Businesses developing low carbon innovations in partnership with leading universities will share their inspirational stories at a virtual summit.

The free-to-access webinar, Disruption, Innovation, Transformation. Climate Change: It’s Now or Never, on Wednesday, October 20, will showcase collaborations formed through Eco-I North West, a £14 million research and development programme to enable a transition to a low carbon economy in all sectors.

The ECO-I NW project offers hundreds of North West businesses the opportunity to access the extensive knowledge base, cutting-edge research facilities, and skills of six of the region’s leading universities – Lancaster, Central Lancashire, Cumbria, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Metropolitan. This is support for businesses to “build back better”, enabling R&D and building networks to drive innovation which is good for business and better for the environment.

The programme, which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will work with more than 300 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region and in all sectors over the next two years, supporting the development of 135 new innovative solutions which will save 3,850 tonnes of CO2.

The two-hour summit, running from 10am-12pm, is aimed at North West-based SMEs, researchers, and academics, interested in the net zero carbon agenda, and will be hosted virtually using an interactive online platform.

Kicking off the event will be keynote speaker Duncan Pollard, former VP for Sustainability at Nestle and Director of Conservation Practice & Policy at WWF, who will share his expertise on how to integrate, engage, and operationalise sustainable practice in business.

Delegates will then be invited to participate in three themed breakout sessions to discuss shared challenges, opportunities and to hear about some of the 65 businesses already working with Eco-I NW:

• Built Environment, hosted by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. This breakout session will cover the potential for 3D printing as a sustainability disrupter in the built environment sector, through presentation of novel research and an interactive discussion.
• Nature based solutions, hosted by Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria. Through short case studies and an interactive discussion, this breakout session will cover the use of natural resources in different areas such as packaging and land management.
• Circular Economy, hosted by University of Central Lancashire and Manchester Metropolitan University. Discuss how energy can be part of the circular solution to meet future needs and limit climate change impact.

Businesses will also learn about the funding opportunities and innovation support to enable them to pilot, prototype and demonstrate new technologies, as well as opportunities for leadership development, workshops, and networking.

Finally, participants will have the opportunity to make a #climatepledge; a commitment to taking positive action against climate change.

Speaking ahead of the event, Duncan Pollard said: “The business community has the power to influence the effects of climate change, through its operations, supply chains, and offering more sustainable choices to customers. But for positive change we must disrupt and challenge the ‘business as usual’ mind set.

“Sustainability must be at the heart of the post-Covid recovery, not just an add-on. Any business that doesn’t heed the sustainability concerns of staff, customers and investors risks being left behind.

“SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy and offer something very special to help deliver solutions to tackle the massive challenge of climate change. Without the scale or complexity of large corporations they can move quickly to try new things and are efficient in the way in which they use resources.”

“With more than 560,000* SMEs operating in the North West, now is the time for this crucial collective to rise up and embrace the opportunity.”

The event will be chaired by Prof Jess Davies, Director of the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation at Lancaster University said: “This virtual summit will be the first time all the key partners involved in Eco-I NW have been able to come together to ask the difficult questions about how we can approach key global challenges such as water supply and quality, waste, energy, resource efficiency, natural capital, air quality, and food security.

“Eco-I NW is the first project of its kind to opens up such a huge academic regional resource to businesses and offers the opportunity for the North West to take the lead and benefit from the transition to a low carbon economy.

“I would encourage leaders of small and medium sized enterprises in the North West to sign up to the event and come along to understand how Eco-I NW could help them, and the planet.”

To register for Disruption, Innovation, Transformation. Climate Change: It’s Now or Never visit Eventbrite