Institutional Context
Summary
Hartpury is a unique and specialist university that shares a 360-hectare campus with Hartpury College (a subsidiary) and commercial enterprises. The campus boasts a commercial farm, an international equine centre and an elite sports academy amongst its assets. We are a young and ambitious university, supporting around 2500 students to study from Level 4 to Level 8 qualifications in animal, agriculture, equine, sport and veterinary nursing. These specialisms are aligned to national and regional industrial strategies and contribute considerably to society. The applied curriculum focuses on putting theory into practice and integrates education, research, community and commercial activities throughout. A culture of knowledge exchange (KE) and industry engagement is embedded throughout the organisation and our partnerships.Institutional context
Hartpury has 35 years of experience providing specialist, high-quality and applied higher education, delivered by outstanding and industry engaged staff. Within the magnificent 360-hectare rural estate, the University also has many outstanding assets and specialist populations to support KE activity including:
an elite sports academy;
world class equestrian facilities hosting international events;
animal collections;
a commercial farm;
an Agri-Tech Centre and Digital Innovation Farm
Hartpury facilities
These assets provide unique opportunities to integrate intellectual input from the University to support KE activity throughout the organisation and beyond. Hartpury strives for excellence in serving its niche industries, and our facilities and commercial activities provide the ideal test bed for industry focused research and knowledge exchange. We are a registered Knowledge Base and able to offer Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. The College and commercial subsidiaries also benefit from the University’s intellectual input.
Hartpury is in the Forest of Dean and four miles from the City of Gloucester. These districts have the highest indices of social deprivation in the County. Hartpury University supports both economies and is the largest employer in the Forest of Dean.
Strategy and Mission
Hartpury 2025 illustrates our mission, with the Vice-Chancellor commenting:
‘As Hartpury College and Hartpury University, two outstanding specialist organisations side-by-side on one campus, with a shared mission and set of values, we will be well-positioned to meet national priorities including those raised within the government’s Industrial Strategy.’
We strategically commit to KE activities and priorities in the Hartpury University Academic Strategy 2025:
'embed an active culture of research and knowledge exchange through exploitation of our exceptional resources and embrace partnerships with industry and community groups.’
This is supported by our action planning for the Knowledge Exchange Concordat, which we have utilised to develop strategic relationships and support Industrial Strategy priorities. This ambition has also been shaped by both Gloucestershire’s draft and the Government’s published Industrial Strategy Priorities for Clean Growth and Transforming Food Production. Our Agri-Tech Centre and Digital Innovation Farm support these local and national priorities, and directly support a digital farming network of more than 1000 farms and accelerator businesses based onsite. Our Equine Therapy Centre supports the locally important and national equestrian industry including support for trade bodies such as the Society of Master Saddlers. Our students are a vital part of our KE mission and we integrate knowledge transfer through our curriculum including co-creation of live briefs with industry partners for our Master’s students and KE alternatives to traditional research dissertation projects. This is particularly championed by our Sports Business Hub which brings these opportunities to smaller, local businesses and community groups. These meaningful external business relationships invigorate student enterprise and develop an institutional entrepreneurial culture. We utilise Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) to grow our expertise and capacity to deliver quality KE.
Hartpury has a dynamic, vibrant and evolving KE environment created through catalysing its outstanding assets. We will continue to develop, invest and exploit these further in order to maximise our ability and capacity for research and knowledge exchange.
For further information, please send queries to RKE.administrator@hartpury.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Hartpury University is integral to the economy of Gloucestershire, to its surrounding counties and to the Forest of Dean and City of Gloucester districts in particular. We build partnerships with regional business communities with a particular emphasis on small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Strategically the University works in close alignment to national, local and regional industrial strategies to support local growth and regeneration within its specialisms (animal, agriculture, equine and sport). This culminated recently in a £20M Levelling Up Fund award with Forest of Dean District Council. Hartpury provides wide-ranging support and its outstanding, specialist and commercially relevant facilities (including business units) represent the ideal test bed for emerging innovations.
Aspect 1: Strategy
‘Hartpury 2025: Our strategy for our future’ includes the strategic priority to ‘Build strength through partnerships’ stating that ‘Our development will be enabled through effective partnerships and collaborations’ and as a result of effective partnerships we will:
‘Drive forward successful centres or hubs, to support the sharing of best practice and research in the agriculture, equine, animal and sports industries’;
‘Contribute to economic and community development within our region’.
