ACT NOW: join Durham Heat Hub’s two-day ‘innovation sprint’

Durham Heat Hub has places remaining at a two-day user-centred ‘heat innovation sprint’ to identity future heat challenges and opportunities in the North East of England. The group said it would host ‘blue skies, user centred thinking’ across a range of expertise and drivers for change.

On 23-24 March Durham Heat Hub will lead the free innovation sprint. Participants will identify, understand and define ideas to contribute to the decarbonisation of heat in the region and beyond in collaboration with Northern Gas Networks, Northern Powergrid, Engie and North East Energy Catalyst, and facilitated by Northumbrian Water.

The partners have already identified four broad heat innovation challenges around

  • Heat and Place/Community: How can we support those in the rural communities to migrate from oil to lower carbon heating solutions?
  • Heat and Heritage: How can we deliver the opportunity of low carbon heating solutions for large old buildings?
  • Heat and Water: How can we delive  co-benefits to communities from mine-water and/or river-water heating solutions?
  • Heat and seasonality: How can we alleviate difficulties associated with the seasonality of heat demand?

Participants will be asked to communicate their particular heat challenges/interests in advance of the event to ensure that the right challenges are chosen. Throughout the two days participants they will work through a series of short, interactive, small group exercises which will guide them through the different stages of design thinking and help them develop heat innovation strategies for a given challenge.

Participants will gain

  • Knowledge of design sprint tools and processes and how these can be used to develop new heat solutions, prototypes, and research and innovation proposals
  • Multi-stakeholder overview of current and future heat challenges and opportunities
  • Opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing

Sign up here

 

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