Institutional Context
Summary
London Metropolitan University is one of London’s vital civic institutions, uniting with key organisations in our localities and wider capital, driving opportunity and prosperity for all. With two campuses and a business incubator, Accelerator, we have a physical presence in three council areas. Partnering with these organisations is a major and distinct strand of our strategic plan (2019/20-2024/25). Our KE activities cover the range of our science, social science and arts subjects, and we are particularly prominent in business, computing, social sciences and art/architecture. The London Met Lab: Empowering London, with 600 local partners, and the Accelerator, with up to 30 business start-ups, drive staff and student KE whilst also providing a space for other agencies to grow.
Institutional context
London Metropolitan University has a rich history with strong educational roots dating back to 1848 with the merger of the London Guildhall University and the University of North London in 2002 creating the University we have today, with over 12000 students drawn from over 140 countries. Our diversity makes us distinct, and our staff and students collaborate with city-wide partners on high-impact research and knowledge exchange initiatives to tackle the challenges London faces. Strategy 2019/20-2024/25 sets out our vision to make a significant contribution to our city, socially, culturally, environmentally and economically and to be recognised locally and internationally for our commitment to lasting social change.
Image 1 - London Met's Islington Campus (image: Steve Blunt)
To achieve this lasting change, we consult with our communities to understand local needs and in 2020 created the London Met Lab: Empowering London, a strategic intervention placing knowledge exchange at the heart of the University's strategy, enabling students, graduates and staff to be agents of change. This approach helps deliver our civic contribution and address the challenges of our communities across several key thematic engagements in issues of urgent social and economic importance for our community, and which are directly in keeping with the mission of our university.
Part of the University's response to the local growth and regeneration agenda was the creation of the Accelerator (Image 2 below) which is home to vibrant community of entrepreneurial businesses and the focal point for student enterprise and graduate start-ups. Additionally, the Guildhall School of Business and Law leads our activity with the small business charter.
Image 2 - London Metropolitan University – Accelerator Shoreditch (image: Steve Blunt)
Public and community engagement is key to London Met and we have an extensive programme of free to access events across our campuses in Holloway and Aldgate with our students and academics contributing to local communities through participation in events and performances in cultural and other institutions. Our Special Collections host visitors from near and far who are interested in exploring the rich history of migration, craft and labour on display, as well those engaging with local history.
Image 3 - London Metropolitan University – Summer Show at the Aldgate Campus (image: Steve Blunt)
The value of partnering is recognised just as strongly within our academic schools where impact and KE are embedded. An example is the Cyber Security Research Centre which unites academics and businesses such as Lloyd’s Bank, Cisco and London Met Police in collaboration on cyber security challenges as well as delivering CPD opportunities for partners. This partnership approach is taken across the University with external organisations, e.g. the NHS, local authorities, housing associations and charities. We support them through a variety of consultancy and contract research.
In recent years, we have invested to expand our RKE team from 14 staff to 19 staff (pictured). We have dedicated funds for staff, we have a promotion route for enterprise, and we created School Challenge Champions to drive the themes of the London Met Lab.
Figure 1 - The RKE team structure
For further information, please send queries to rpo@londonmet.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Our University’s footprint spans the boroughs Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets. We strive to build relationships there, but also support initiatives across greater London. Wherever we work, our strategic commitment is to enact social change and economic impact.
Our vision is driven through our Accelerator incubator and London Met Lab, supported by specialist facilities and KE programmes such as our clinics.
Support for economic development spans all areas including large business, charities, start-ups and SMEs. Partnering with us enables organisations to access talent across a range of disciplines.
Significant HEIF funding is invested in a team dedicated to driving these ambitions, both via a centralised structure (ref: organogram in Institutional context, figure 1) and key areas across various functions.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The University Strategy (2019/20-2024/25) builds on our strengths and was designed to take London Metropolitan University on a change journey. Within this strategy, we expressed our commitment to social inclusion whilst ensuring the university had academic achievement at its heart and was financially sustainable. Over the years we have renewed our commitment to lasting social change and have greatly expanded the number of our partners.
