Institutional Context
Summary
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a dual intensive research and teaching university, based within the Norwich Research Park. UEA is a globally significant centre of research, driving change around the world. Over 91% of our research is classified as world-leading and internationally excellent and covers science, health and medicine, social sciences, and the humanities. We bring fresh thinking to the major challenges facing society, helping to create a better future. Rated gold for teaching, UEA is a community of 17,000 students and 3,600 academic and professional staff.
UEA provides research, innovation (knowledge exchange), and skills solutions to organisations from start-ups and SMEs to multi-nationals, third sector and government agencies.
Institutional context
Established in 1963, UEA works collaboratively to deliver economic, social, and cultural benefits regionally, nationally, and internationally. Forward-thinking and interdisciplinary from its inception UEA is proud to have led the way in creating and shaping disciplines such as environmental sciences, international development studies and creative writing.
Based within a 320-acre campus west of Norwich, UEA is a proud member of the Norwich Research Park, one of the largest single-site concentrations of research in food, genomics, and health in Europe and a designated High Potential Opportunity area for Nutrition. UEA is an active member of the Civic University Network and plays a major role in the economy of Norwich, and the wider Norfolk and Suffolk region.
We continue to champion interdisciplinarity, establishing strategic interdisciplinary research themes: ClimateUEA, CreativeUEA and HealthUEA. These build on our strong core disciplines, to address the global challenges identified by the UN Sustainable Development Goals from multiple perspectives, through collaborations and while fostering knowledge exchange.
UEA pro-actively engages with the public, private and third sectors in areas such as climate change, agri-food and nutrition, heritage, creative industries, healthy aging, data science and financial services. A Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, a member of UEA’s Executive Team, ensures research and KE remains aligned and central to UEA’s activity. A professional Research & Innovation Service, is dedicated to supporting this activity.
As evidenced in REF21, HEBCIS and previous KEFs, UEA makes its outputs widely available, informing policy makers, engaging with stakeholder communities, and undertaking commercial activity through its subsidiary companies. Support for evidence-based policy decision making is provided at a regional, national or international level where UEA’s contribution to the understanding of climate change has involved its Climate Research Unit, the Tyndall Centre and support for the establishment of the World Energy and Meteorology Centre. UEA’s active intellectual property management for societal and economic benefit encourages exploitation of outputs through consultancy, CPD, licencing and spin out companies, leading to one of the highest levels of licencing activity in the country.
As a place-based institution, we attach a high priority to the economic, social, environmental, and cultural life of our region. UEA provides extensive access to facilities with added value, based on its position as a research-intensive institution. Examples include the SportsPark, which provides a focus point for health and well-being activities and attracts 1.3m visits a year. UEA’s ambition to be a locally relevant international institution is reflected in activity to support the regional economy. For example, UEA are lead delivery partners in the regional Innovate UK funded “Create Growth Programme”, drawing on expertise developed in establishing the Low Carbon Innovation Fund, that has already facilitated over £68.5 million of investment into innovative regional companies. In partnership with New Anglia LEP and industry UEA led the development of Productivity East, a £7.4m facility to increase academic, student and industry collaboration. UEA plays a key role in the regional cultural sector supporting activities including creative writing and literary and film festivals and through the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
For further information, please send queries to KEF@uea.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
UEA’s Vision 2030 emphasises its role as a leader in economic development, leveraging its expertise and resources for regional benefit. UEA is a local anchor institution, pro-actively using its convening power and expertise to address local economic issues in partnership with local authorities, the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, key sectors, other higher and further educational institutions, and individual companies. UEA’s participation ranges from strategy development to the delivery of targeted programmes addressing commonly identified economic needs. UEA uses its interdisciplinary approach to deliver successful programmes promoting the low carbon economy, access to finance, raising aspirations, addressing skills shortages and low Gross Value Added issues, the commercial development of the Norwich Research Park, and support enterprise on its campus.