We recognise and actively engage in knowledge exchange (KE) activities to support local growth and regeneration within the County of Gloucestershire and its local areas, particularly the Forest of Dean and City of Gloucester. Our KE has also expanded to adjoining areas including Monmouthshire County Council and Stroud District Council. These are chosen partially due to their proximity, but also the associated challenges in relation to local economic development and social inclusion. Due to the specialist nature of the University, we work with industries aligned to our communities at both national and international levels, acknowledging the importance of the rural economy to our region.
Alignment to Local Economic Priorities
In ensuring our strategic directions align with the local economic priorities, the Local Enterprise Partnership (Gfirst LEP) relationship has been invaluable. Our previous Vice-Chancellor was a Board member since 2017. Hartpury was closely involved in shaping the draft Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) and is supporting delivery on key aims, most notably agri-tech, green technologies and STEM. Our current Vice-Chancellor has a wealth of KE experience and is passionate about Hartpury’s key role in local economic growth. An example of how the LIS priorities are shaping future strategy and investment at Hartpury is the Digital Innovation Farm, which includes the already successful Tech Box Park ‘accelerator’ supporting small to medium enterprises (SMEs) through a range of programmes to develop new products and services. This complements previous Gfirst LEP investment in an agricultural incubator hub elsewhere in the county. Gloucestershire’s agriculture sector is valued at £1.5 billion and provides over 50,000 jobs, with approximately 25,000 SMEs in the County.
Gfirst LEP also produced the Gloucestershire Strategic Economic Plan (SEP), which outlines how the LIS will be realised through the following strategic priorities:
business promotion;
skills;
connectivity.
Hartpury has strategically planned to support these. Our ‘Tech to Plate’ development was a named and funded project in this plan.
Hartpury University also works closely with Gloucestershire County Council and pays close attention to the County Council Strategy in KE strategic planning. Hartpury is situated in the Forest of Dean and is the largest employer in this area. We discuss plans with the Forest of Dean District Council, and are a key stakeholder in the Forest Economic Partnership and developing partnerships with other councils including Gloucester City and Stroud.
Hartpury works closely with business networks including Gloucestershire Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB), Circle to Success (a local networking organisation) and Cheltenham Chambers of Commerce to embed and profile partnership opportunities. GFSB were a sponsor and provided enterprise support for annual student enterprise competition.
We are committed to growing our organisation, supporting local growth and regeneration, and aligning our developments to associated priorities, such as agri-tech, health and wellbeing and skills development. We are strategically embedded within the local growth and regeneration strategy, and ensure it is embedded throughout the institution and we believe this benefits our students and enriches their learning experience.
Aspect 2: Activity
Aligning to both Hartpury’s 2025 strategy and the Gfirst LEP SEP, we have delivered a variety of projects at a local level. Many have had national or international reach through our connectedness with the industries we serve. Hartpury has invested over £50 million in recent years to support regeneration of our ecosystem of technology, facilities and expertise. Some exemplar projects are listed below:
Digital Innovation Farm
Hartpury’s Digital Innovation Farm includes our Agri-Tech Centre, Tech Box Park for accelerator businesses, Digital Farm Network, and full commercial and teaching farm. The Agri-Tech Centre opened in 2020 and was grant funded by Gfirst LEP to meet local economic and regeneration needs. The Centre is an important element of Hartpury’s strategy to work closely with the region and industry. The Centre also clearly illustrates how Hartpury utilises existing assets (commercial farm) to benefit the broader industry and local economic growth. The Agri-Tech Centre seeks to provide a test bed for innovations in agri-tech and utilises the University’s expertise to test innovations and disseminate knowledge to the farming community. It has created a network of agri-tech companies and local farms to engage with testing products.
The Tech Box Park (accelerator units; five occupied and two in construction) houses suitable SMEs and complements rural incubation facilities elsewhere in the County. Our Digital Farm Network connects over 1000 farms and other agricultural businesses locally and nationally, and offers support in agri-tech, innovation and broader business support through a calendar of online events and webinars. We provide targeted support to SMEs in Gloucestershire looking to test and trial new or existing agri-tech products and help them accelerate to market. To date 23 businesses have been supported.
