Joined-up thinking towards net-zero
Reaching Net Zero is both a technical and collective challenge. For schools, decarbonisation is especially complex. Budgets are tight, estates are ageing, and competing priorities often make environmental upgrades difficult to plan or justify. Many schools lack the specialist knowledge to identify the right interventions, while local authorities face the challenge of coordinating dozens of sites, funding streams, and external partners, all while maintaining day-to-day education delivery.
Solving this kind of problem requires joined-up thinking between schools, councils, service providers, and the wider community. Solihull Metropolitan Council recognised this and wanted to find new ways to bring these groups together to align on shared challenges and co-develop practical, locally grounded solutions.
Our approach
We designed and facilitated a challenge-led innovation process to help the Council and its partners collaborate effectively. Using structured workshops, we brought together educators, sustainability leads, NGOs, and local service providers to explore the question:
How might we enable schools in Solihull to decarbonise in ways that benefit pupils, staff, and the community?
Participants mapped the landscape of challenges, from funding barriers and procurement constraints to cultural and behavioural hurdles. We used creative tools to help groups prioritise where they could make the most immediate difference and identify opportunities for partnership across sectors.
— Rosie Pincott
Climate Action Advisor
Let's Go Zero
— Participant
The process created shared understanding and momentum. Participants collectively generated and prioritised ideas ranging from energy education programmes and resource-sharing models to community retrofit projects and new funding partnerships.
Working in mixed teams, they defined the practical steps needed to move each idea forward; identifying who to collaborate with, what support was required, and where new funding could be sought. The sessions also surfaced longer-term systemic barriers, giving the Council insight into what needs to change at a policy and operational level to make sustainable school transformation possible.
Impact of the work
The work gave Solihull Council and its partners a clear framework for developing local decarbonisation projects that are grounded in collaboration and community value. Schools left with practical ideas and renewed confidence that they don’t need to tackle Net Zero alone.
Our role
We brought structure, clarity, and momentum to a complex, multi-stakeholder challenge. We designed the process, facilitated the collaboration, and equipped participants with tools to continue working together beyond the workshop. Our role was to make the challenge manageable, translating ambition into collective action and setting the stage for projects that can deliver real environmental and community impact.
Rethinking waste material use at HS2
Open innovation that built new bridges between HS2, Mace Dragados, and creative communities.
Reorganising a siloed team at WM Police
Systems thinking that gave teams a renewed sense of clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Designing local projects at Solihull Council
Co-design to create a framework for developing local decarbonisation projects.