In October 2023, NCIA’s Policy & Partnership Manager John Fell accompanied the OECD team on a week of meetings with case-study university ‘clusters’, as research for the OECD’s report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales.
Here, John presents some initial reflections on the report’s findings, on behalf of the NCIA programme.
The OECD’s report, The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales, highlights how universities are key actors in regional development. In many cases this draws on universities’ historical roots, having been originally set up to serve regional and local needs. The report also notes the wide range of diverse types of universities in England and Wales. Many of these have become global in their outlooks, but the report highlights how even those that have been at the forefront on the global stage now appreciate the need to be local and global in their outlook.
The report shows how higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to regional development through a place-responsive approach while pointing out how, to some extent, they are constrained in their activities by how they are funded and by policies in other domains (e.g. immigration policy and its impact on international student recruitment and graduate retention).
There has been a shift in the sector to understand knowledge exchange as not just technology transfer to business – based on science, engineering, and medicine – but to include the contribution of the social sciences, arts and humanities to community wellbeing in the round. The civic university agenda should link to these trends too. Overall, the UK has gone quite a long way in recognising the breadth of activities that come under knowledge exchange and civic university roles, but there is still work to do to build on the connections and activities to date.
The OECD Team with representatives from the Cardiff and West of England cluster, hosted at SPARK, Cardiff University
Central issues for place-responsiveness are outlined on page 15 of the report, highlighting co-specialisation, multi-level responses, and metrics for impact.
There is a need and opportunity for the sector to compare local ecosystems across different case study areas, identifying which institution may be best placed to play which role.
In addition to focusing on the current and existing local needs which universities can address, there is also a need to work with the long-term future opportunities and challenges which HEIs and their surrounding communities could work together on. This could be through long-term strategic partnership, collaborative, and/or co-creative approaches to address the local impact of global issues, such as climate change and sustainability.
Taking a data-driven approach to civic university activity
The OECD report highlights the NCIA’s potential to generate evidence on universities’ civic impact. The NCIA is developing a Civic Intelligence Hub to launch in Spring 2025, a comprehensive platform with an index dashboard and impact dashboard for effective civic engagement, which will facilitate data-driven decision-making and enable users to track the progress and impact of civic initiatives.
Generating complementarities with industrial policy
The report notes that Civic University Agreements (CUAs) provide a framework for universities to align their activities with local economic needs. It cites the example of Durham University’s collaboration with Durham County Council to support an enterprising culture, providing incubator services for student enterprises and academic spinouts.
We know that many universities find the Civic University Network’s Civic Impact Framework helpful to measure and demonstrate their civic impact, and help to support industrial policy goals in their places.
The OECD Team with representatives from the East London cluster, hosted at Queen Mary University of London
Connecting to sustainability agendas and focussing on sustainability
The report points out that many existing Civic University Agreements include environmental sustainability as a key focus area.
The NCIA will further emphasise and support sustainability initiatives across universities during our programme, as shown in our upcoming Co-Commissioning Panel’s Brief on Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. The brief will give a comprehensive assessment and analysis of a university’s environmental impact, providing valuable insights and recommendations for sustainable practices, and will be published in early 2025.
You can also find Civic University Network resources on the role universities can play in driving a green recovery, highlighting how civic engagement can support sustainability goals.
Mainstreaming civic engagement in teaching and research
The report highlights the activities of City-REDI at the University of Birmingham (one of the NCIA partner organisations) as an example of how research can be aligned with regional priorities. City-REDI use academic understanding of city-regions to develop policies that inform regional and national economic growth strategies.
Delivering entrepreneurial education
Entrepreneurship education is highlighted as a method to link to local needs and growth. Universities also have a role to play in connecting entrepreneurship to societal challenges and local needs – they should be encouraged to examine and review their practices to help cultivate an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ across disciplines.
The report provides examples of universities integrating entrepreneurial education into their civic activities, such as from the University of East London and Imperial College London’s Enterprise Lab.
Alignment with national policies
With a new UK government, universities in England have a key role in addressing both national priorities and local needs – yet the two might not necessarily align. The report suggests that the NCIA leverage its work to support broader policy objectives like industrial strategy and the “levelling up” agenda (as it was formally known). The NCIA programme aims to be a key facilitator in connecting higher education institutions with regional development priorities. We will be holding a series of three roundtable forums starting in January 2025, to discuss how universities, local governments, and the public and private sectors can collaborate on place-based strategies.
We should further examine how HEIs work with each other, and with further education colleges, to create skills pathways to address current and future local needs – developing soft skills as well as technical skills.
In conclusion
The OECD’s report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales provides a robust foundation to help us here at the NCIA – and all involved in civic university activity – to enhance our roles in fostering place-responsive higher education institutions. By incorporating these insights into our strategies and operations, we can support universities to maximise their civic impact and contribute to regional development.
The OECD Team with representatives from the Birmingham and Manchester clusters, hosted at Sheffield Hallam University
Click here to download the OECD’s Report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales.
With special thanks to City-REDI’s Anne Green for her contributions to this article.