Broader outreach from the Digital Innovation Farm, and Hartpury’s focus on impact driven and KE projects, has resulted in three new exciting local projects supported via the Shared Prosperity Fund. Two of these projects (Monmouthshire County Council and Stroud District Council) focus on a targeted support programme to improve productivity, sustainability and innovation for the Monmouthshire and Stroud farming communities.
Drone technology testing
Hartpury, Five Acres and Levelling Up
Hartpury University, jointly with the Forest of Dean District Council and Cinderford Town Council, successfully secured £20 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The grant will introduce health, enterprise and aspiration opportunities. The fund will also help to repurpose vacant buildings, develop leisure facilities and help to grow the local economy across the Forest.
As a direct result of the Levelling Up Fund, the Five Acres site in Cinderford will be redeveloped as a leisure destination with a centre for sporting excellence and satellite site for Hartpury University. As part of a new ‘Aspiration Academy’ initiative, the facility will target pockets of deprivation and encourage a pathway to further and higher education through careers support and advice, inspirational speakers and an event programme, alongside sports coaching and work experience opportunities.
Sport Business Hub
The Sports Business Hub, is a flagship for student-centred KE. The Hub has expertise across a range of practical business disciplines, providing a pathway for Hartpury University to support sport/community partners. Through our postgraduate and undergraduate students, the Hub offers services and support to businesses, charities and community groups in the shape of placements, consultancy projects, social media management and broader support. This network of businesses provides opportunities for our students to carry out live projects, research and consultancy to gain experience and create valuable connections. The Hub has been funded to provide outreach engagement and support, providing training, upskilling and capacity for volunteers. This will impact grassroots sports clubs and community groups in Gloucestershire, as well as increasing the participation, skills and financial resilience of these organisations to deliver greater economic and social impact. This innovative, student-led approach enables access to university support that would often be inaccessible through cost. The curriculum also includes accredited digital marketing provision enabling specific support in an area that many small businesses and community groups are lacking.
Novazera is a high growth start up that is developing new renewable environmental technologies to take to market. It is housed in the Tech Box Park, and the University is a five percent shareholder in the company. The company has many cutting-edge technologies that it is developing in partnership with Hartpury University. Several of these solve problems connected to modern agriculture such as dealing with waste and contaminants, utilising the commercial farm as an ideal test bed.
Hartpury University has worked collegiately with the City Farm over many years. The Farm provides youth and community-based activities focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, children and families in areas of social deprivation in Gloucester, although users come from varied backgrounds, all over the City and County. Hundreds of different people use the farm each week. Our relationship spans from KE through expert advice on agricultural, animal welfare and health and equine activities, to providing placement students to support activities ranging from riding sessions to animal handling. We financially invest annually in the partnership, helping to ensure the sustainability of the project.
St James’s City Farm
Hartpury University RFC and Gloucester-Hartpury
Hartpury Rugby Club is a commercial subsidiary of Hartpury University that competes in the first tier of women’s rugby union and the second tier of men’s rugby union. The University’s research expertise in sports coaching, strength and conditioning, performance analysis, nutrition and rehabilitation are utilised to support this commercial sports club. The rugby club is well supported in the local area. Student placements and research projects also support Gloucester Rugby who were formally based on site. Gloucester Rugby is the premium sporting organisation in the County and is a large part of the local economy. Gloucester-Hartpury are the amongst the very top women’s teams in the world and are jointly run by the two organisations. We support the team through targeted RKE including applied research in women’s sport (a strategic priority for Hartpury research).
Hartpury Rugby
Equestrian Facilities and Events
The University’s Equine Department supports the equine industry at local, national and international levels. The work of the Rider Performance Centre and Equine Therapy Centre utilises Hartpury’s expertise and state of the art facilities (including riding simulators and equine treadmills) to enhance horse and rider rehabilitation, training and welfare and ultimately the ability to perform. It also provides a base for our local Maisemore Riding for the Disabled (RDA) branch, who regularly use our facilities with local schools each week.
Maisemore RDA at the Rider Performance Centre
Hartpury University worked closely with British Showjumping to work on practices to safely return to competition post lockdown. These practices have supported the industry at a local and national level back to competition following the global pandemic. Hartpury is an industry renowned centre for equine events of the highest level, culminating in the annual Five Star International Horse Trials. These events bring all parts of the industry together and we schedule targeted KE to visitors when they take place.