Aspect 1: Strategy
UEA has always been determined that its research and teaching should lead to social and economic benefit at an international, national, regional, and local scales. To achieve this, it has developed a strategy based on partnership working and four fundamental types of intervention:
Assisting evidence-based policy development
Acting as a convener of relevant stakeholders
Working in partnership to deliver outcomes
Leading on projects where appropriate
It should be noted that COVID related interventions are covered in the Public and Community Engagement narrative as while they had a significant impact on Local Growth and Regeneration, they were often more widely targeted or related directly to our healthcare community. All post lockdown activities were re-assessed and aligned to assist in the economic recovery from the lockdown period.
To deliver this strategy UEA defines four key geographies for its interventions, local, regional national and international. The local area is that of Greater Norwich, in particular Norwich City and South Norfolk, where UEA has its physical campus. At a regional level the key area is Norfolk and Suffolk and their adjacent economically linked areas that roughly map on to the New Anglia LEP boundaries. UEA is the only research-intensive university within this area. UEA also works at a national level, particularly through collaborations with other HEIs. Finally, UEA works internationally either on issues that require an international solution, for example climate change, or where UEA’s specific expertise enables it to provide solutions such as developing social healthcare solutions. Given its remit this narrative focusses on the local and regional aspects of UEA’s work. It should be noted that global interventions may have regional or local economic consequences, for example global climate change will affect regional agriculture with changes in weather patterns, particularly rainfall.
In determining local growth and regeneration “needs” UEA uses evidence from local, regional and national economic strategy reviews. Many of the local “needs” and strategies are published by the Greater Norwich Growth Board, a partnership between Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk District Council, Broadland District Council and the New Anglia LEP. At the regional level UEA uses the evidence base developed by New Anglia LEP. UEA actively contributes to the development of this evidence base and the subsequent strategies of these organisations by participating on boards and review panels, responding to requests for information and future plans, and also by participating in groups like the Norwich Good Economy Commission. UEA is a very active member of the New Anglia LEP Innovation Board and all industry councils covering energy, agri-food, advanced engineering and manufacturing, the Norwich and Great Yarmouth Town Deal Boards and Norfolk County Council’s Investment Framework development.
To ensure that it understands the views of the private sector UEA also maintains membership of a number of business groups. These include at the local and regional level the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry. New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (NAAME), TechEast and the Financial Services Cluster (FIG), and at a national level the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
In addition, UEA undertakes its own research and consultation, both as part of its role working with the above bodies or to inform its own initiatives such as developing its Civic University strategy as described in the Public and Community Engagement narrative.
Aspect 2: Activity
UEA is able to deliver its collaborative strategy by being embedded in the local and regional growth and regeneration infrastructure, allowing its strengths in research and teaching to help address issues within the regional economy and generate sustainable growth.
Two common themes running through all UEA’s interventions are that economic growth must be i) sustainable and ii) socially beneficial. In a report published in 2021 UEA was ranked 7th in the world by Times Higher Education for its promotion of sustained economic growth and inclusive and decent employment for all (UEA ranked in world’s top ten for commitment to decent work and economic growth).
Examples are provided below of activities demonstrating the delivery of the four classes of intervention described in Strategy above.
Much of UEA’s support for evidence-based policy development is at an international or national level, and this still has impact for the local and regional economy. For example, UEA has a long-established relationship providing evidence on climate change to the UN and helping develop international strategies, ClimateUEA – COP26. This work is crucial to our region: as one of the driest in the UK but with low lying areas at risk of flooding and coastal erosion, the region is particularly at risk of changes in weather patterns associated with climate change.
UEA also works specifically at a local and regional level and has undertaken consultancy activity for both Norwich Good Economy Commission and Norwich Business Improvement District to help provide evidence to develop policies to support the growth and development of the Norwich economy. UEA has also worked with Norfolk County Council in assisting the development of strategy around natural capital and the realisation of the value of the natural assets of the region, supporting both local communities and the key tourism sector.
