Dubai, 1st December – Dr Hannah Parris, a CRSD Research Associate, led a demonstration of the Cambridge Policy Boot Camp (CBPC) methodology at COP28 in the Commonwealth’s Blue Zone pavilion. Ms Jodi-Ann Wang, the Pan-Commonwealth Coordinator of the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network, and Mr Nicholas Kee, Co-Founder and CEO of Kee Farms, joined Dr Parris.
The Cambridge Policy Boot Camp (CPBC) is an agile approach designed to quickly identify and document potential solutions for complex policy problems; by integrating multiple perspectives from multiple stakeholders, CPBCs can provide practical direction for complex decisions and promote resilient solutions within a given context and set of resources.
Prof Nazia M Habib created the CPBC as a method to quickly and collaboratively generate policy solutions, identify untapped assets, and predict possible barriers to policy success. The Sprint CPBC is the first ever 30-minute iteration of such an exercise and was still successful in creating novel financing solutions for Kee Farms co-founder and CEO, Nick Kee.
During the demonstration, Nicholas Kee posed the central research question: "How does the Commonwealth Secretariat use the COMPASS model to secure $40 million of philanthropic and commercial investment supporting the sustainable growth of Kee Farms over the next 12 months?" As a young Commonwealth citizen and founder of an innovative start-up in Jamaica, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Mr. Kee provided valuable insights into the financing challenges faced by SIDS start-ups.
Through this unique perspective, the team of 8 members of the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network and another 10 COP28 delegates, gained a deeper understanding of the untapped assets and challenges of youth-led businesses. This paves the way for configuring COMPASS to drive investment into such enterprises. CPBC empowers beneficiaries to innovate solutions to complex problems, and in this case, Nicholas Kee noted the value of the Sprint CPBC’s insights. He highlighted how Kee Farms could collaborate with other seaweed farmers in the region to co-create market opportunities, attracting funding for the sector and generating positive externalities in the seaweed market, ultimately placing sustainability certifications for their final products within scope.
The CPBC demonstration at COP28 showcased the power of scientific methods for collaboration and collective intelligence based systems thinking. The event brought together a diverse group of members from the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network alongside interested participants from the wider COP28 attendees.
At our previous CPBC with the Commonwealth Secretariat working on our collaborative “Their Future; Our Action” project, we were delighted that COMPASS uncovered untapped assets in SIDS, including nature and youthful populations.
