Infuse – Innovative Future Services

Project description

Infuse is an innovation and research programme designed to build skills and capacity for innovative future public services across the Cardiff Capital Region.  Infuse is supported by the European Social Fund through Welsh Government and is a collaboration between Cardiff University, Y Lab, Nesta, Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Office (CCR) and the ten local authorities that make up the region, including Monmouthshire County Council as the lead partner. The programme will be built around opportunities to tackle real-life questions, driven by the biggest challenges faced by the region.

Infuse partners and participants will identify a range of challenges or problems that are shared across the region. These might include decarbonisation, active travel, housing or social care. Using these shared challenges, we’ll bring together cross-regional teams in each of the three skills areas to work towards solving a part of this challenge, using new tools and methods.

Teams will receive around three months of training and support in new skills, tools and methods, followed by three months of coaching in their own organisations as they go back to put them into practice helping to change the future of public service delivery for years to come; developing new innovation skills and capacity by tackling regional public service challenges.

The programme will run until 2023, working with three cohorts of local authority and public sector workers from across the Cardiff Capital Region.

Geographical coverage

The Project covers the Cardiff Capital Region: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhonda Cynon Taff, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan.

Essential eligibility criteria

Public Servants from the ten local authorities in the Cardiff Capital Region.  We hope to broaden the scope to support other Public, Private and Third sector participants in the near future.

Specific targets

• 3 New methods, tools and procedures developed and disseminated
• 1 Project targeting public administrations or public services at national, regional and local level.
• 3 methods, processes or tools being developed with support.
• Number of entities participating in projects targeting public administrations or public services at national, regional and local level.

Contact details

Name: Owen Wilce
Email: owenwilce@monmouthshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 07973 559323
Address: Monmouthshire County Council, County Hall, The Rhadyr, Usk, Monmouthshire, NP15 1GA
Website:
Twitter:

Additional details

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infuse2023/

Progress

Infuse has worked with the Political and Officer leadership of the 10 local authorities in the Cardiff Capital Region.  Through this engagement the two key themes have been chosen as have the associated questions:

• Theme One Accelerating Decarbonisation – we will explore:

Q: What does it mean to declare a Climate Change Emergency?

• Theme Two Supportive Communities –

Q: What are the New Operating Models for Local Authorities post COVID-19?

The Infuse programme has recruited almost all of the twenty strong interdisciplinary programme management, research and delivery team.

Infuse has delivered two focus groups for potential applicants to test and refine the Infuse programme offer.  Sessions were delivered on 5th March and 11th March we engaged nineteen local authority officers from eight of the local authorities in the design of the programme.

Cohort Alpha is the prototype which has been developed to both respond to the impact of COVID-19 and allow intense learning for subsequent cohorts.  Cohort Alpha will start on May 4^th 2021.

The infuse team have been working hard on the mobilisation phase of the programme working with WEFO and other partners to create the conditions to ensure the programme is a success and we are compliant with our funding conditions.

Infuse Branding has been developed alongside a comprehensive Communications and Marketing plan.  Infuse has launched a podcast series which will support the promotion and sharing of learning from the programme. https://soundcloud.com/user-568940979-16472132/infuse-the-podcast-ep1-kellie-beirne