International Horse Trials (Eventing Nation, Tilly Berendt)
Small to Medium Enterprise Partnerships
The University engages with many local businesses in research and knowledge exchange. For example, a research project that investigated the therapeutic benefits of drumming in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This project provided lessons for ASD children at local special schools and all lessons were provided by Inspire Drums (a local small business). As a consequence of this work the children continue to have lessons provided by the drumming company and the company has expanded its tutor numbers and opened a ‘drumming therapy’ branch of the business.
Clem Burke Drumming Project
Hartpury University’s vocational nature means that work placement is a key feature of all programmes. Our 2000 placements per year are an important element of support for the local economy and are a key part of our KE practice. Despite COVID-19, placement providers continued to engage with our students, with many supporting vital activities throughout the lockdown period. We further support student enterprise through our Innovation Careers and Enterprise Centre culminating in Student Enterprise Finals, which is a competitive process to celebrate enterprise, provide mentors from local business leaders and to gain some seed funding for the businesses.
Aspect 3: Results
Hartpury University is fully integrated into the local economy and the specialist industries that we support through our educational offer. Hartpury seeks to align its strategic direction with the local industrial strategy. A 2020 report into the economic impact of universities, recorded Hartpury as contributing £95 million and 4,043 jobs to the region. Exemplars demonstrating the impact and reach of our KE activity are listed below:
Digital Innovation Farm.
Our new Tech Box Park has already engaged with 23 SMEs, with more partners looking to develop new products or services in the agri-tech sector. We support businesses through the delivery of a tailored marketing and promotion package using Hartpury’s extensive networks, public engagement events and social media, alongside traditional academic support.
Businesses supported to date include:
AJW Solutions (UK) Ltd: Manufacturer of machined and fabricated products.
Awaretag: Smart technology providing innovative solutions for people and plants in the farming industry.
BioViron: Plant based, water soluble, compostable packing materials.
Cavago: Online booking platform connecting riders to equestrian services and facilities across the world.
DronePrep: Drone technology business supporting sustainable and optimised crop performance.
Emerald Research: Plant nutrient, bio stimulant and biological products.
First Base Solutions Ltd: Data technology support for farmers to increase crop yield and farm profitability.
Live Farmer: Farm management software supporting farmers and farmers of the future (Hartpury students).
Novazera: Biodegradable plastic alternative products and innovations in anti-viral and bacterial coatings.
Robert Bilsland: Consultancy helping agri-tech businesses better manage and utilise their data.
Map of Ag: Global data platform connecting farms and industry.
Sustainable Business Design: Supporting SMEs with environmental and business cases for sustainability.
YAGRO: Data technology company helping farmers make business decisions.
The Agri-Tech Centre provides a valuable interface between agri-tech firms and farmers. This knowledge is shared through many business engagement events throughout the year (around 4,000 farmers have engaged). The Agri-Tech Centre enables its member companies to test and demonstrate product through Hartpury’s extensive Digital Farm Network, supporting innovation in this sector. Furthermore, smaller farms are able to evaluate the potential benefits of the technology, to yield without high-risk investment. The Agri-Tech Centre is part of a joined-up strategy to support SME Agri- businesses, a good example of this is Glasdata. This company grew from a Gloucestershire Incubator and is now a member company of the Hartpury Agri-Tech Centre. This company’s business is around the ‘internet of things’ and the commercial farm is providing the ideal test bed for the development and demonstration of the technology. A new business facing external newsletter for regional businesses showcasing KE, regeneration opportunities and community engagement opportunities has grown 216% in the last three years.
Agri-Tech Centre
Equine Therapy Centre and Cotswold Dog Spa
Hartpury University is the lead provider of hydrotherapy for horses and dogs in the South West. The Equine Therapy Centre has supported many elite athletes in their preparation for numerous national and international titles, including Olympic Individual and Team dressage gold medallists. The expert consultancy has been provided to other local and international businesses at start-up, or developing their hydrotherapy businesses. Working with a group of academics from other equestrian programme providers, veterinary surgeons and hydrotherapy providers, Hartpury has developed guidelines for best practice in equine water treadmill use, which are endorsed by the British Equestrian Federation (BEF). Cotswold Dog Spa is an onsite business that leases those specialist facilities. This SME (owned by a Hartpury graduate) services approximately 50 clients per week, employs eight people and serves 30 veterinary practices.
