of the system that will enable you to be forward thinking and responsive, taking action from a more collaborative perspective. Offering you the opportunity to widen your network beyond the service you work within, as well as increasing your visibility as a public sector leader. Find out more, and sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eFG2YgxC Winter School 2024 will feature Derek Walker, Chris Moreton, Kris De Meyer, Jyoti Banerjee, Stephen Backhouse and so many others. Apply now to become part of the first Winter School of its kind.