Convening regional stakeholders
When developing a bid to the second round of the Strength in Places Fund, UEA galvanised the support of researchers, businesses, and authorities, both local and national, with an interest in the sustainable socio-economic development of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast and adjacent southern North Sea, with a particular focus on the opportunities and challenges created by the offshore energy industry. While the bid was not successful at the final stage the consortium members and associated supporters are still working together to deliver the vision created (SuNRISE Coast).
Norwich is a centre for the financial service sector and UEA has supported, along with several private sector partners, a local special industry group, FIG, to help the growth and further development of this sector. With members ranging from major multinational companies to smaller start-ups FIG has provided a focal point for a key local sector.
Working in partnership
Working with NAAME, and with the support of New Anglia LEP, UEA has established Productivity East, an exciting collaboration between UEA’s Schools of Engineering, Computing and Business. The facility provides a combination of training and access to modern manufacturing facilities to help meet the needs of regional advanced manufacturing and help support innovation and close the skills gaps found by local companies.
Project Delivery
UEA leads on specific projects, often targeted at small and medium sized enterprises (SME), to help address “needs” that have been identified within the local economy.
One of UEA’s longest running interventions is the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF), now on its second iteration, that provides investment into innovative SMEs looking to develop technologies and processes that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The operation of LCIF highlighted the number of high potential SMEs within the region who needed support to reach the point that they were able to raise investment to allow for future growth. This led to UEA’s involvement with the Invest East and Creative East investment readiness programmes.
UEA students and graduates are key resource for local and regional economic growth and regeneration. UEA actively promotes the benefits of working with its students and recent graduates to potential employers, particularly local and regional SMEs who may not have a history of graduate employment and are facing skills gaps within their company. This is achieved through a combination of long-term programmes such as the UEA Internship Programme, the annual Select event that partners students with local engineering companies, and also through interventions such as Gateway to Growth, a programme funded through the OFS Challenge Competition to boost engagement between graduates and Norfolk’s SMEs through internships and enhanced skills training linked to Norfolk’s Enterprise hubs. UEA appreciates that its students are an important reservoir of entrepreneurial potential and has developed a Student Enterprise programme based within The Enterprise Centre (TEC). This allows students to develop an idea into a business supported by various funding streams including an Enterprise Fund that can make up to £50,000 investments into companies established by students or recent graduates.
Aspect 3: Results
Outcomes and/or impacts
UEA monitors the outcomes and impacts of its interventions at several different levels, from the individual project to the overall impact of the institution. For any intervention suitable KPI are identified that consider the purpose of the intervention.
At an institutional level UEA commissions independent reports to monitor its economic and societal impact, the most recent Connecting People and Places Economic Report, published in 2019. The report identified that UEA’s economic impact on the UK was £1.04bn, with £270million (26%) of that benefiting the regional economy. This report has gone on to contribute to the evidence base of local and regional economic policies and is quoted by the GNDP in their policy documentation, contributing to the first element of UEA’s strategic approach.
UEA’s approach to recording outcomes and impacts at the individual project level is illustrated in the table below for those projects previously described:
Table 1: Project Outcomes from example projects
| Strategic Approach | Programme | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence based policy development | Norwich Good Economy Commission | Evidence base provided for policy development on procurement, economic development including digital skills and community engagement. |
| Norwich Business Improvement District | Evidence base provided for waste disposal/recycling initiative. | |
| Norfolk County Council | Evidence base for natural capital policy. | |
| Acting as a convener of relevant stakeholders | SuNRISE Coast | 95 organisations from across the private, public and third sector supporting the SuNRISE Coast vision |
| FIG | 129 organisations engaged with FIG | |
| Working in Partnership | The Anglia Innovation Partnership | Over 40 companies were located in the Norwich Research Park facilities (not including virtual tenants) during the reporting period. |
| Food Innovation Cluster and Broadland Food Enterprise Park | 91 Companies have engaged with the Food Innovation Cluster and the Broadland Food Enterprise Park construction will be completed September 2022. | |
| Productivity East | 220 companies have engaged with Productivity East. | |
| Project Delivery | Low Carbon Innovation Fund | £26 million invested into SME in East Anglia between 2010 and 2022 leveraging an additional £93 million of private sector investment |
| 68 innovative SME supported through investments. | ||
| 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions already calculated to have been saved | ||
| Internship programme | 763 internships placed in reporting period | |
| Gateway to Growth | 175 SME assisted | |
| Student Enterprise | 596 students engaged within reporting period | |
| 27 projects supported from the Enterprise Fund including 7 companies receiving investment | ||
| The Enterprise Centre | 29 tenant organisations |
Communication
UEA uses a variety of different approaches to communicate led by a dedicated KE communication team.