Whilst we have a physical presence in London boroughs, this is only part of our engagement. We collaborate to understand the needs of stakeholders, both locally and across the wider region, enabling us to define and deploy our assets accordingly. This results in a tiered approach to engagement with priority support and engagement with our local community, then building out a wider portfolio of activity across the boroughs (where most of our students originate) and then beyond to engage on specific themes and with specific organisations across the wider region:
Tier 1: Boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets where we have University buildings. Partners include councils, third sector and SMEs. In addition to the NHS, partners include schools and colleges who are signed up to Partners in Education (PIE) scheme.
Image 1 - London Met's Islington Campus 1(image: Steve Blunt)
Tier 2: Boroughs with strongest student recruitment and associated community organisations. Partners include Newham, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest and PIE Schools and Colleges. One off projects and interventions as well as work-based learning and student volunteering.
Tier 3: Knowledge exchange activity (including work-based learning placements and volunteering) with other London Boroughs. Partnering with community organisations and undertaking priority themed activity with specialist organisations.
Our Research & Knowledge Exchange Strategy, supported by an equally ambitious estates strategy, provides the focus and direction of our work which is evidenced through the London Met Lab, which has become one of our vital connectors, and one of the key pillars of the University strategy under the ‘Giving back to the City strand. Our purpose is to drive opportunity and prosperity for all.
Image 2 - A Civic University – Panoramic view of London from London Met’s Islington Campus (image: Steve Blunt)
We understand local strategic need and develop best practice through trusted partnerships, combined with re-evaluation of previous activity. Our partnership with Hackney Council focuses on improving employment opportunities through a skills strategy. In Islington, our VC sits on the councils London Living Wage action board. We worked with local boroughs to sign up to the Civic University Agreement and to the Islington Anchor Institution Network, including a shared Skills Recovery Strategy and Social mobility plan to benefit residents and businesses. Our partnerships with Tower Hamlets Council and the Corporation of London, continue to focus on the development of community improvements and also build on the co-produced research on safer housing estates with Toynbee Hall.
To support business directly we build local partnerships, such as our relationship with Aldgate Connect, where, as a founding member of the Aldgate Partnership, we supported the successful application for an Aldgate Business Improvement District which went live in April 2020. This creates a strong business voice and enhances the physical environment to build a safer, stronger and more appealing destination.
Based in the school of Art, Architecture and Design, the CITIES group has been actively engaged in the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area since 2015. Led by the London Borough of Southwark with local business and community organisations, including Vital OKR and the Southwark Planning Network, CITIES researchers support the regeneration this former industrial district of London. The School also support London based businesses and SMEs in the delivery of Continuing Professional Development and Professional Accreditation for their staff including architects, Upholstery courses are accredited by the Association of Master Upholsterers and Soft Furnishers.
Image 3 – London Met’s Aldgate campus – home to our School of Art, Architecture and Design (image: Steve Blunt)
The strategic relationship with Hackney Council is of particular importance given its is a tier 1 partner. In 2020 we strengthened this by signining an MOU as part of a long-term response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working together, we co-designed solutions, particularly for groups facing employment disadvantage, bringing high-quality education, training and paid work to the borough. Through this relationship, in support of London’s Recovery Programme, we delivered the Strategic Connected Communities : Supporting Inclusive Growth in London Project. This was built on the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network programme for regeneration and social integration officers and examines narratives and practice of community engagement within the context of regeneration work in London boroughs during the pandemic and the design of community engagement strategies.
Whilst our primary focus is delivering local benefit, our reach is global. A key element of our strategy is to develop a collaborative partnership network to enable more students to benefit from our offerings. Over 5,000 students join from partner institutions across the UK, Europe, Russia, Asia and the Caribbean. Recognising our enterprise skills development focus, the British Council funded the internationalisation of our student enterprise competition, Big Idea Challenge, to Central Asia, South Caucasus, Ukraine, and Egypt. We work with the Federation of Egyptian Industries and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to advise them on start-up innovation. We are engaged in the British Council Creative Spark Higher Education Enterprise programme, which supports universities and partnerships to develop enterprise skills and the creative economy across seven Central Asian countries.
