What is the event?

Earlier this year Nesta commissioned Dark Matter Labs (DML) and Lucidminds to develop a set of speculative use cases to help communities and civil society organisations take advantage of the latest innovations in AI, hardware and collective intelligence to adapt to the growing threat of the climate crisis. This research built on previous work by Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design on the potential of combining the intelligence of machines and groups of people for solving complex problems, as well as current projects at DML, including Trees as Infrastructure and Smart Commons.

This project has resulted in three future-facing blueprints that provide a roadmap for the technical and social civic infrastructure that could support:

1. Enhanced green infrastructure in cities;
2. Making collective commitments to climate action; and
3. Sustainability of community energy initiatives.

At this event, DML outlined the results of their research and explained how to use the blueprints. The event closed with a panel discussion exploring the future of localised efforts in climate adaptation using AI and collective intelligence.

Who was it for?

This event was for community leaders, designers and innovators in the public sector. We aimed to bring together an ambitious community who will work with us and citizens across the UK to start implementing these ideas.

It was particularly aimed at civil society organisations working on climate response and supporting behavioural and social change in communities. We were also keen to involve civil servants and political leaders responsible for environmental sustainability, wellbeing, urban planning and data or digital innovation portfolios at local and regional levels.