Russell Group universities have a global reputation for the quality of their teaching and research activities. The local impact of these activities and the wider contribution our universities make to their place, in partnerships with schools, colleges, businesses and others, is not always as widely appreciated by the public, or other stakeholders.
With a new government that has made clear place will play a significant role in shaping investment and policy choices, it is important decision-makers have a full understanding of the civic role research-intensive universities play in their regions, and how national investment in education, R&D and other university activities can help develop targeted solutions to local challenges on growth, health, Net Zero and in other areas too.
Last month, the Russell Group published a new report that we hope will help improve understanding of the civic contribution of our universities. “Places and People” highlights some of the ways our universities use their scale, research excellence and global links to provide solutions for real problems facing families, businesses and public services in their areas.
Credit: Russell Group
Challenging Perceptions
In the past, there have been perceptions that a focus on research intensity within a university somehow diminishes the civic contribution institutions are able to make. If that was ever true, it is certainly not the case now. Across the full range of university activities, research and researchers are having a direct, positive impact on their communities, whether through digital skills, tackling health challenges, supporting Net Zero or driving innovation and jobs.
Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), for example, has worked with local skills providers to create a new digital ICT qualification designed to address needs identified through “Growing Up in the Market”, a longitudinal study of a working-class area of Belfast. Digital inclusion was identified by local residents in the Market area of South Belfast as a key challenge facing families, informed by the community’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to better understand how to support families as they recovered from lockdowns.
On health, R&D with the potential to save lives across the world is being informed and driven by the needs of the families living around our universities. QMUL’s Genes and Health project is helping close research gaps on health challenges facing people from a South Asian background in East London.
On Net Zero, researchers are responding to specific challenges facing councils as they work to improve housing stock, with scientists at the University of Cambridge using new AI models to identify “hard to decarbonise” properties. In Edinburgh, a university team is exploring how heat generated by a computing facility could be used to warm thousands of local homes.
On the economy, Russell Group collaboration between local authorities, city regions and businesses are transforming communities around the UK and putting knowledge infrastructure in place that will drive innovation and create jobs. Local needs and civic engagement are at the heart of projects such as the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus in Bristol that in addition to boosting R&D in new technologies will include dedicated co-working space for community partners.
In 2021/22, research and commercialisation activities across the Russell Group added £37.6bn to the UK economy, supporting more that 250,000 jobs around the UK.
Successful Community Partnerships
Key to the success of civic projects are the partnerships developed as part of place-based engagement strategies. Russell Group universities harness excellence in research and innovation to build coalitions that meet local community needs.
Large-scale interventions, like the University of Newcastle’s health innovation neighborhood, involve formal agreements with developers, the local authority, NHS partners, and more. This collaborative approach also extends to smaller scale, targeted interventions and cultural and heritage projects.
Boosting local policy development
Through formal civic agreements and other arrangements, universities are also helping local partners develop targeted regional growth strategies and building an evidence base for public policy interventions.
The University of Leeds has helped Leeds City Council develop Areas for Research Interest which help researchers use their skills to address critical policy knowledge gaps to benefit families and local businesses. In the South West, the University of Exeter has launched a new regional think tank in partnership with the universities of Plymouth and Falmouth that will explore issues around renewable energy, health, the environment, skills and the economy, through a regional lens.
With the new government set to devolve control of skills and other levers of power away from Westminster as part of a new industrial strategy, our universities can build on their existing work to support expanded local decision making and policy development.
Nature Festival at Barton Hill Micro Campus, 9 June 2024. Credit: University of Bristol
Making the civic case for universities
Little of the above will come as news to people working in higher education. Civic projects like these reflect years of experience and the priority that Russell Group universities place on supporting local communities.
We’ve also seen a step change in sector-wide initiatives in this area. The work of the Civic Universities Commission helped inform how many of our universities combine global and local impact, with the Civic University Network and the National Civic Impact Accelerator now continuing to increase awareness of how different universities have worked successfully to improve their places.
There are many in the higher education sector who will be hoping the change of government will mean a different approach to the way teaching, research and other university activities are funded. But at a time when public finances, families and businesses are under significant pressure, universities should not expect new ministers to boost to investment no questions asked.
Everything we’ve heard from the Prime Minister, Chancellor and others so far suggests a rigorous focus on delivery. Universities need to be prepared to show how their activity supports government priorities and the difference they make to people’s lives.
Civic impact is going to be a crucial part of the argument as we make the case for universities, with drawing a line between the civic contribution Russell Group institutions and others make in their local areas and economic growth a particular priority.
As a sector, we need to be relentless in highlighting the civic role of our universities and the difference projects like those included in “Places and People” make for communities, businesses and public services.
