The Festival of Green Innovation 2022: back and bigger than ever

As leaders in low-carbon comms, we know it ain’t easy being green and as the event team formulated the plan for the Aura Innovation Centre’s (AIC) Festival of Green Innovation, we challenged ourselves to create an experiential event unlike any other.

Last year we set the bar high as we launched a live, digital chat show style event for the first-ever Festival of Green Innovation, showcasing Aura’s work within the region and the Humber’s incredible innovations with a strong focus on live projects from local SMEs.

Building on the success of 2021’s digital event, this time we asked SMEs to join us in person, inviting them into the Aura Innovation Centre to be at the heart of low-carbon innovation at the region’s Net Zero hub.

Through immersive experiences, we wanted to create a captivating event that showcased the capabilities of the building – allowing guests to understand the unique offering, the support that’s up for grabs and the facilities that are available for use.

An unforgettable experience that attracted over 120 sign ups

Showcasing AIC’s incredible facilities, we set out to celebrate the region’s incredible progress as a world leader in low-carbon technology. Fully immersive, we asked guests to expect the unexpected for a day of innovation – awakening their senses to experience a memorable event like no other.

Promoting the low-carbon agenda across the UK and putting the Aura Innovation Centre on the map; 79 delegates attended, including 45 individual businesses.

A low-carbon event like no other

With the University of Hull’s goal to reach Net Zero by 2027, the main campaign message for this year’s event was #WeAreInnovators – placing an emphasis on how innovation is accessible to all SMEs and showing how, with the right support, business owners can become greener, cut emissions and develop game-changing ideas.

On the day, guests were scanned in as they entered the building by the AIC team. Each innovator received an Aura branded innovation jacket and a colour-coded lanyard to identify their innovation group.

Guests were welcomed with an inspirational film to start their journey – aiming to spark imagination and encourage businesses to connect with the research power at the University of Hull to develop carbon-reducing ideas across all sectors.

Broken down into four separate stations, guests were then taken on a journey of innovation through the AIC, experiencing first-hand the expertise and technologies available; but not as you’d expect…

Louise Smith, Director of Aura, said:

“Dear Sowdens Team, I just wanted to thank you so much for being such a brilliant creative partner with us, helping us to shine, supporting us to deliver such an innovative and exciting day – just as we had imagined all those weeks ago.

We love working with you all and I know that many, many hours have gone into making the event wonderful and different, innovative and creative.

Thank you from the whole of the Aura Team and our sister brands to all of you at Sowdens.”

Take a look at some of our best green energy marketing work here. Or if you’ve got a marketing or comms project you could use a helping hand with, check out our range of services and get in touch to see how we can help you get the best results.