Introduction

Anyone can have an idea and some of these may be transformative providing potential solutions to problems arising at scales that may range from the local to the global. Unfortunately too few people act and deliver on the promise of those ideas. This chapter introduces and asks questions about why this may be the case, not only for the individual, but for institutions and governments. It raises the spectre of systems, processes and infrastructure that need to be better organised and of resources more appropriately allocated in order to deliver meaningful innovation for society, the economy and the environment.