Aspect 2: Activity
Significant activity is driven directly through our academic schools, whose academics are key. Schools also work closely with the London Met Lab which is key to our work tackling the inequalities around us. This work, presented primarily through our clinics, results in many and varied instances of co-working, partnership, and consultancy for business, councils, and third sector organisations.
The Accelerator supports early-stage entrepreneurs to turn ideas into viable ventures and delivers a student enterprise programme, supporting student and graduate start-ups.
Diagram 1: RKE and our partners: interconnections of our 3 strategic elements
During the height of the COVID pandemic a number of emergency support measures were put in place, e.g., rent deferrals for Accelerator tenants. Despite a reduction in occupancy at the height of the pandemic, this support has ensured swift recovery, with 90% occupancy reported by year-end (target 75%). Key strategic partners of the Accelerator include Capital Enterprise which provides the businesses with access to their programmes and events. The start-up founders also play a key role in our student enterprise programmes providing two days per year support as guest speakers, mentors and placements as part of Work Based Learning modules.
The Student Enterprise team delivers the following programmes:
Big Idea Challenge – annual flagship enterprise competition
Lunch and Learn: Bitesize sessions to expand your thinking and learn entrepreneurial skills
Summer Start-up: 4 Quickstart workshops to execute a business idea
Venture Crawl: Programme of visits to innovation hubs across London
Christmas Market: opportunity for students to sell products at an East London market
For academic year 2021/22, 801 placements registered by students: 242 with not-for-profit organisations and 575 with Small to Medium Enterprises (SME).
The activity driven through the London Met Lab can be classified against the tiered engagement approach:
Tier 1
London Met is a member of the Islington Anchor Instituion Network - ‘dedicated to boosting the local economy and helping to create a more equal borough'. Formalised in Summer 2022 this includes participation in the Challenging Inequality group, the Skills Recovery group, Health & Social Care Academy, Employment Group, Procurement and Environment groups. We also run Upward Bound for Islington council.
Through this network we are engaged in many activities, including sponsorship of the Islington Education Awards and the Islington Civic Awards, working with voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and voluntary action (VA) groups who provide student work-placements. Additionally, we work with Voluntary Action Islington on placements for social work students and host their annual AGM and conference. Further activity includes co-produced research that has led to policy change such as the BAME Employment Gap work.
Hackney Council - the MOU on Skills covers how they help our Hackney based students secure graduate level employment and extends to collaborating with our employer teams. We work with local organisations, including VCS and VA groups, who provide significant opportunities for students.
Our partnership with Tower Hamlets was critical in the council securing one of only ten Health Determinant Research Collaborations – a £5m programme to undertake and use research about health determinants and inequalities. We are members of the economic growth and improvement board (formerly Covid Recovery Silver team) and are involved in a range of activities including: supporting high street shops establish an online presence, revamping a building for the community in Aldgate, reimagining Roman Road, painting local hoardings and planting trees in Mudchute farm to promote sustainability. The University is also a member of a consortium regeneration project (funded by a £90,000 Historic England grant) to create and deliver community-led activities which includes Petticoat Lane market, as part of the High Streets Heritage Action Zone on Wentworth Street.
Tier 2
Newham council - invited by the councillor in charge of crime, a London Met graduate, (after reading the London Met Lab web pages) to join their Crime working group.
Haringey - working with local organisations e.g., Living Under One Sun (LUOS) and The Conservation Volunteer on student placements and research/evaluation opportunities looking at measuring impact of these organisations (TCV).
Waltham Forest - students and staff ran Covid testing for Waltham Forest college.
Tier 3
Working with BME Landlords on Social Housing Anti-Racism Pledge (SHARP). In Lambeth we have researchers looking at the Black LGBT+ experience of Covid.
Leading the North East London Social Work Teaching Partnership Network and the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network.
