Co-Creation & Sustainability, a perfect match

“Organisations call out for more open innovation to stimulate sustainability” was one of the messages during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last week. Well, we couldn’t agree more.

During the forum, 10 leading companies among which Nike, Creative Commons and Best Buy announced the launch of Green XChange, a new collaborative project that can change the rules of the game. It’s a platform allowing companies to share their knowledge (IP), co-create and accelerate the development of innovative solutions for sustainability issues.

As we also believe in accelerating the innovation process through co-creation and believe in the value of co-creation for sustainable innovation, Fronteer Strategy and Green Inc have combined strengths and developed Rooftop Garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Rooftop Garden coming up…

Last week I visited the ‘Nationaal Sutainability Congres’ in The Hague. The largest sustainability event in our country where around 700 people came together to discuss, to learn and to inspire. A bit more of the first than the latter perhaps, but it’s very comforting to be in a room full of people working (and talking) on sustainable change!

Two main conclusions stayed with me after the conference.

The first was stated quite clear and shared by all people present: It’s time to stop talking and start doing. Which is kind of a dual message in a room full of people talking about the topic. But still.. Read the rest of this entry »

Co-creation with nature

‘Life can offer 3.8 billion years of well-adapted technology, perhaps we can learn something from it’…

This quote stuck with me after listening to Dayna Baumeister, co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild. She spoke at the TU Delft Alumni Symposium yesterday where we attended her exciting lecture ‘Innovation, Inspired by Nature’.

And did nature inspire us!   Read the rest of this entry »

Co-creation in development aid

The basis for development aid is fragile, people are becoming more critical when it comes to their ‘well spend’ money, and the crisis is not helping… Investors think twice before they invest in projects, let alone consumers like you and me. And if we do invest, we sure as hell like to know what happened to our money! Where did it go, how is it used and what are the results?

These issues were part of the discussion in a very interesting Rooftop session we did last week for Butterfly Works. As Fronteer we were appealed by their refreshing approach towards the development sector so we decided to support them by investing in a Rooftop session. Read the rest of this entry »

We need a community!

One thing is clear, communities are hot. They seem to be popping up all around us as an increasing number of companies and people have the growing urge to ’start a community’. But where to start?

Last week we attended the 3rd Social Strategy Talk at the Westerunie, titled ‘Doe mij een community’. PSV, de Rabobank, a podcast priest and an Obama campaign member shared their experience and knowledge on creating and maintaining a community. Below a little more on the lessons learned. Read the rest of this entry »

Innovation: where east meets west

A while ago one of the experts in a Rooftop session dropped a question “So all people are connected… and then what?” It seemed quite bold at first, but he actually was so right, asking for the reason WHY you would want to be connected, why would you want something… just for the sake of wanting it?

It got me thinking about the role of asking ‘why’ in the innovation process. As a child you were always asking why? why? Just to get a grip on things and try to understand things. And even though I still ask this question quite often, I noticed that you often stop asking this and just deal with a situation as it comes along. But how wrong can you be! Read the rest of this entry »

Recession-proof retailing

Last week we were off to the Big Apple, doing a retailer landscape analysis for one of our cherished clients. Although the city was as vibrant and lively as ever, we soon got to see the flipside of it…

The overall message was clear: business really has changed for retailers the last couple of months. Whether you’re an independent store, a chain or department store, the retailer landscape has some difficult times ahead. Several smaller players are expected to close their doors somewhere these coming months and according to most retailers, the worst has yet to come.

But how to survive? It’s easier when money is moving and people are spending, but in times of recession retailers really have to be creative to get their share. In that case, perhaps it means that they shouldn’t focus on what might not work, but rather think of what could work, explore boundaries. It’s a time where companies have to get inventive and get resourceful to stand out.

Luckily for us, there was one retailer who invited this brilliant, famous little character to his store to trigger the crowds. That’s where we found out that… Kermit the Frog is still alive!!