Equine Therapy Centre
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Hartpury University makes a positive societal difference at a local (Forest of Dean and City of Gloucester), regional (Gloucestershire) and national (communities that are aligned to our subject specialisms) level. We mirror our vocationally relevant approach to education in our public engagement where we promote science and learning through exciting examples from our specialisms, alongside knowledge exchange (KE) aligned to industries and communities. We deliver this mission through both onsite activity that utilises our unique estate and facilities, and through support and contribution to external events and community groups. Students are at the heart of all that we do and our vocational curriculum engages with a large number of businesses and charities through placement and volunteering opportunities.Aspect 1: Strategy
Hartpury’s strategic goals for public and community engagement (PCE) mirror those of our teaching mission: To inspire a love of learning and science, using our exciting and applied suite of subjects to inform and serve our specialist communities. Hartpury is passionate in supporting our communities, working with businesses and stakeholders to find solutions to emerging issues, applying innovation, and proactively facilitating knowledge transfer to drive forward positive change.
Key strategic plans that underpin these goals are the institution wide ‘Hartpury 2025’ and the University Academic Strategy. These strategies have partnership and community at their heart;
‘Hartpury university will….be outward looking and build research and knowledge exchange partnerships with industry and the community’.
Hartpury University Academic Strategy, 2020
Example partners
In the context of PCE, Hartpury aims to:
Contribute to new knowledge and transfer it into practice, at local, national and international levels, reflecting the diverse communities we serve;
Promote an inclusive approach to public engagement to share knowledge and encourage a new generation of diverse students and researchers who are prepared to answer questions posed by the industry and wider society;
Support the sharing of knowledge, evidence-informed best practice and research in the animal, agriculture, equine, and sports industries; and;
Contribute to economic and community development within our region.
Strategic planning and evaluation of public engagement activity falls jointly to the RKE Committee and the Business Development Group. To ensure that these groups work collectively, the Chair of each is a full member of the other committee and are the key budget holders to fund such activity. At a more local level, PCE leads are embedded within each academic department and are supported by a central Outreach and Widening Participation team.
Equine Community Engagement
While Hartpury University is young, we are building on a strong history of PCE, locally and nationally. As a vocationally focused institution, we have strong links with the business sectors, professional bodies and specialist communities relevant to our areas of expertise and education. Our specialist nature means that the concept of community and who we consider to be our public, is somewhat fluid, and is both geographical and non-geographical. We engage with our local communities (County of Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean and City of Gloucester) and the national and international communities that exist within the industries and vocations that we serve. For example, Hartpury Equine’s work developing guidelines for best practice in horse and rider health and welfare support our own equine community onsite and local grassroots riders, and influences national practice through industry partners such as the British Equestrian Federation and Society of Master Saddlers. It also impacts international practice, through our engagement with the International Equestrian Federation to evaluate para-dressage.
We are also well placed to champion STEM opportunities across our sectors and showcase the diverse range of our people involved in supporting our communities. Hartpury’s continued support for the Cheltenham Science Festival and Public Lecture Series are examples of local strategic engagement used to support this agenda.
To ensure continued synergy with community needs, Hartpury engages in regular consultation including holding regular industry panels to determine the needs and developments in each area, as well as through evaluation of our bespoke public engagement activities. We are also mindful of the socio-economic demographics of our locale in making our strategic decisions. The fact that Hartpury operates commercially in Sport, Equine and Agriculture also means we are in tune with the industry and pressures within these sectors.
Aspect 2: Support
Our specialist facilities service teaching, research and our student athlete groups, but also provide an ideal platform to engage the public and our communities. Access to such facilities is a key benefit to staff and students in PCE activities. There are key dates in the year where we open the campus for our local community to engage with us, to share knowledge in an accessible way. For example, Open Farm Sunday is an annual event where Hartpury Farm is accessible to all, providing opportunities to discuss how our research and application of new technologies are improving animal welfare, promoting food sustainability and support farms across Gloucestershire to work towards net zero carbon outputs. The extensive range of equine competitions and events run onsite also provide an ideal vehicle for public engagement, with staff and students involved in ‘meet the experts’ panel style events, lecture series, and rider assessments in our Rider Performance Centre, as well offering opportunities to translate knowledge into real-world practice supporting optimal management strategies for human and equine athletes participating in our onsite events.
