Kate Lemon2013-05-24T03:14:59-04:00Kate Lemonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=kate-lemonCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Kate LemonGood old fashioned elbow grease.The Future Belongs to the Curioustag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.18423502012-08-30T07:24:45-04:002012-10-30T05:12:01-04:00Kate Lemonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-lemon/
Curiosity is the driving force behind innovation, but natural curiosity seems to be something that either dies with childhood, or is pushed to the back of our minds, as shown by the findings of The Power of Curiosity report we recently published in partnership with the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) which revealed that the daily grind and modern technology are impacting upon our desire and capacity to act upon curiosity, as adults.
Therefore it is more important than ever to foster the inherent curiosity of children as we seek to maintain Britain's heritage as a nation of innovators, and find ways to address the challenges which we all face over the next few decades.
As part of our Generation Green education programme, we recently held a gathering of twelve of the nation's most curious children and tasked them to work with the RSA, Centrica, British Gas and the BRE (Building Research Establishment), to come up with solutions to the challenges faced by the energy industry and its customers both now, and in the future.
These inspiring children were selected as winners of our Generation Green 'Why Factor' competition, and dreamt up such innovations as:
Powerdown: a system that automatically turns off all unnecessary appliances:
When the last person leaves the house
When a self-set energy usage limit is reached
Energy ID: personalised energy efficiency consultancy - both through in-home consultations and a high street drop-in service
Polycharge: mesh-like technology that can be attached to any surface to collect the energy from human contact with it, for example, storing energy directed at a punch bag or treadmill
Appliance-Eye: technology that allows all customers to see exactly how much energy individual appliances have used, when it was used, and how it could be used more efficiently
We face three key challenges in the energy industry in years to come: reducing carbon emissions, securing supply and ensuring energy bills are affordable. Stimulating the curiosity of the next generation so that they are equipped to address these challenges is what Generation Green is all about, and we were certainly impressed by the ideas that our Why Factor winners have come up with.
The job now for us, is to undertake research into the feasibility of these curiosity-driven ideas, and assess whether they could, in fact, be made a reality and support existing energy management measures we have introduced, such as the roll out of over 600,000 Smart Meters which are benefiting homes and businesses.
Our innovation lab is always working on new solutions, but the future of the energy industry belongs to the curious, and it will be their ideas that help us to live more sustainably for years and years to come.
The full The Power of Curiosity report is available at http://www.thersa.org/projects/social-brain/power-of-curiosity ]]>The Power of Curiositytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.16120312012-06-21T19:00:00-04:002012-08-21T05:12:05-04:00Kate Lemonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-lemon/
We've undertaken research with the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) which has identified that curiosity is key to stimulating innovation, but that, worryingly, Britain may be in danger of losing the kind of curiosity that we need to maintain our reputation as a nation of innovators.
Britain has won 76 Nobel Prizes for science and technology: more than anywhere else in Europe. Yet the RSA report has revealed that Britons are now more interested in experiences than they are in the pursuit of knowledge. This may be compounded by modern technology - whilst unlimited access to internet search opens up a whole world of information, it also discourages an in-depth search and engagement with a topic. Our hunger for knowledge becomes shallow rather than deep and impactful.
We've all experienced relentless 'why' questioning from very young children. Not a day goes by when my four-year-old daughter doesn't inundate me with questions, and I'm often tempted to ignore the inquisition after a while or say "just because", exhausted by a long string of 'why's.
But now there is an urgent need to foster this curiosity, in a child's early years, and also as they grow up and go to secondary school, university and out into the working world.
Our report draws together some powerful recommendations for parents, teachers and students of all ages to cultivate curiosity. Rather than the focus on the 3Rs that the CBI report calls for, it recommends that a movement away from rote learning and lessons that are exam question led is what's really needed for the future of British business. It is by allowing young minds the freedom to explore questions and time to develop an in-depth understanding of a topic that we will spur the innovation that is imperative to meet future challenges.
It is our hope therefore that we can help champion and encourage curiosity in young people. We want to harness their curiosity to help change the way people use energy. That's why, as part of our Generation Green programme in schools, we're launching a nationwide search for a panel of 11 children aged seven-14, who are the most curious and have the 'why factor'. The children will be invited to work with British Gas innovation experts to create new ideas to solve our energy challenges and address Britons' lack of curiosity about their own energy usage. We're also giving everyone the opportunity to test their own curiosity using a quick online quiz, developed with the RSA.
Our ambition is to help encourage curiosity among young people and ultimately help drive innovation in Britain as a result.
Visit www.generationgreen.co.uk/curiosity to test your curiosity and nominate a child you think has the 'why factor'
The full report is available here.]]>