Another key element of our support to business is through the Guildhall School of Business and Law (GSBL). We were the only London university to receive funding from BEIS’s ‘Leading to Grow Programme’ as part of a consortium awarded to support 50 microbusinesses in London engage with technology to boost productivity. The programme was offered to microbusinesses, employing up to nine people, a traditionally overlooked sector of the market. GSBL works with the Small Business Charter, achieving re-accreditation in 2021. Further to this, GSBL is now working with the Chartered Association of Business Schools to deliver the ‘Help2Grow Management’ programme aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses to ‘survive and thrive’ post COVID-19.
GSBL, through its partnership with the Corporation of London, has delivered (since 2016) an Apprenticeship in Procurement where we provide the professional Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply accredited diploma. The School of Social Sciences and Professions also run Graduate Teacher Apprenticeships for Hackney and Islington.
GSBL is proactively supporting the London Met Labs: Empowering London Initiative through its management of two clinics. The School of Law runs the London Met Pro Bono Legal Advice Clinic, where law students, supervised by an expert qualified solicitor, work with businesses in the three key areas of consumer law, employment law and housing law. The second is the Small Business Clinic, where entrepreneurial students, supervised by one of London Met’s academic tutors, work with UK-based companies, new enterprises, sole traders and start-ups to develop and enhance their business.
The School of Computing an Digital Media (SCDM) houses the Cisco Academy which has been in operation since 1998. It was one of the UK's first Cisco academies and has with some of the most advanced networking labs in the country. More than 5,000 students have graduated from our Cisco Academy since 1998.
SCDM also houses the Cyber Security Research Centre which continues its mission of delivering impactful research while working with Lloyds and its vendor IBM (2020-2021) to establish a cyber threat intelligence framework to reduce the volume of malicious attacks on businesses and government energy grid (Grant: £65k). In June 2020 a grant from British council (£30K) enabled a two-day international conference in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi about adversarial cognition, cyber defence strategies, game-theoretic and machine learning tools and techniques. The event provided an opportunity to discuss different challenges and defenders, end-users confront in the area of cyber security.
Blockchain experts, practitioners and novices came together for the launch of the IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group on 24 February 2020 at London Met. The delegates heard from influential keynote speakers from around the world, including the USA, Austria, Germany, Estonia and Latvia. They shared their experiences of all aspects of this wide-ranging technology, which has applications to the healthcare, legal, construction and cyber-security sectors, etc.
Aspect 3: Results
Focused on regeneration, our activities have brought about significant benefit to our partners, academics and students and the wider community. Having recovered the occupancy rate in the Accelerator, post-Covid, to over 90% we once again have a vibrant community of businesses. Two success stories are Mumbli, founded by a London Met graduate and Filisia who now have an active collaboration with the University. Having previously won the London Met Start-up of the Year award, Mumbli supports businesses to provide inclusive spaces for all hearing abilities and preferences. Filisia has grown in recent years and through their partnership with the School of Computing and Digital Media developed an application for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, based on their COSMO product, which was subsequently awarded in late 2022.
The Student Enterprise programmes continue to generate significant positive impact as exemplified by the winner of the 2021 Big Idea Competition who developed an app ‘for deaf people by deaf people’. Another key achievement is with graduate start-ups, rising to 42 in 21/22, significantly up on the conservative target of 30 set in 20/21. Additionally, 65 designated work placement modules were offered in the same year resulting in 2,460 students undertaking placements with not-for-profit organisations and SMEs.
The London Met Lab is recognised and highly valued for its contributions to society and the relationships with the local councils are key to this success. One of the key activities is the support to Islington's Living Wage Campaign. The University has been committed to paying the London Living Wage since 2014 and is working with its neighbours to make the change through the campaign.
The wealth of activity undertaken across the University is communicated regularly to our wide audience through multiple channels; live events, videos, newsletters. This communication is key to continual dialogue and feedback which informs practice.
