Technological and economic initiatives alone will not be enough to bring about the radical change needed to combat runaway global warming. Human relationships and social interactions are critical to initiating and driving innovation. “Low carbon works” is a five year project that has been studying how industry and local authorities have managed low carbon initiatives. A conference; “Insider Voices: Human dimensions of low carbon technology” is being held on 14th July where 7 examples of successful and unsuccessful initiatives will be presented to highlight practical ways forward.