Communication is appreciated to be a two-way process and some of the methods UEA has developed are described more fully in the Public and Community Engagement narrative. Further examples of enabling individuals to inform UEA include participating in local networks, boards and committees, and specially convened stakeholder meetings and surveys. The initial approach for the SuNRISE Coast and Productivity East was a series of stakeholder meetings, followed up by 1:1 meetings with interested stakeholders. Productivity East has continued its consultation through ongoing surveys.
When UEA wishes to disseminate a message, it will try and use a multi-channel approach. A good example of this multi-channel communication was the Connecting People and Places Economic Report. In addition to making the report available on its website UEA held a launch event at a high-profile location, Norwich Castle in the centre of Norwich, created further marketing materials including a video that has been uploaded to You Tube (UEA Economic Impact Report (2019): Connecting People and Places - YouTube) and encouraged its partners such as the Chamber of Commerce and Greater Norwich Development Partnership to link to the material from their webpages and news feeds. In addition, UEA uses social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn to further disseminate messages. When UEA is not sure of the best way to reach its target audience, and to ensure inclusivity it will proactively look to identify where it should place stories where stakeholders will find them. An example of this approach was a Gateway to Growth project to identify appropriate trade press publications for the promotion of the facility (Productivity East).
Event attendance, including both physical events and those that moved on-line during lockdown, are a key component to the communication mix. Much of the marketing for LCIF and Invest East was achieved by speaking at events organised by third parties. This proved to be a very effective method of communication to audiences who otherwise would be hard to reach. A key event organised by UEA are its annual Impact and Innovation Awards which provide an opportunity to present the breadth of UEA’s activity to a wider audience.
As described above communication is a two-way activity and UEA strives to act on the feedback received. The whole concept of Productivity East was developed in response to an approach from NAAME and other representatives from the engineering sector. Similarly, it was feedback from applicants to LCIF that led to the Invest East programme. In turn the Invest East programme showed that companies within the creative sector have special needs and challenges when it comes to raising investment and this led to the development of the Creative East programme.
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
UEA’s mission has always been three-fold: achieve research excellence, teaching excellence and contribute to civic life in the region. UEA has a distinguished record in embedding public perspectives into research impacting health and wellbeing and in translating research influencing global, national, and local policies, including climate change mitigation. We are partners in a wide range of local, national, and international communities and as an anchor institution, actively defining our region, we drive sustainable social, cultural, and economic growth across East Anglia. We are renewing our civic charter: writing it through an innovative democratic process with regional communities. UEA host the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), playing a leading role in applied volunteering research involving public, private and third sectors.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Recognising the core research strengths of the University and to facilitate greater opportunities for internal and external collaboration three strategic inter-disciplinary themes have been established, ClimateUEA, CreativeUEA and HealthUEA. P&CE is integrated across all areas and spans activities operating at regional, national, and international levels from supporting creative expression of indigenous culture from Peru to the Pacific Northwest, to looking at coastal climate mitigation linking Great Yarmouth to the Caribbean, UEA’s approach to public engagement moves seamlessly from our local environment to international contexts.
Alongside academic led programmes and events, we also have flagship P&CE activities, with specialist teams delivering high quality programming in partnership with public and regional organisations. This sits alongside deep entanglement in the civic life of East Anglia with a variety of bespoke relationships with different organisations, from occasional project partners to core funding of organisations.