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
London Met is a civic, community-focused university with long-standing, relationships with local London boroughs, and with local business, health providers, charities, etc. Since the last KEF we have continued to expand our support for knowledge exchange, investing in staff (e.g. specialist KTP consultancy), and especially by unlocking the potential of colleagues to act as challenge champions working through the clinics of our London Met Lab: Empowering London, which is run by our Director of London Engagement and is the heart of our ambitions and activities in this area. Through the Lab, we are driving our Strategic plans to support the social and economic challenges faced by Londoners, their representatives, and public servants.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our approach to P&CE flows through our ‘Giving back to the City’ strand of the University’s strategy and in Autumn 2020 we launched London Met Lab: Empowering London, a unique public facing entity, forging partnerships with local communities to tackle major challenges facing London. The Lab is intertwined with our Centre for Equity & Inclusion. It aligns to our institutional strategies for Race Equality and RKE, with a strong element of our work involving disadvantaged communities. Governance of all RKE, rests with the PVC RKE, the RKE Committee, Academic Board, the VC, and Governors; and, in the case of our Lab, directly with the VC:
Governance of Research and Knowledge Exchange at London Met
Our Lab and Challenge Champions interacted with hundreds of businesses and other agencies, and the DLE identifies the strongest for strategic partnerships, tied by MOUs etc. The logic flow is described below:
Figure 1 - Logic model for public and community engagement at London Metropolitan University
As described in our approach to local growth and regeneration, these partnerships can be represented in the following way:
Tier 1: 3 key boroughs, Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets where we have
University buildings.Tier 2: Boroughs with strongest student recruitment and associated community
organisations. Partners include Newham, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest.Tier 3: Broader knowledge exchange activity (including work-based learning placements
and volunteering opportunities) with other London Boroughs. Priority themed activity with specialist organisations.
The Lab was established around six strategic themes which represent our expertise and the needs of many of our partners. Crime, Discrimination, Environment, Health Improvement, Poverty and Deprivation and Social Wealth, with the objective to tackle co-designed goals:
Engage with London partners, local education providers and alumni to co-design solutions to the London’s challenges
Contribute to the governance of London’s institutions and organisations
Develop lasting and meaningful engagement with our communities
Draw on funding opportunities to support partner collaboration
Embed the principles of social justice and social inclusion into our curriculum
Undertake research and impact activity to support partner priorities
Involve our students and staff in local community initiatives, projects, and volunteering.
We have invested heavily in this area. These initiatives are led by the DLE, who is also Chair of the London Higher Civic Network) and sits on the Hiring & Skills board of London Anchor Institution Network). The DLE is supported by a Civic & Community Development Engagement Officer. There are circa. 40 Challenge Champions (CC) across the 6 themes, (Lead CC were assigned for each area in 2021/22) supported by academics and professional service staff with specific expertise. Additionally, a Health Inequalities Research and Partnerships Manager (funded by NIHR HDRC) is being recruited. We have also developed a promotion route in enterprise, which has yielded two associate professors (2022). We expect more in the current round.
The Lab uses the London Datastore, ensuring a data-driven approach with co-production at the heart of all activity. We designed a Data Ingestion Pipeline to facilitate access to key data and help empower London by saving researchers time for data analytics to support decision making.
The programmes are co-designed with multiple channels to enable the public to engage including, email, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, as well as the community clinics.
All of this will be brought together in our Civic University Statement (published later 2023).
Aspect 2: Support
"The London Met Lab really sets a new high standard for the Civic contribution that higher education providers can make across key areas of the capital...embedding and integrating its civic activity as a core part of the student experience through their empowering London module."
Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor of Planning, Regeneration, and Skills
‘Supporting our People’ is a strand of the University strategy which is support through staff development opportunities provided by Centre for Professional Education Development. We also have a Staff Researcher Development Programme, which covers KE.
We invest significant funds into staffing and projects with communities and businesses. In the past four years, we introduced Challenge Leads to head up our large themes and clinics and Challenge Champions to promote smaller projects funded by our Transformation Fund. We also invest in workload allocations of 3600hrs/pa for these roles.
In 2020, we introduced a staff awards category for outstanding contributions to RKE. In 2021 the category of Enterprise was added to our promotion scheme. Already, we have two Associate Professors of Enterprise.
Articulated through our Access & Participation Plan, we consider equity and inclusion to be everyone’s responsibility. A key element of our support is the Inclusive Behaviours programme which extends to our students through the Education for Social Justice Framework.
