Sustainable Design-led Innovation (SDI) - Centre for Competitive Creative Design

Sustainable Design-led Innovation

Sustainable Design-led Innovation (SDI) is a business support program aimed specifically at East of England small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The focus of the program is to help SMEs engage with early stage innovation, driven by the sustainability agenda, in order to achieve the following goals:

- Identify new business opportunities

- Strengthen your business brand

- Insulate a business against risks

- Develop innovation strategies

There are many drivers for a business to engage with sustainability, including customer expectations, regulatory requirements and resource shortages. We believe engagement also brings opportunities; for opening up new markets, differentiating your business offerings and providing customers with added value.

Sustainability and the Low Carbon economy are complex issues, which can leave businesses confused as how best to respond. Using simple pragmatic tools the SDI program helps identify what actions are relevant to each business, which work towards developing more sustainable business practices and offerings.

Led by Cranfield University and funded by the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF), the SDI program collaborates with both leading academic and environmental organisations to offer comprehensive and complimentary business support.

The SDI program is delivered through several activities:

– Opportunities Workshops

uses life cycle thinking and situation analysis to identify an innovation strategy that meets your business requirements.

– Link Events

bringing together sustainability experts, SME’s and support providers to promote discussion and networking around sustainable innovation.

– Sustainability Learning Lab

provides access to a network of expert partners from across the region, to help a business address their real learning needs.

The SDI program is delivered through several activities:

– Link Events/

bringing together sustainability experts, SME’s and support providers to promote discussion and networking around sustainable innovation.

– Opportunities Workshops/

uses life cycle thinking and situation analysis to identify an innovation strategy that meets your business requirements.

– Expert Surgeries/

provides access to experts to focus on business specific sustainability issues and develop implementation strategy.

If your business is a SME (business with <250 employees, turnover less than €50m/annum, and not a subsidiary of a larger business) in the East of England and interested in understanding what opportunities and benefits Sustainable Innovation could offer, please contact:

Fiona Charnley: f.j.charnley@cranfield.ac.uk

Justyna Spurtacz: j.e.spurtacz@cranfield.ac.uk

Tel: 01234 750111 ext. 2140

Led by Cranfield University and funded by the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF), the program collaborates with both leading academic and environmental organisations to offer comprehensive and complimentary business support. If your business is a SME (business with <250 employees, turnover less than €50m/annum, and not a subsidiary of a larger business) in the East of England and interested in understanding what opportunities and benefits Sustainable Innovation could offer, please contact:

Alex Rowbotham, Research Fellow, C4D, Cranfield University.

Email: a.s.rowbotham@cranfield.ac.uk

Tel: 01234 750111 ext. 2143

Would you like to gain insight into what SDI is doing?

Please read the SDI Highlight to find out:

- Update on SDI events

- Case studies of SMEs who benefited from the SDI

- Introduction of experts involved in SDI

- Current developments in sustainable innovation

SDI HIGHLIGHT ISSUES

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER