Generating growth and opportunity across England: briefings

Training key public sector workers is one of the most visible ways in which universities contribute to their local communities.

Universities work closely with their local NHS services to train the doctors, nurses, paramedics and other allied health professionals of the future, but also to refresh the skills of key health workers to ensure top quality patient care.

Universities support existing businesses of all types through their infrastructure, facilities, and expertise.

An example of universities supporting local productivity and jobs is the Knowledge Exchange Concordat. Through the concordat, over 100 universities review the range and impact of their knowledge exchange activities and set ambitious targets for growth and development.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microbusinesses are critical employers across the UK, particularly in areas that don't have larger employers or well-developed economic clusters. They are often the businesses that have the greatest potential for growth and job creation, but the least time or resource to achieve this.

Universities play a key role in supporting the creative industries and cultural life in the UK, from producing skilled creative graduates to working with local councils and supporting the UK’s cultural prosperity and social wellbeing.

A study by Savanta ComRes for Universities UK revealed that more than two thirds (69%) of parents think students gain vital creative skills at university, which are essential to powering the UK’s creative industries.

#ThisIsDerby is a national award-winning partnership initiative with the University of Derby, Derby Theatre, Derby County in the Community Trust and Derby’s Cultural Education Partnership.

The partnership brings cultural education and events to young people in areas of deprivation and of low cultural engagement with the aim of developing their ‘Essential Life Skills’, including confidence, communication and teamwork.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said: ‘#ThisIsDerby is a flagship example of how the University’s partnership-building has galvanised the city to work together to improve the lives of thousands of children and young people from the most disadvantaged areas of the city, and it is wonderful to receive national recognition for this important work.’

Anglia Ruskin University is collaborating with experts in Jordan to develop innovative wearable sensors to monitor newborn babies in poor areas.

Researchers were alerted to the scale of the issue through their work in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where they saw the effect that limited access to respiratory monitoring had on access to appropriate healthcare.

Inkjet-printing technology will create stretchable and biocompatible sensors for the monitor, and the project team will work closely with industry to ensure the designs conform to medical standards and can be easily commercialised.

Professor Dingchang Zheng from Anglia Ruskin University said: 'There is an increasing need for remote, low-cost, reliable, and comfortable respiratory rate sensors that provide physicians with accurate readings and to assess the health condition of newborns […] We’re delighted to be working with our partners in Jordan to create this vital piece of technology. We believe it will have a real tangible benefit which can save the lives of vulnerable babies.’

GiveVision has received free business support from UCL Innovation & Enteprise since 2018. The start-up uses augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to improve the vision of people with severe sight loss. As one in nine people over the age of 65 will be diagnosed with macular degeneration, GiveVision’s innovations promise major benefits for society.

Elodie Draperi, GiveVision's Co-founder and CEO, said: ‘UCL Innovation and Enterprise has actively supported our entrepreneurial journey, making sure we connect with relevant partners and identify opportunities to raise funding.’

Newcastle Health Innovation Partners brings together Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, two NHS Foundation Trusts, and the Academic Health Science Network for North East and North Cumbria. Using world-class research, education, and clinical practice, the scheme aims to to address health inequalities in the region.

Pat Ritchie CBE, Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council, said: ‘Our region has some of the country’s greatest health inequalities and the aim of this centre is to help address these by delivering new treatments, pioneering research and better workforce education.’

Researchers from the University of Salford and NRS Healthcare designers have teamed up with Belong to develop a new type of walker. They hope to better understand the biomechanics of adults using walking frames.

The final product will have the potential to help the estimated 22% of UK older adults who use two-wheeled walkers indoors.

Dr Sibylle Thies, senior research fellow at the University of Salford School of Health and Society, said: ‘It has been a pleasure working with Belong’s residents to achieve our research goals. Using their insights and studying the biomechanics of how they physically handle the prototype has been instrumental to the design process.’

Oxford Brookes University provided expert advice to SMEs in Oxfordshire on how to reduce their carbon footprint and reach net zero at six engaging networking events in 2022.

Each of the six two-hour sessions covered  topics including how a business can calculate its carbon footprint, integrating net-zero targets into short and long term planning, advice on energy usage, how to turn your product greener, and how to embed a net zero culture in the workplace.

Giles Orr, Head of Business and External Engagement at Oxford Brookes Business School said: ‘This programme provides SMEs with a great opportunity to get detailed insights, helpful advice and resources from experts, as well as connecting with others interested in the low-carbon agenda.’

The Joint Centre for Excellence in Environmental Intelligence (JCEEI) is a strategic partnership between the University of Exeter and the Met Office, in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute.

JCEEI provides the expertise and capability to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the escalating threats of climate and biodiversity change.

For example, the Climate Impacts Mitigation, Adaption and Resilience (CLIMAR) framework uses Data Science and AI to integrate multiple sources of data to quantify the risks of climate change on populations, infrastructure and the economy across a range of real-world applications.

The New Keele Deal is a plan for £70 million of investment by Keele University, Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust and the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to use the potential of Keele University’s world-leading research and facilities.

This investment will help to tackle low productivity and grow a positive culture of innovation and research within the region. It will deliver a significant number of higher value jobs for the next 20 years, improve local health and healthcare, and inject innovation into the heart of the local business community to allow them to be more globally competitive.

A partnership between the University of Leeds and Asda saw customers reduce food waste and save money.

The UK throws away 9.5 million tonnes of food each year, and household food waste accounts for 70% of this amount. Professor Young, an expert on consumer behaviour and modelling, worked with Asda to tackle knowledge barriers faced by consumers around waste.

Face-to-face behaviour change initiatives, such as community networks, focus groups, and in-store ‘champions’, proved highly successful in influencing and motivating consumers to take action.