Beyond academic focused activity, we have well developed student delivered community support activities. Empowering London: Working Within the Community is an innovative module combining work-based learning and a radical model of critical and transformative citizenship, developed to allow undergraduate students to collaborate with a London community project/organisation to co-identify a challenge and effect change. Further, the Empowering London: Global Implementation module has been piloted, focused on the challenges in the countries of our international students. Interest in these modules continues to strengthen with 50 students taking the module in 21/22 (up from 37 in 20/21).
Examples of our investment usage include:
Library Special Collections, (with over 550 in-person visits since COVID closure and over 12,000 website views)
Transformation fund – a competitive internal funding scheme aimed at creating KE opportunities engaging externally on locally important topics. The Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre investigated the intersectional inequalities faced by LGBTQI+ people in London with Islington & Lambeth, providing recommendations for service provision and resources is one such example.
Emerging projects - priority funding schemes providing support for activity which aligns with our EDI and community impact objectives, e.g.:
A project evaluating the lived experiences of Afghan migrants secured further funding from Islington Council. The BAME Employment Research Project resulted in a new policy being adopted.
Securing external support is not only crucial to meeting our mission but also serves as validation of our approach and recognises our expertise. Under the Lab Health Improvement theme, a £5m NIHR grant supports work to address health inequalities in partnership with the Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Services (THCVS), QMUL and UEL.
Staff across the university have formal roles in communities and local government, including:
Islington Council’s Health & Social Care Academy, Challenging Inequality Programme Board, Let’s Talk Islington Inequality Taskforce, London Living Wage Group and the Islington GP Federation Training Hub Steering Group. We also hosted Islington Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise Sector conference; the first of its kind post-Covid
Tower Hamlets Local Growth and Economic Development Board, Race Equality Leaders Forum
We lead the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network for 23 London boroughs and the North East London Teaching Social Work Partnership.
The Lab’s website provides information to the public and direct booking for the 5 community clinics, offering cost-effective or free services:
Our engagement strategy ensures we update our partners in a timely manner via the publication of quarterly newsletters, regular news updates on our website along with regular direct communication to councillors and MPs.
Aspect 3: Activity
The London Met Lab provides an efficient and effective way to coordinate our public and community engagement activity. This includes co-produced research, free lectures, gallery installations, short courses and more. Priorities are defined in partnership with stakeholders across the three tiers of engagement and through membership of boards and committees. Examples of activity under the six Challenge Themes include:
Collaboration with Tower Hamlets to evaluate a violence reduction intervention
Our Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit developed the Violence Against Women and Girls strategy for the Mayor of London, illustrated here:
Figure 1 - Logic model for around the publication of the refreshed strategy for Violence against Women and Girls in London
We created the Digital Forensics Laboratory - a platform where academics, businesses and those working in the cyber security space can collaborate and learn.
We created The Rainbow Room - a safe and inclusive space where LGBTQIA+ students and staff build community cohesion with local queer organisations and host events and conversation circles for staff, students and external guests.
Activity with Islington Council included Let’s talk Islington with one output being the Islington LGBTQ+ and Elders Video Voice
We undertook a large Covid related programme across the University, including a project on vaccine hesitancy in London from which policy recommendations were made. Consequently, we were commissioned to undertake an evaluation of the NHS Winter Resilience programme in London and COVID-19 Protective Behaviours in Europe and Asia (for UNICEF). We also held health promotion events for the public looking at masks, the virus, social distancing and vaccinations and delivered a COVID19 vaccine education session for our Health and Social care workforce.
Wild ways:. A cross-disciplinary, cross-school project to understand and influence the behaviour of rewilding in relation to changes to private gardens within London. The research protocol has been published in the Cities and Health journal.
With London charity Fight 4 Change we delivered the Rollin with The Punches programme, supported by funding from Comic Relief.
The Islington Employment Gap Research Project has been running since October 2021. The final BAME Employment Gap report was completed in February 2022 and presented to the LBI Employment Board. The Disability Employment report will be published soon.
The University’s third homelessness conference on diversity and homelessness was held in March 2022
A Community Development Virtual Volunteering event in October 2022 profiled volunteering opportunities supporting communities in London.