In October 2023, NCIA’s Policy & Partnership Manager John Fell accompanied the OECD team on a week of meetings with case-study university ‘clusters’, as research for the OECD’s report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales.
Here, John presents some initial reflections on the report’s findings, on behalf of the NCIA programme.
The OECD’s report, The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales, highlights how universities are key actors in regional development. In many cases this draws on universities’ historical roots, having been originally set up to serve regional and local needs. The report also notes the wide range of diverse types of universities in England and Wales. Many of these have become global in their outlooks, but the report highlights how even those that have been at the forefront on the global stage now appreciate the need to be local and global in their outlook.
The report shows how higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute to regional development through a place-responsive approach while pointing out how, to some extent, they are constrained in their activities by how they are funded and by policies in other domains (e.g. immigration policy and its impact on international student recruitment and graduate retention).
There has been a shift in the sector to understand knowledge exchange as not just technology transfer to business – based on science, engineering, and medicine – but to include the contribution of the social sciences, arts and humanities to community wellbeing in the round. The civic university agenda should link to these trends too. Overall, the UK has gone quite a long way in recognising the breadth of activities that come under knowledge exchange and civic university roles, but there is still work to do to build on the connections and activities to date.
The OECD Team with representatives from the Cardiff and West of England cluster, hosted at SPARK, Cardiff University.
Central issues for place-responsiveness are outlined on page 15 of the report, highlighting co-specialisation, multi-level responses, and metrics for impact.
There is a need and opportunity for the sector to compare local ecosystems across different case study areas, identifying which institution may be best placed to play which role.
In addition to focusing on the current and existing local needs which universities can address, there is also a need to work with the long-term future opportunities and challenges which HEIs and their surrounding communities could work together on. This could be through long-term strategic partnership, collaborative, and/or co-creative approaches to address the local impact of global issues, such as climate change and sustainability.
Taking a data-driven approach to civic university activity
The OECD report highlights the NCIA’s potential to generate evidence on universities’ civic impact. The NCIA is developing a Civic Intelligence Hub to launch in Spring 2025, a comprehensive platform with an index dashboard and impact dashboard for effective civic engagement, which will facilitate data-driven decision-making and enable users to track the progress and impact of civic initiatives.
Generating complementarities with industrial policy
The report notes that Civic University Agreements (CUAs) provide a framework for universities to align their activities with local economic needs. It cites the example of Durham University’s collaboration with Durham County Council to support an enterprising culture, providing incubator services for student enterprises and academic spinouts.
We know that many universities find the Civic University Network’s Civic Impact Framework helpful to measure and demonstrate their civic impact, and help to support industrial policy goals in their places.
The OECD Team with representatives from the East London cluster, hosted at Queen Mary University of London.
Connecting to sustainability agendas and focussing on sustainability
The report points out that many existing Civic University Agreements include environmental sustainability as a key focus area.
The NCIA will further emphasise and support sustainability initiatives across universities during our programme, as shown in our upcoming Co-Commissioning Panel’s Brief on Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. The brief will give a comprehensive assessment and analysis of a university’s environmental impact, providing valuable insights and recommendations for sustainable practices, and will be published in early 2025.
You can also find Civic University Network resources on the role universities can play in driving a green recovery, highlighting how civic engagement can support sustainability goals.
Mainstreaming civic engagement in teaching and research
The report highlights the activities of City-REDI at the University of Birmingham (one of the NCIA partner organisations) as an example of how research can be aligned with regional priorities. City-REDI use academic understanding of city-regions to develop policies that inform regional and national economic growth strategies.
Delivering entrepreneurial education
Entrepreneurship education is highlighted as a method to link to local needs and growth. Universities also have a role to play in connecting entrepreneurship to societal challenges and local needs – they should be encouraged to examine and review their practices to help cultivate an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ across disciplines.
The report provides examples of universities integrating entrepreneurial education into their civic activities, such as from the University of East London and Imperial College London’s Enterprise Lab.
Alignment with national policies
With a new UK government, universities in England have a key role in addressing both national priorities and local needs – yet the two might not necessarily align. The report suggests that the NCIA leverage its work to support broader policy objectives like industrial strategy and the “levelling up” agenda (as it was formally known). The NCIA programme aims to be a key facilitator in connecting higher education institutions with regional development priorities. We will be holding a series of three roundtable forums starting in January 2025, to discuss how universities, local governments, and the public and private sectors can collaborate on place-based strategies.
We should further examine how HEIs work with each other, and with further education colleges, to create skills pathways to address current and future local needs – developing soft skills as well as technical skills.
In conclusion
The OECD’s report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales provides a robust foundation to help us here at the NCIA – and all involved in civic university activity – to enhance our roles in fostering place-responsive higher education institutions. By incorporating these insights into our strategies and operations, we can support universities to maximise their civic impact and contribute to regional development.
The OECD Team with representatives from the Birmingham and Manchester clusters, hosted at Sheffield Hallam University.
Click here to download the OECD’s Report on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales.
With special thanks to City-REDI’s Anne Green for her contributions to this article.