In December 2020, in recognition of the collaboration between UEA and regional partners in mitigating the challenges of the pandemic, the University reaffirmed its formal commitment to being a Civic University. UEA has embarked on an innovative programme of events to co-create a Civic Charter, with communities and organisations within Norfolk and Suffolk, restating our civic commitments to the region. This long-term strategy for renewal is an example of genuine co-production of institutional strategy with the region, the ongoing development of which will be a feature in future statements such as these. Our strategy spans the full scope of our influence, from the experience of students to partnership with other large regional organisations, to our role in the lives of the region’s citizens.
Leadership and Oversight
Responsibility for P&CE rests with the Executive Team (chaired by the Vice-Chancellor), reporting to UEA Council. UEA’s Innovation Executive, chaired by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation with an Associate PVC for Innovation and four Faculty Associate Deans for Innovation (ADI), has oversight of activity. A new Associate PVC for Civic role was created and appointed in 2022, reporting to the PVC R&I to lead the development and delivery of the civic charter, supported by a civic caucus involving staff and students. Engagement is a consideration of multiple committees throughout the University, for example those supporting EDI initiatives in line with our commitment to Athena Swan, and the Vice-Chancellors Task Force on Tackling Racism.
Aspect 2: Support
Because we have a strong mix of grassroots supported and management led activity, our approach to supporting P&CE is necessarily networked and diverse. As an integral part of the institutional culture there are forms of tacit support as well as those explicitly built into management and administrative process.
This whole culture approach creates an ecosystem where P&CE is both organically and strategically developed and delivered to a high standard. The teams involved include Faculty teams, Research & Innovation Services, Students Union, Public Engagement and Events team, Alumni, Sportspark, Outreach, Communications, Learning and Teaching, Development and Careers.
Support is provided in four ways:
Equipping staff & students to develop and conduct high quality P&CE
The University delivers impact and engagement training for researchers, including bringing in bespoke trainers as appropriate (e.g. specialist media training)
Students are supported by academics, the students union, careers and Sportspark to develop skills and gain experience in the delivery of P&CE activities, experience is embedded directly in modules across the University. During 2021-22, PESH students delivered over 2,600 hours supporting schools and community groups.Funding for P&CE activity
PVC R&I Impact Fund (up to £10,000/yr)
P&CE Funds within schools and faculties (£varies)
Funding of specialist teams for delivery of flagship programmes e.g. UEA Live, Citizens Academy
Impact Accelerator Accounts (AHRC, MRC)
ADI Innovation Fund (Light touch up to £5,000)
Facilitation of voluntary activity through Careers Central service, Faculties, University wide networks (such as the UEA Governors Network), with expert support provided in-house by the IVR.
Recognition & Reward
Factored into workload models
Engagement, impact and civic activity are all embedded in academic promotions criteria for staff with new Professorial roles that acknowledge P&CE e.g. Professor of Evolutionary Biology & Science Engagement
Annual Impact & Innovation Awards and Global Research Translational Awards
UEA Award – recognises students’ engagement and personal development gained through inter and extra-curricular activity.
Case Study 1: Supporting organic engagement with the #BLM Social Movement
This case study illustrates how organic and formal support processes work in tandem. When George Floyd was murdered in 2020, students across the University expressed their outrage, upset and dismay, flocking to the BLM movement often from their bedrooms during the lockdowns that dominated this period. During this time staff in American Studies led a public seminar discussing questions of racism and policing with leading activists and politicians, among a range of staff-led activity across the University. Self-organising students of colour were then supported with engagement funds from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities to run a Summer School programme with around 90 attendees on an online week-long series of public discussions. Some of the organisers then went on to work with the University’s Outreach teams to deliver sessions in local schools providing workshops and training. These students were provided with specialist mentors from within the UK anti-racism movement. Students involved were celebrated with an Engagement Award for this activity in 2021.
Aspect 3: Activity
Primary areas of public and community engagement
Primary areas of P&CE activity fall within the core themes outlined below and incorporate activity in which all members of the University both participate and support. There are numerous examples of public involvement in research impacting health & wellbeing and in translating research influencing global, national, and regional policies, including climate change mitigation. Teaching activities often engage directly with communities or members of the public – e.g. through service-learning informed student projects. In both teaching and research partnership work with community organisations is commonplace.
