3. Joel Hamilton

Joel Hamilton (LinkedIn) is a civil servant in the UK Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ('BEIS'). He works in the Heat Networks Delivery Unit, which provides support and guidance for local authorities developing heat networks (also known as district heating). This is after industry experience and a PhD in the area.

A few insights to pull out from the interview:

The Net Zero target makes a difference. The narrative of getting to 80% did give people wiggle room to then say well, but we can carry on with this, which is a low carbon tech. The step up to a UK target of Net Zero means people are having to act more fundamentally and with greater urgency.

How you think about a situation drives what innovations are possible. From 14 mins, Joel tells the story of changing how a city thought about its heat networks, which changed what they deployed and when.

Team objectives and structure matter.  Joel says how a clear goal helps the team reorientate when circumstances change. Also, having a team of specialists, not generalists which is more usual in the British Civil Service.
 

Timings
PERSONAL AND ORGANISATIONAL INTRO
0:49 -  1. What is your role and organisation?

ORGANISATIONAL SETTING
3: 30 - 2. What role does your department / function have in the organisation? What is expected from you? How does that connect to the organisation’s strategy?
9:14 - 3. How is ‘sustainability’ framed in your organisation? (For instance: are there specific key words or phrases? Is it only environmental?)

INNOVATION STORY
14:06 4. Can you tell us the story of a good example of your work on innovation for sustainability?

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
23:10 - 5. What are the key methods and practices you use for innovation for sustainability?
27:44 - 6. What are the biggest challenges you face, and how do you overcome them?
29:41 - 7. If there was one thing business people could do which would make your work as a policy maker significantly easier, what would that be?

This is part of a series of interviews about innovation for sustainability conducted for the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, as a contribution to a module in this Masters. You can find out more about these interviews, and the module, here.