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Connecting Universities to Regional Growth

Summary of the impact

Goddard's research in the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) has:

  • revealed what enables and what constrains (i) regions seeking to mobilise universities in support of their development goals and (ii) universities' abilities to engage with their local communities;
  • provided evidence that has enabled policy makers to give greater prominence within the European Structural Funds to the contribution that universities can make to their regions and the delivery of the Europe 2020 agenda of `smart, sustainable and inclusive growth'.

Submitting Institution

Newcastle University

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Human Geography, Policy and Administration

Regional Competitiveness and Uneven Development: Transforming the Strategies of Policymakers

Summary of the impact

Research pertaining to the concept and theory of regional competitiveness has permeated economic development policymaking in the UK and overseas. Economic development policymaking has become increasingly devolved from the national level to government decision-makers at the regional, city and local level. This has required such policymakers to establish new strategies, modes of assessment, and marketing plans to facilitate and promote economic development. Cardiff's research has helped to transform the perception, activities and strategies of decision-makers through the provision of new concepts, methods and metrics for assessing regional competitiveness. The research has equipped them with the tools required to establish robust evidence-based policymaking within a knowledge economy.

Submitting Institution

Cardiff University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Human Geography, Policy and Administration

Influencing policy on Regional Clusters in the European Union

Summary of the impact

This case study relates to the impact of research by the University of Cumbria's Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED) on the regional impacts of inward investors on supply chains and the effectiveness of policies designed to grow regional clusters. On the basis of publications, Professor Frank Peck (Director of CRED) was appointed Expert Evaluator for a sequence of EU FP7 "Regions of Knowledge" project proposals (2007-2011), and subsequently invited to join an EU Expert Group examining the role of clusters in Smart Specialisation Strategies in EU Regions. This work has demonstrated that existing cluster initiatives can justifiably be used as a means of implementing smart specialization. As a result, regions are being encouraged to retain cluster strategies as integral parts of EU regional and innovation policies for the 2014 - 2020 programming period.

Submitting Institution

University of Cumbria

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Restructuring of regional economic development agencies

Summary of the impact

Research by the Regional Studies Research Group at UWS on the role and achievements of regional development agencies (RDA) across Europe led to the concept of a model RDA. The model demonstrates that future performance of RDAs needs to be underpinned by good collaborative working relationships with private sector clients and also targeted interaction with providers of business services and public knowledge institutions such as universities. The insights and recommendations from the group have been adopted into the policies of local and international governments (e.g. the UK, Scotland, Spain, and Mexico), the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.

Submitting Institution

University of the West of Scotland

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Human Geography, Policy and Administration

North East Economic Model (NEEM)

Summary of the impact

The North East Economic Model (NEEM) was designed and developed at Durham University Business School (DUBS) from 2003. Customized to the regional economy, the aim of the research was for NEEM to model intra- and extra-regional economic relationships to provide quantitative estimates/projections of the impact of both long-term economic trends and shorter-term economic `shocks'. Its application has had significant impacts on policy practitioners in the region by: (1) facilitating more robust evidence-based policy analysis; (2) giving rise to knowledge transfer to policy-makers regarding the structure and workings of the regional economy; and (3) acting as a catalyst for an extended regional policy-modeling capacity. By influencing professional practice, it has had demonstrable impacts on regional economic policy, regional economic restructuring and local planning.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics, Econometrics

Regional economic development policies: using lessons from high-tech economies

Summary of the impact

Research by Lawton Smith into analysing firms' behaviour and the relationships between entrepreneurship and innovation and regional growth has impacted on policy-making by regions and governments with international reach though the OECD. An initial Oxfordshire focus of the research resulted in the establishment of the Oxfordshire Economic Observatory (OEO) (joint Oxford University/Oxford Brookes/Birkbeck) which facilitated the application of the results of the research. Since 2008 OEO has been commissioned to undertake policy-focussed research in a variety of national and international contexts. The research has led to Lawton Smith's involvement in influential policy advisory groups in the UK and overseas.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Human Geography, Policy and Administration, Sociology

Regional economic impacts: input-output models and spatial econometrics

Summary of the impact

This impact case study is based on research concerning the estimation of regional economic impacts through input-output models and spatial econometrics. The research resulted in the distribution of a free modelling software package to decision-makers throughout the South West region and has had policy impacts in terms of the influence of advice, data, and reports provided to a range of organisations including the South West Regional Development Agency, Plymouth City Council, and several other local councils and private sector decision-makers.

Submitting Institution

Plymouth University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Human Geography, Policy and Administration

Developing New Approaches to Sub-National Governance in ‘Post-Regionalist’ England: The Creation of the Cross-Government Group

Summary of the impact

This case study captures the aftermath of the abolition of Regional Development Agencies and Government Offices in England after 2010. The research underpinning this case study analysed the shift from `regionalism' to `localism' in the North East of England and found that the abolition of the regional tier of governance in England did not invalidate the continuing need for multi-level policy coordination, networking and `voice' at the regional level. These findings, characterised as `Common-Sense Regionalism', directly led to the creation (by Central Government) of a Cross-Government Group of national and sub-national civil servants, representatives from local government and from the voluntary sector.

Submitting Institution

Northumbria University Newcastle

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

New Directions for Local Economic Renewal

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken within the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) since 2009, has been applied within Enfield Borough Council to change its economic renewal strategies from having a training and infrastructure focus, to one which focuses on re-building local supply chains, leading to job creation, and the re-investment of pension funds to fund the delivery of badly needed social housing. This change in policy has been achieved by encouraging major employers, such as utility companies, to think of corporate social responsibility in a more local frame; and the council to re-engineer financial flows from the local authority pension fund.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Evaluating regional food policy: Enhancing and embedding policy for the benefit of farming and food

Summary of the impact

Based on longstanding research strengths in food policy and marketing, Newcastle University was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to review and evaluate England's Regional Food Strategy (RFS) and provide recommendations for ministers. The evaluation's recommendations resulted in £2 million of additional public sector investment to the food sector and inclusion within the priorities of the Rural Development Programme for England (2007-2013). The structures introduced as a result of the report were kept in place despite the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. These structures included 8 Regional Food Groups that provided specialist assistance to businesses and enhanced support by DEFRA for obtaining EU protected status for regionally distinctive foods. In terms of significance, the research influenced an important area of national policy, which has left an enduring legacy for the benefit of farming and rural development. In terms of reach, the impact of the research has extended beyond the EU to the development of local food networks in the Balkans.

Submitting Institution

Newcastle University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Human Geography

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