Public Education: UEA’s School Governor Network, Language Courses, public lectures, talks and events, for example, Norwich Science Festival attracting c.140,000 visitors during the one-week event.
Physical Space: Green spaces and sculpture trail. Sportspark attracting over 1.3m visitors annually, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Productivity East
Health and Social Justice: Citizens Academic for Public Engagement in Health and Medicine, University of Sanctuary, UEA Law clinic, UEA Health & Social Care Partners, Volunteering – including IVR and UEA award, Headucate
Cultural: Literary and film festivals, heritage, archives and accessibility, exhibitions and community arts
Outreach and Widening Participation: Promoting the benefits of HE (rather than as recruitment), partnership with regional schools and FE providers.
Enterprise: Student enterprise support involving local mentors, The Enterprise Centre, Sync the City – launched in 2015 is an annual 54 hour hackathon based in the heart of the city organised by UEA, SyncNorwich and the wider community, Norwich Business School’s activity supporting regional SMEs recognised through achievement of the Small Business Charter.
Case Study 2: COVID Response
This Case Study demonstrates how UEA’s whole institution approach to P&CE was mobilised during the recent COVID crisis. Activities included ranged in size from modest to large, local to global.
UEA in collaboration with key partners based on the NRP responded quickly to the immediate demands and challenges imposed by the pandemic, establishing a wider NRP task group to coordinate a range of programmes drawing on people, place, and co-ordination of resources.
Produced personal protective equipment to support frontline medical and care staff in hospitals and care homes.
UEA Health and Social Care Partners (UEAHSCP) involving academics, public and private sector social care organisations and local businesses came together to produce desperately needed hand sanitiser
Worked with public sector and community partners in building neighbourhood mutual aid and resilience through Fine City Neighbours campaign (recognised by Norfolk’s Lord Lieutenant)
Supported Key workers through the provision of free day care and accommodation.
Nationally
UEAHSCP managed a successful pilot project involving Researchers from across the NRP to identify and track COVID-19 within a community. Knowledge was shared with public health leads and other lab sites to help prepare for the rapid implementation of Government-backed community testing.
Globally
UEAHSCP launched the FutureLearn course ‘Anxiety in Children and Young People during COVID-19’ The course has been accessed by over 17,000 participants from across 136 countries.
UEA was part of an international research team that demonstrated that loss of smell or taste were key indicative symptoms of COVID-19 and produced guidance on how to treat patients.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
UEA’s approach to evaluating P&CE ensures activities are fit for purpose and meets the needs of participants. UEA encourage and support grass-root P&CE involving students, staff, and communities within the primary areas of engagement outlined above that sit within the University’s mission and vision. We have an expert team who assist in measuring impact of research activity, often including P&CE, but we avoid a rigid KPI structure outside of recurring programming as much activity requires a sensitive and bespoke approach. Instead, peer-led workshops of researchers share experience and provide mentoring to less experienced colleagues.
We monitor our recurring activity using several criteria including various channels for audience feedback (from surveys to verbal responses to organisers), industry feedback (writers and publishers), attendance numbers and social media engagement. Our central event programming is usually iterative, but we are also prepared to make significant changes in response to shifting demographics. For instance, the Public Engagement and Events team collaborates with colleagues’ University-wide to develop programming, particularly regarding (new) areas of research and expertise at UEA. For example, the Lasdun Lecture series is developed in consultation with Content and Communications, and colleagues in the Research and Innovation Services who are leading on the University’s strategic research themes. Our teams continually seek input to highlight and further strengthen UEA’s reputation as a world-leading research institution with the Norwich Science Festival our best example of that; the collaboration for this event extending out to the NRP and organisations throughout the city.