Open Farm Sunday
Hartpury University is proactive in facilitating opportunities for our staff to engage in PCE activities in a number of ways. All academic staff have an allocation for scholarship in their workloads. There is flexibility for this to be in broader areas than research, and we explicitly support PCE. Furthermore, Hartpury’s academic career pathways ensure that this activity is equally valued. Hartpury utilises Communities of Practice to provide a vehicle and platform for staff to engage in research and scholarly activity, and some of these groups are formed around specific community and public engagement events and organisations. Our curriculum development processes ensure that industry and the community are consulted.
To extend the reach of our PCE activities further, Hartpury has supported key staff to engage with industry, professional and advisory bodies, such as the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the International Equestrian Federation, British Ethnic Riders Forum and Sport England, providing opportunities to influence policy and practice, and showcase the diversity of our specialist communities.
We have invested in key staff to lead in this area. Hartpury University has an Academic Dean (RKE), a Director of Business Engagement and visiting professors that help grow both our capacity and effectiveness in this area. They are working together to take this agenda forward to help build an engaged business and third sector community through events, newsletters, membership of sub-groups and the LEP board, showcasing engagement opportunities via tech talk events and by prioritising business community facing projects. In 2022, we appointed an RKE Ambassador for EDI; a key facet of this role is to engage in PCE across equestrian communities and it has already successfully generated networks across UK riding schools and the equine assisted activities community supporting practice and championing diversity.
Lessons learnt also inform staff development; KE is a key strand within our annual staff CPD calendar. We have invested in bringing thought leaders excelling in PCE to Hartpury to run sessions to support staff understanding and help develop our skill base in this area. These activities have been complemented by practical support through the introduction of a series of internal RKE grants designed to support staff to engage with participatory research generating new knowledge to support the needs of the industries and communities we serve, or to generate PCE opportunities with the goal of generating mutual benefit to Hartpury and our communities. Initial projects include working across our farming network to find solutions to optimise water provision to dairy cattle and exploring factors which negatively impact staff wellbeing in the zoo sector. Learning from work Hartpury has undertaken with Local Development Partnerships and Sport England to assess the impact of health and sustainability initiatives in local activity clusters, we have also funded a series of workshops to support staff to develop skills in realist evaluation and look forward to reviewing how this process will drive forward PCE initiatives.
Aspect 3: Activity
Promoting knowledge transfer through PCE is a key strategic aim of Hartpury. We engage with the public and our specialist communities, through bringing groups to the campus and a range of externally facing initiatives. Hartpury is a recognised centre of excellence for performance sport and we utilise this position to support community sport and school physical activity through a range of events, visits and staff and student outreach. We have supported staff to gain experience across leading national and international podcasts and webinar platforms, such as Horse Chats, to develop the confidence to offer our own podcast provision, showcasing our work across sport and equine to the public. As with all activities, we remain within our specialisms but seek to share and inspire through application in these areas.
We hold a number of onsite public and community engagement events ranging from general interest science communication (e.g. public lecture series) to specialist KE (e.g. during equestrian events onsite). At a national level, staff have built on knowledge gained from industry research to partner with Racing Welfare to co-create a ‘toolkit’ of support materials to promote positive stable staff mental wellbeing across Horseracing. We have also worked with the Association of Chartered Animal and Physical Therapists (ACPAT) to develop best practice guides to support practitioners in this field, as well as using our research to inform best practice guides adopted internationally for water treadmill use across race and sport horses, which have been endorsed by the British Equine Veterinary Association and the British Equestrian Federation.
Equine Therapy Centre
Hartpury also supports many external events. For example, The Hartpury Science Hub has been a regular fixture at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Through this interactive space we communicate ideas and science from across all our specialisms. This is one of the world’s leading science events but also has a strong local mission. Approximately 6,500 children visit the festival (thousands more attend on the public days). Hartpury’s presence is particularly important since our subjects lend themselves to promoting biology and anatomy, which are often less well represented at contemporary science events. Our Agri-Tech team support several large events to communicate to the local farming community, the largest of these is the Royal Three Counties Show. Our Equine Department supports several science communication events including Horses Inside Out and the National Equine Forum. Equine, Animal and Agriculture, and Sport Research Seminars are open to all, free of charge.
