LoToNo: Towards a Low Carbon Region – developing Low Carbon SME clusters in Dorset and Solent

Submitted by Alina Danieles… on 18 June 2016

LoToNo has been an inspiring 27 month project helping Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight transform into a low to no carbon region.   Overall LoToNo has been a very successful project, transferring knowledge and expertise from around Europe to the methodology of support for emerging industries and developing our own expertise, which can be replicated elsewhere.   And our region is now increasingly recognised for its creative approach to carbon reduction strategies and engagement with emerging industries.

Information on the project LoToNo Programme:    CIP:  Clusters & entrepreneurship in support of emerging industries Call identifier:  64/G/ENT/CIP/13/C/N04C02 Project full name:     LoToNo: Towards a Low Carbon Region – developing Low Carbon SME clusters in Dorset and Solent Project Acronym:    LoToNo Duration:   Project Start Date:  3 February 2014,  Project End Date:   2 May 2016 

Consortium composition:

Participant No  Participant name and Organisation Country       
1 WSX Enterprise Ltd (The Design Programme) UK       
2 Dorset County Council UK  
3 Borough of Poole UK       
4 Future South UK       
5 Pôle Mer Méditerranée France     

Objectives  LoToNo was devised to address regional policy challenges by creating an ecosystem to foster entrepreneurship and the development of emerging low carbon and resource efficient businesses and new business models in the South of England. The project supported small business investment across sectors, industries and markets, adding the power of creative industries to catalyse new developments. It identified and supported businesses exploiting cross-cutting technologies, and created opportunities for small businesses to respond to the drivers to a low carbon economy.

Sectoral/industrial focus:  Open to all industries to engage in driving a low carbon, cleantech and circular economy.

Executive Summary and results  LoToNo has been an inspiring 27 month project helping Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight transform into a low to no carbon region.   Overall LoToNo has been a very successful project, transferring knowledge and expertise from around Europe to the methodology of support for emerging industries and developing our own expertise, which can be replicated elsewhere.   And our region is now increasingly recognised for its creative approach to carbon reduction strategies and engagement with emerging industries.

One of the original objectives was to engage 250 people in the LoToNo community.  By the end of the project on 2 May 2016, LoToNo had  •    over 8,400 page views on the www.lotono.co.uk  website; •    created more than 100,000 page impressions on the @LoToNoGP Twitter account; •    engaged with more than 500 people at the LoToNo and partners’ innovative events;  •    helped create the cleantech cluster GreenTechSouth, now with more than 100 members;  •    and mentor 25 projects to achieve their next step in creating international value chains, 23 of whom received Innovation Vouchers.   See more detail at www.lotono.co.uk 

Common innovation challenges were solved through collaborative working for:  packaging and low carbon distribution chains for food and drink producers, alternatives for polystyrene food transit boxes and lifeboat decommissioning for a large lifesaving charity, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.     New business models were also created.  Several of the voucher beneficiaries created their own circular economy systems, and a larger symbiotic chain was formed between 918 Coffee, TRACOuk and Position Systems Ltd, the 3 businesses in entirely different sectors, but with the common goal of reducing carbon and waste.  

Events organized by the project:

LoToNo created 5 online platforms 

1.WEBSITE:  www.LoToNo.co.uk    for more static and long-term information and news 2. www.RNLIChallenge.org.uk     created specifically for Lifeboat Decommissioning Challenge  3. for more dynamic and daily activity, Twitter handle @LoToNoGP used  4. www.DesignMentor.eu      Bi-lingual (French and English) design & innovation online resource for SMEs to commission effective design from professional designers, assisting with every stage of the business lifecycle.  5. www.greentechsouth.com    community and forum established by Future South (formerly Future Solent) as cleantech cluster platform and forum. 

LoToNo also ran several idea generation platforms/events  WSX ran a very successful open ideas exchange event in April 2014 in Salisbury.  The core LoToNo partnership team was joined by designers, cluster managers, public authorities and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.  And, as a result of that idea generation day, we were able to identify the regional problems which we then converted into a challenge.  The problems were how to manage bulk waste streams, finding a new use for decommissioned items, symbiotic use of materials across industries, designing out waste, and finding alternative materials.  With our challenge owner, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, we launched the RNLI Lifeboat Decommissioning Challenge on 12 February 2015 and drew interest from the Ministry of Defence, from Innovate UK, (the UK’s national Technology Strategy Board), from designers, from the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony animateurs, from boat industry specialists and from engineers.   The Technical Briefing Day took place in Poole, UK on 22 April 2015.   This was an example of “challenge-driven innovation,” explored when the LoToNo team met with CLEAN in Denmark, the Danish cleantech cluster, who described their challenge driven innovation methodology to the LoToNo visitors.  We were so taken with it that we decided to adopt and adapt the approach to the UK.   http://www.rnlichallenge.org.uk/    The outcome was a series of suggestions for the RNLI to solve the RNLI’s challenge of decommissioning 86 search-and-rescue lifeboats over the next 10 years, and a methodology for the RNLI to re-use for other areas of its operations to solve equally weighty problems.   And the results of the Challenge had the potential to influence the whole boatbuilding industry.  