UEA’s Connecting People and Places report undertaken by independent consultants’ details flagship events providing a pre-pandemic overview from which we can judge our progress into the future. Emergence from the lockdown period has not been linear and patterns of public engagement are changing. It’s into this late-pandemic context that we launched CivicUEA.
Case Study 3: CivicUEA Charter Programme
UEA’s open consultative approach in the development of the University’s Civic Charter will further strengthen the strategic engagement with regional communities and UEA’s P&CE. The Charter, to be formally launched in October 2023, will be a foundational document for UEA’s future strategy and will draw significant regional legitimacy from this process of engagement encompassing the full range of our civic responsibilities.
To write this we developed a programme of genuine co-production with people and institutions in East Anglia. The process, unique to the HE sector, involves deliberative democratic events and participatory on-line platforms to stimulate engagement and discussion. We engaged with diverse communities across the region, with two events in Norwich and one in Great Yarmouth, the latter in partnership with OutThereArts. Through this process, around 200 people have voluntarily engaged in day-long open space events where participants set the agenda, producing three (six as of March 2023) thematic books on UEA’s civic role. In addition, there were over 15000 online engagements on our Polis platform to July 2022, run to similar principles in partnership with the think tank Demos. This participatory approach reveals what committed regional audiences for our activities see us doing well and what more they would like us to do through emergent criteria rather than a prescriptive process.
Aspect 5: Building on success
Our sustained programmes of P&CE demonstrate the appetite for engagement from staff, students, and communities. UEA reports engagement activity within its weekly newsletter, School Bulletins, School Boards, Faculty and University Executives, its external publication Ziggurat (circulation circa 100,000) and webpages. External stakeholders engage with UEA’s plans and activities by attending annual UEA Court, Engagement, and Impact and Innovation Awards. Individual projects produce websites, newsletters, and reports, often distributed through external organisations.
Understanding how UEA can collaborate better with communities will form a cornerstone of the Civic Charter. Our methodology described in the previous section has highlighted that whilst local communities have a strong appetite for engaging with the University, the capacity for communities to engage varies significantly.
Topics identified by communities that the University can contribute to include:
Education – reducing the disadvantage gap
Skills development
Inclusive economic growth
Living with climate change
Communities also informed us about how they expect us to behave:
Being visible in the city and region-wide activities
Leading by example as an anchor institution in areas such as procurement, Human Resources, travel, and well-being
Communicating clearly about our local activities and opportunities to collaborate
This activity builds on long standing excellence in areas for which we have significant local, national and international reputation. This work now represented through our research themes is exemplified through CreativeUEA.
Case Study: Partnership work for a vibrant cultural ecosystem
We are a lynchpin of the regional cultural ecosystem with deep links across the region and beyond and an extensive partnership network driven both institutionally and by individual academics across all faculties. We are an active participant in the Norfolk and Suffolk culture board and we have memorandum of understanding with key cultural and heritage organisations including Norwich Theatres, Norfolk Museum Service and the National Centre for Writing. The latter of which we remain a core funder of, having been a partner since its inception. Colleagues, from senior leaders to lecturers, sit on the boards of cultural organisations like OutThereArts in Great Yarmouth or run small local museums like Bungay Museum.
UEA is a creative writing pioneer, with alumni including one Nobel Prize-winner for Literature, two Booker Prize Winners, eight Costa Book/Whitbread award winners and an Oscar nominee. We are especially proud of our role in Norwich becoming England’s first UNESCO City of Literature. During this period our longstanding literary festival, supported by a specialist team, was rebranded UEA Live responding to a changing demography and interest in new kinds of writing and storytelling.
In 2020-21, sharpened by the acute challenges of the pandemic, the Arts Council funded Future and Form project brought many of these regional cultural partners together to explore the future of literary writing. While the six works produced were significant in their own right, this project demonstrated UEAs convening power to mobilise the cultural sector in Norfolk and beyond.
Norwich is known as “the city of stories” in no small part because of our work in making it a centre of innovative literary practice. This field intrinsically involves P&CE and alongside the National Centre for Writing we continue to place the city and its publics at the heart of cutting-edge literary programming.
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