Following our Spring Connect and Summer Connect, Autumn Connect was held on September 20th in our City Futures Space in Southernhay.
The event brought together startups, academics, businesses, citizens and members of the council in a relaxed and informal atmosphere that resulted in many interesting and inspiring insights being shared.
After those speaking had shared their ideas guests were free to mingle in the City Futures Space. As well as networking with each other attendees had the chance to engage with the Exeter City Futures team and members of the accelerator cohort.
Themes and Insights
Eight speakers took to the stage in front of our blackboard wall, the biggest number for a Connect event this year, presenting insights into the challenges Exeter faces. Ideas shared ranged from how to simultaneously store energy and reduce congestion to a year-long public art programme in St Loyes to create art that strengthens belonging.
A clear theme that emerged in Autumn Connect was ‘Exeter working together’, the need for a wide range of stakeholders in the city to collaborate to achieve the goal of a more sustainable city. Anna Harper highlighted the need for a more effective exchange between the university and the city, while Sawsan Khuri shared insights about how teams don’t communicate properly and how facilitating communication between teams and companies can increase productivity.
For a full list of speakers see below:
Anna Harper
Exeter Community Climate Network: Increasing exchange between the University and the city
Jim Hunt V2G
How to simultaneously store energy and reduce congestion
Will Pollard
Local media sharing the sustainability message
Angus Nichols
Integrated Microgrids
Clare Bryden
Working with gold, weaving with data
Phillip Wright
Driving Efficiency Through Employee Travel
Sarah Ward
Sharing the Rain for Multiple Gain
Sawsan Khuri
Teamwork for a Sustainable City
Winter Connect
Our next Connect event will be held in the new year, in our City Futures Space. We look forward to hearing more insights and engaging in more conversation.
Until then the discussions can keep going in our Ideas Board, an online space where anyone can share their insights and thoughts about the challenges that face the Exeter region becoming more sustainable.