A second approach was to run supply chain “bootcamps.”   LoToNo helped to run the Solent Offshore Renewable Energy Consortium Offshore Renewables Innovation and Supply Chain Opportunities in Southampton on 28 November 2014.  SOREC is an ERDF-funded project based on the Isle of Wight that concerns itself with building an effective renewable energy cluster.  As a result of collaboration with LoToNo, SOREC were able to attract 109 delegates to the Southampton Solent University Conference Centre to meet and exchange expertise on how to gain access to the increasingly lucrative offshore renewables supply chain in the region.   Five clusters came together from across two regions.   Outcomes from the Offshore Renewables event were serendipitous meetings between researchers, boatbuilders and electronics engineers who are likely to apply for a LoToNo Innovation Voucher, to bring their new idea to market.   

A supply chain bootcamp on the issue of polystyrene transit packaging in the food supply chain was run on 8 December 2015.   Chefs, designers, innovation specialists and a food delivery service gathered at the University of Winchester to explore the issues of why polystyrene is the incumbent material in the food supply chain.  It was hoped a voucher application would arise from this workshop, but the interested parties were outside of the project area.  The work was not for nothing, however, since the University of Brighton is getting involved with the project by offering its second year design students a live project to help devise alternative methods of packaging/distribution using the features and constraints discovered at the bootcamp.   It is also hoped that this project might be continued at a later date when further funding has been found. 

The third method was mixing packaging suppliers directly with the businesses who need it and inviting designers and researchers to develop novel solutions to packaging problems.  The Taming the Monster 2015 event, inviting cross-cluster groups in packaging, food and drink and design to meet in Southampton to work on novel packaging solutions and solve packaging issues for clients, took place on 13 March 2015. 85 delegates signed up, including 10 packaging suppliers. http://www.lotono.co.uk/news-events/taming-the-monster-packaging-event-…    

The Navitus Bay Supply Chain workshop took place on 12 March 2015, in collaboration with the Solent Offshore Renewable Energy Consortium.  http://www.lotono.co.uk/news-events/sorec-navitus-bay-supply-chain-event-12-march-2015  A tidal energy event ran in May 2015 at the National Oceanographic Centre in Southampton, in collaboration with the ERDF-funded SOREC once again.

Coordinator contact details Name:   Samantha Leeds Organisation and position:    WSX Enterprise Ltd Address:  Wates House, Wallington Hill, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 7BJ  UKJ Phone number:    +44 (0)1329 226187 Email: Samantha.leeds [at] wsxenterprise.co.uk  Website: (of the project)   www.lotono.co.uk    

Highlights  On Monday 2 May 2016, LoToNo celebrated reaching the end of its two year run to help cleantech businesses bring their products and services to market and so drive growth in emerging low-carbon, resource-efficient industries that tackle today’s environmental challenges. LoToNo used creative and collaborative methods to bring businesses together across clusters and borders to help businesses take the next step towards internationalisation.   The team ran international challenges sponsored by large organisations, innovative workshops and networking events, deployed advisers and mentors, and distributed innovation vouchers LoToNo Project Coordinator, Anna Traylor, said:  “We’ve shown that the mix of methods and the cross-sectoral working have been very successful in achieving our objective to select and support 25 high-potential projects.  “Our goal was to help the businesses flourish by connecting them to our extensive network of international design and technology experts who helped improve or adapt their product offering”. “Over the last two years, we have mentored more than 40 companies and 25 of these projects have deployed in the marketplace already, or will come to market in 2016. We’ve helped businesses finish product development through final tests, research and break into new markets, scale their idea from prototype to viable product and create circular economy partnerships between businesses.   We look forward to seeing the impact of these activities over the next 12 months.” LoToNo’s aim to embed itself in policy development has also been very successful.  LoToNo’s approach has been adopted by the Local Enterprise Partnerships in Dorset, Solent and EM3 regions where support for cleantech business development will be continued through projects funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds.  LoToNo focussed on Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight and was a partnership between Dorset County Council, Borough of Poole, Future South, The Design Programme at WSX Enterprise Ltd and Pôle Mer Méditerranée. The project was part-funded by the European Union.

Testimonials Rob Hale of Inkulu Energy said this was “a hugely positive experience, the process was incredibly streamlined and the support before bidding for the voucher and afterwards was exemplary.  This voucher has been a great big stepping stone to take us to the next stage of funding our project.” Justin Cornelius, CEO of 918 Coffee Company said: “The LoToNo voucher came at a critical time with a big commercial supply deal requiring us to scale up our fuel pellet production. We are now set to make the most of the emerging demand for our unique Eco Roast Coffee”.     Dr. Dennis Doerffel, Managing Director of REAPsystems Ltd, said: “LoToNo support allowed us to bring our work forward and kick start the move from theory to practice, and we are really excited to be close to a working hybrid taxi-boat operating in the Venice Lagoon”. Jason Bentley, Founder of TRACOuk, said: “The LoToNo Innovation Voucher came at a critical time, and allowed us to take what was essentially an innovative idea and turn it into a business reality. Our new Tri-Eco-Fuel will help grow our ethical business”.