A community competition produced Nourishing Disruptions, 2022, by Jacob V Joyce
Petticoat Salon with Tower Hamlets and the Petticoat Lane Heritage Action Zone
Working with two local authorities, community groups and schools our textile students co-produced Petticoat Lane Banners
Hosted ‘Ecological Dialogues: Sustainable Communities and the Question of Nature’
Organised our second tree-planting event at Mudchute City Farm with a Woodland Trust grant for 420 saplings.
Our Estates Strategy sets ambitious targets including a 2030 joint net-zero commitment with Islington Council.
HomeGrownHouse is a collaboration between London Met, Grown in Britain and the Birling Estate
Our work with Islington led to us facilitating Islington’s biggest ever Listening exercise – Let's Talk Islington:
Let’s Talk Islington promotional video
A cross-theme example of our work is with The Liliesleaf Trust UK (TLTU) including the announcement of a strategic partnership in 2021. Collaborations include a programme in oral history and life writing and research exploring the anti-apartheid struggle, including, work-based learning modules for visual communication students to design their logo and website.
Charity, Local Authority and SME engagement with our five Pro Bono Clinics led to 14 (7 in 20/21) internships for students. Post-Covid we relaunched the clinics, and 20 academics worked on 19 organisational and 160 individual projects, involving 182 students.
In 2020/21 (against a target of 3,000), 3,783 individuals attended public lectures, community-based workshops, performance art and exhibitions in local galleries/museums. This attendance increased to 6,723 in 2021/22, further demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
The most important aspect of our P&CE activity is our close dialogue with partners, ensuring we engage in the right way at the right time. The priority for the University has been to establish value-add impactful programmes and create appropriate delivery mechanisms, all designed in partnership with the public and the communities we serve. The management and operational practices of the London Met Lab provide opportunities to promote activity and gather real-time feedback to enhance future practice. Specifically, there is evaluation in place for individual programmes, however it is recognised that this could be more strategic.
Building on these partnerships and practice, greater attention needs to be paid to evaluation and continual improvement. The work of the last few years has created the environment to enable this - we have built trust and open dialogue with the communities and their leadership.
Figure 2 - User-focused activity lifecycle of improvement toward goals
Performance against KPIs in our strategy (p18) provides raw data which, when combined with the input from colleagues and partners, enables us to reflect on our practice and shape future activity. The Clinic and Challenge Champion Leads undertake a termly review of their portfolios which are reported to University SLT and the Board of Governors via the Lab Director.
We have also invested in a project tracker platform, managed by our Impact Manager, the software enables researchers to track project progress against milestones, serves as a repository for evidence and provides outward-facing promotion of projects with the aim of facilitating prospective partnerships and collaborations with external colleagues.
Aspect 5: Building on success
Each year we publish Annual Report and Accounts evidencing our activity and impact. This report, with an introduction by the Chair of the Board of Governors, assesses progress against the strategy and is widely communicated to partners and stakeholders. Specific reports are prepared for public funders such as Research England with case studies as appropriate.
The University Strategy sets KPIs for the Lab and RKE activity. The Lab provides annual reports and bi-annual presentations to the Board of Governors and the RKE Committee reports via the Academic Board. The pro-bono clinics and research centres are reviewed annually, including review of their Public & Community Engagement plans.
Through our strategic partnerships across the community, we are present on key boards/committees ensuring timely and continuous feedback. Along with input from our student operations, this feedback is used to assess performance and influence strategy via formal internal routes such as the University RKE committee (which also takes input from School RKE committees).
Through the Lab, the University has a strong relationship with the National Coordinating Centre for Public & Community Engagement (NCCPE) and has been used as an example of best practice. Future activity will look at the adoption of the formal benchmarking tool EDGE.
The graphic below evidences the impact of the London Met Lab’s activity and is one of the inputs to the RKE review.
Figure 3 - London Met Lab in numbers – 2020/21 – 2021/22
Ultimately the best evidence of our impact is the fact that many of our partnerships involve stronger, deeper, and repeat working.
Note You are currently viewing the latest version of this narrative statement. View the previous version as published in previous iterations of the KEF (KEF1 and KEF2)