Infuse was supported by the European Social Fund through Welsh Government and is a collaboration between Cardiff University, Y Lab, Nesta, Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Office (CCR) and the ten local authorities that make up the region. The programme was built around opportunities to tackle real-life questions, driven by the biggest challenges faced by the region.

The global pandemic has put extraordinary pressure on public services and left little time for building capacity to ensure that Wales has services fit for the future. Infuse aimed to give people who work for public services the skills and tools they need to create ambitious change and collaborate across the region.

The programme supported local authority, public and third sector workers to collaboratively tackle some of the biggest issues faced by the region.  As part of their time on the programme, they explored the mindsets and organisational conditions required for public service innovation, and applied new tools and methods to test innovative ideas to tackle challenges relating to two themes; Accelerating Decarbonisation and Supportive Communities.

Learning from the programme, along with key tools and methods, is captured in the Infuse Handbook .

The programme worked with four consecutive cohorts, which now form the Infuse Alumni Network. The network has taken over from the delivery team in promoting and helping to spread the Infuse approach across CCR.