In May 2023, Future Humber and partners travelled down to London to share the Humber 2030 Vision with the rest of the UK and beyond. Innovation Zero – the clean tech congress, in its first year, attracted thousands of guests to London Olympia to learn more about innovation in net zero and decarbonisation.

Partnerships  

The Humber Pavilion was one of the biggest stands at the exhibition and was in a prominent position right next to the main entrance. The stand was a real collective effort which showed our united front as a region, showcasing projects from partners Aura Innovation Centre, Centrica Storage, Drax, Equinor UK, Humber Zero, Phillips 66, Prax, RWE, SSE Thermal, and Uniper with Shell. Without the Humber’s businesses working together, we would have instead comprised of a number of smaller stands scattered throughout London Olympia. As a collective, we were able to deliver a strong message and have a bigger impact in terms of attracting visitors and VIPs.  

Isn’t this photo wonderful? It shows the huge team that the Humber region sent to Innovation Zero in 2023. Next year will see more partners and delegates make the trip down to the congress. The photographer is going to need a wider lens!  

People 

Almost 7,000 people attended Innovation Zero over two days. It certainly felt busy to us on the stand. We had a steady stream both days from opening to closing, including guests such as Dr Liam Fox and Graham Stuart MP.  

We had a lot of interest in a range of topics and interest in the Humber region. The huge map of all the projects was a big draw and a good talking point which sparked conversations about the different projects involved in the region’s decarbonisation vision. Representatives from partner companies were available to answer questions about specific projects or about their work in general.  

It was amazing to see so many people in attendance interested in net zero innovation and decarbonisation. There were a lot of very interesting and relevant questions to answer, meaning visitors left feeling they had learnt something new about the Humber and the companies working to showcase the region. We look forward to meeting even more people next year and spreading the message even further.  

During the congress, 400 people from politics, the public sector, the private sector and academia gave talks or were part of panels discussing a huge range of subjects including transport, energy, and finance and investments. The Humber was well represented with Jenny Sutcliffe of Phillips 66, Ian Livingston of Equinor, Graeme Davies of Viking CCS, Jonathan Briggs of Humber Zero, and Richard Gwilliam of Drax all sharing their knowledge and experience with the very full audiences, along with Henri Murison, CEO of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, who drew a lot of interest in the talk on Regional Net-Zero Regeneration as he pushed the case for the north of England.  

Graham Stuart MP meets the team from SSE Thermal

Dr Liam Fox with representatives from the Humber Pavilion. Credit: Phillips 66

Dr Diana Taylor and Henri Murison in front of the Humber Pavilion

Place 

The purpose of our stand throughout the event was not only to share what individual Humber businesses are doing in terms of decarbonisation but also that we are doing this in our region, as a region. The fact that the Humber is the UK’s largest carbon emitting area shows the scale of the challenge both to the region and to the UK’s net zero target. The importance of place cannot be understated.  

There was a lot of interest in the Humber region, facilitated by the huge map of projects that took a prominent position in the middle of the stand. There were people very familiar with the Humber, willing to share their stories, and those who had never heard of the region and had no clue where in the UK it is. We proudly promoted the region as a whole place as well as encouraging visitors to talk to our partners.  

We gave out numerous Humber 2030 Vision brochures and showed people how to download a digital version using the QR code, directing people to the Invest Humber website. As a giveaway, we worked with local supplier Systematic to provide chocolate bars in a sustainably made box, which also contained the QR code directing people to Invest Humber. If anyone left the congress not knowing where the Humber is or where to find out more information about the region and its projects, then there is something wrong! Our goal was to position the Humber as a place of huge investment potential and increase peoples’ knowledge of the Humber’s industrial cluster vision, and we believe that we have more than achieved this. 

Saffron, Paige, Diana and Joanne from Future Humber

Planet 

Not least, Innovation Zero served as a reminder that the efforts we are going to are to help create an economy and society that is kinder to the planet. With lots of people there interested in achieving net zero, the topic of sustainability, climate change, and decarbonisation was ever present. From the multitude of talks going on throughout both days and over 200 exhibitors all displaying their net zero products and services, it was clear that this congress was all about the planet.  

We strived to minimise our own impact on the planet for the congress, as we do every other day. The team took Hull Trains down to London and back to save driving (thank you to Hull Trains for their hospitality), and we took what we could carry with us. We produced a digital download of the Humber 2030 Vision which used a QR code so we could reduce the amount of brochures we needed to produce and transport. We produced a giveaway which was edible and came in packaging which was biodegradable, as we didn’t want to add to the plastic mountain which large businesses expos can often create.  

The congress enabled the right people in positions of power to hear more about net zero and to see for themselves the strength of feeling behind the issue of climate change and the importance of sustainability and creating a net zero economy. We learnt more about what net zero technologies are available and also about the current trends, developments, and debates in the net zero agenda. Out of the two days, there have been connections made that have helped drive decarbonisation projects forward and collaborations facilitated that will create the programmes that will play a key role in achieving net zero.  

Innovation Zero is returning for 2024 and we will again be in attendance, with more partners and a bigger and better stand, to share the region’s decarbonisation story with even more people. You can learn about Innovation Zero London 2024 at https://www.innovationzero.com/  

Watch the highlights of Innovation Zero 2023 at Innovation Zero 2023 Highlights 

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