27 March 2025 - CISL’s Chief Innovation Officer James Cole details a day in the life at CISL’s Entopia Building, a world-class innovation hub.
Seven years ago, a bold vision was set in motion: the transformation of a 1930s telephone exchange in central Cambridge into a world-class innovation hub for sustainability.
The objective was to create a physical space that would foster collaboration across sectors, bringing together the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), its staff and sustainability projects with business leaders, the finance sector and policy-makers, academics from the University, and a thriving startup ecosystem. This vision has materialised in the form of the Entopia Building and its flagship space, the Canopy – a workspace and community for sustainability-driven startups.
The concept behind this development was not simply to provide office space, but to create a dynamic environment where academia, industry, and policy could converge. Over the past two years, Canopy has become home to more than 150 startup members, with an additional 300 businesses having passed through its Startup Accelerator Programmes on net zero business, circular economy, built environment and more. These sustainable ventures, while varied in their missions, technologies and approaches, share a common commitment to innovation, commerciality and sustainability, and benefit from the networking opportunities provided by CISL’s extensive corporate, academic and finance sector connections.
But what is it like to work in such a hub?
A recent day offers a glimpse. The morning begins with a chance encounter at the coffee machine with Tom Herbstein, co-founder of WeESG and a CISL alumnus, who is working on sustainable finance training in collaboration with CISL. From there, the day flows seamlessly into a meeting with Thomas Davin, Director of UNICEF’s Office of Innovation, to discuss the Innovate30 initiative – a joint project supporting young entrepreneurs with climate-focused ventures improving the lives of children around the world.
Later, a brief exchange with Justin Dekoszmovszky, co-founder of Archipel&Co and CISL Fellow, and Cooper Renfro of Social Finance, reveals the shared excitement around a new research project on social impact finance in its nascent stages. The diversity of the conversations reflects the hub’s success in creating synergies across industries, and the collaborations it has engendered.
The afternoon brings a meeting with a North American insurance firm, where the focus shifts to commercially-led approaches and systemic interventions in climate and health. A serendipitous encounter with Gabriel Okello, CISL’s Research Fellow in Air Quality and NCDs, leads to a brief discussion between them about his work with AstraZeneca in Uganda, exploring the intersections of air quality, health, e-mobility, and sustainable jobs – which led to policy change.
Walking through the ground floor ‘Forum’ at lunchtime sees mixed groups of people sharing lunch and conversation – we host the British Standards Institution’s (BSI) Sustainability Innovation Lab team, and together run an accelerate and pilot programme for startups, and their teams are often meeting new startups and working with CISL staff.
After lunch, a chance conversation with an industrial designer, who has been volunteering at a local repair café, touches on the growing Cambridge innovation ecosystem and the contribution of design to sustainability. He is here to meet one of our Canopy member startups. The day continues with a call to innovation partners, where plans are discussed to turn the retrofitted Entopia building into a Living Lab for innovation in the built environment. This initiative aims to pilot new technologies and share insights on sustainability in the built environment with academics, policy makers and professionals.
On the way to my desk I’m introduced to a Impact Investment Foundation who are being hosted by a Canopy Associate for their strategy away day – they make impact investments aligned with our community and are very interested in the Entopia retrofit.
The final in person meeting of the day is with CIC Venture Café, an organisation known for building thriving workspaces and communities globally, and who are setting up in the UK with the support of ARIA. We tour the building and see small groups meeting and exchanging ideas, including recent members Neutreeno, a Cambridge University spin-out developing the trusted digital system that enables corporates to reduce costs and emissions simultaneously. Supported by Cambridge’s innovation ecosystem, they progressed through the JBS Accelerate Cambridge and CISL Canopy’s Accelerator programmes, securing $5M in seed funding and a nomination for the 2025 Earthshot Awards.
The day offers an opportunity to reflect on how far the innovation hub has come and what makes it unique: a globally relevant sustainable innovation hub at the heart of Cambridge’s innovation cluster; activating a network of corporates, academics, startups and investors, all working to build a sustainable, competitive, economy.
As the day winds down, it’s hard not to feel fortunate to be part of such a vibrant and forward-thinking community.
Want to experience what its like working in a hub of sustainability innovation? Our Canopy workspaces enable sustainability-focused start-ups and SMEs to join the CISL community, offering networking, co-working spaces, and access to experts from across CISL and our wider Network. The Canopy CISL
Our Innovation team develop and scales sustainable innovation solutions by connecting innovators, corporate partners, systems change experts and industry leaders. For organisations looking to get involved, please reach out to our team: CISL Innovation Enquiry