Cover image credit (Turner Sims Southampton): University of Southampton
Russell Group universities have a global reputation for the quality of their teaching and research activities. The local impact of these activities and the wider contribution our universities make to their place, in partnerships with schools, colleges, businesses and others, is not always as widely appreciated by the public, or other stakeholders.
With a new government that has made clear place will play a significant role in shaping investment and policy choices, it is important decision-makers have a full understanding of the civic role research-intensive universities play in their regions, and how national investment in education, R&D and other university activities can help develop targeted solutions to local challenges on growth, health, Net Zero and in other areas too.
Last month, the Russell Group published a new report that we hope will help improve understanding of the civic contribution of our universities. “Places and People” highlights some of the ways our universities use their scale, research excellence and global links to provide solutions for real problems facing families, businesses and public services in their areas.
Credit: Russell Group
Challenging Perceptions
In the past, there have been perceptions that a focus on research intensity within a university somehow diminishes the civic contribution institutions are able to make. If that was ever true, it is certainly not the case now. Across the full range of university activities, research and researchers are having a direct, positive impact on their communities, whether through digital skills, tackling health challenges, supporting Net Zero or driving innovation and jobs.
Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), for example, has worked with local skills providers to create a new digital ICT qualification designed to address needs identified through “Growing Up in the Market”, a longitudinal study of a working-class area of Belfast. Digital inclusion was identified by local residents in the Market area of South Belfast as a key challenge facing families, informed by the community’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to better understand how to support families as they recovered from lockdowns.
On health, R&D with the potential to save lives across the world is being informed and driven by the needs of the families living around our universities. QMUL’s Genes and Health project is helping close research gaps on health challenges facing people from a South Asian background in East London.
On Net Zero, researchers are responding to specific challenges facing councils as they work to improve housing stock, with scientists at the University of Cambridge using new AI models to identify “hard to decarbonise” properties. In Edinburgh, a university team is exploring how heat generated by a computing facility could be used to warm thousands of local homes.
On the economy, Russell Group collaboration between local authorities, city regions and businesses are transforming communities around the UK and putting knowledge infrastructure in place that will drive innovation and create jobs. Local needs and civic engagement are at the heart of projects such as the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus in Bristol that in addition to boosting R&D in new technologies will include dedicated co-working space for community partners.
In 2021/22, research and commercialisation activities across the Russell Group added £37.6bn to the UK economy, supporting more that 250,000 jobs around the UK.
Successful Community Partnerships
Key to the success of civic projects are the partnerships developed as part of place-based engagement strategies. Russell Group universities harness excellence in research and innovation to build coalitions that meet local community needs.
Large-scale interventions, like the University of Newcastle’s health innovation neighborhood, involve formal agreements with developers, the local authority, NHS partners, and more. This collaborative approach also extends to smaller scale, targeted interventions and cultural and heritage projects.
Boosting local policy development
Through formal civic agreements and other arrangements, universities are also helping local partners develop targeted regional growth strategies and building an evidence base for public policy interventions.
The University of Leeds has helped Leeds City Council develop Areas for Research Interest which help researchers use their skills to address critical policy knowledge gaps to benefit families and local businesses. In the South West, the University of Exeter has launched a new regional think tank in partnership with the universities of Plymouth and Falmouth that will explore issues around renewable energy, health, the environment, skills and the economy, through a regional lens.
With the new government set to devolve control of skills and other levers of power away from Westminster as part of a new industrial strategy, our universities can build on their existing work to support expanded local decision making and policy development.
Nature Festival at Barton Hill Micro Campus, 9 June 2024. Credit: University of Bristol
Making the civic case for universities
Little of the above will come as news to people working in higher education. Civic projects like these reflect years of experience and the priority that Russell Group universities place on supporting local communities.
We’ve also seen a step change in sector-wide initiatives in this area. The work of the Civic Universities Commission helped inform how many of our universities combine global and local impact, with the Civic University Network and the National Civic Impact Accelerator now continuing to increase awareness of how different universities have worked successfully to improve their places.
There are many in the higher education sector who will be hoping the change of government will mean a different approach to the way teaching, research and other university activities are funded. But at a time when public finances, families and businesses are under significant pressure, universities should not expect new ministers to boost to investment no questions asked.
Everything we’ve heard from the Prime Minister, Chancellor and others so far suggests a rigorous focus on delivery. Universities need to be prepared to show how their activity supports government priorities and the difference they make to people’s lives.
Civic impact is going to be a crucial part of the argument as we make the case for universities, with drawing a line between the civic contribution Russell Group institutions and others make in their local areas and economic growth a particular priority.
As a sector, we need to be relentless in highlighting the civic role of our universities and the difference projects like those included in “Places and People” make for communities, businesses and public services.
Cover image credit (Turner Sims Southampton): University of Southampton