Cheltenham Science Festival
EDI is at the heart of our PCE provision, for example supporting disability and neurodivergent groups for example we work closely with the Riding for the Disabled Association and Horseback UK, providing access to specialist facilities and guiding practice. Another example is the use of drumming through the Clem Burke Drumming Project as a means to promote physical activity to special populations locally and nationally.
Horseback-UK session
Hartpury champions access to high-quality STEM education and supports EDI initiatives across the communities and industries we serve. Hartpury staff hold influential roles on key committees championing diversity and Women in STEM, aiming to raising the awareness of research and associated activities and inspire the next generation of researchers across our niche industries. Examples include the British Ethnic Riders Forum, the International Society for Applied Ethology; EDI Committee, the British Horse Society EDI Advisory Board. Hartpury has participated in events discussing the lack of diversity and existence of discrimination in the industry with the British Equestrian Federation, Pony Club, the British Horse Society, at the London International Horse Show and at the National Equine Show, and have worked with Hockey Wales to develop their EDI framework. Within Hartpury, the appointment of the EDI RKE Ambassador has supported these external activities and also facilitated local discussions in student and community groups, and implemented initiatives to champion diversity across the equestrian sector.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
Hartpury University is embedded in its local community and is the biggest employer in the Forest of Dean district. Our onsite activities engage with large numbers from the local community. For example, over 2000 local people attended Open Farm Sunday. All events are evaluated either by Hartpury or by partner organisations (e.g. Active Gloucestershire), so that events can be improved to maximise the value of the engagement to the public and community.
For external events we closely monitor public engagements. For example, we had nearly 500 engagements at the last Royal Three Counties Show, over 13,000 direct engagements with members of our Digital Farming Network over the last three years and over 28,500 school children on campus last year. We work closely with event organisers to discuss the numbers attending and to gain direct feedback on our activities. Cheltenham Science Festival, for example, prepare an impact report and feedback from individual schools on the workshops they have attended. This has led us to refine and improve our offerings and all have been fully booked by local schools. This work with schools has enabled us to extend our network of local schools and expand the impact of our Hartlinx Project supporting classroom-friendly fitness initiatives. Our focus in realist evaluation ensures stakeholders are a key partner in evaluating the work at all stages of a project.
Developing our internal evaluation processes is a key strand in Hartpury’s Knowledge Exchange Concordat (KEC) action plan. We have implemented appropriate reporting mechanisms for knowledge exchange to evaluate business and community engagements and have invested in additional staffing to support our KE agenda across the RKE and Business Development teams to support this. We also work closely with the industries we serve to evaluate the impact of our activities. We utilise direct and indirect feedback gained through networking events, engagement with member bodies and assess uptake of the practitioner guidelines we have produced. Insights gained from evaluation are reported on within RKE Committee meetings and appraisal of annual knowledge exchange activities, including public and community engagement, is reported in the University’s annual RKE report which is reviewed by Hartpury’s Academic Board and Governors.
Aspect 5: Building on success
Hartpury continues to ensure that there is both public and industry consultation in strategy development and planning. The Strategic Plan for RKE is operationalised and monitored through the RKE Committee, which reports to Academic Board. Across the last three years, Hartpury has worked on developing a solid infrastructure to support our public engagement activities, aligned to meeting the needs of the communities we serve. We have applied our KEC action plan and used HEIF funding to invest in additional posts to support development of our knowledge exchange practice, including a specific post in PCE. We have produced mechanisms that support staff to engage in PCE effectively and utilised internal opportunities as a test bed to trial initiatives before taking these wider.
Hartpury is industry connected and shares results back to the niche communities through governing bodies, charities, social media and lay publications. Across the last three years, the breadth of our PCE activities has increased. For example, our media coverage has increased to a reach of over 1.35 billion in the last three years. We have increased followers on social media by 110%, which has been a key element of our PCE strategy, and have also increased the reach of our farming networks by over 200%. The increased presence of Hartpury staff on leading advisory groups and professional bodies is a marker of the esteem from industry for the quality of our knowledge and expertise, and ability to translate theory into practice. We have successfully worked with industry to generate evidence-informed guidelines across the agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary sectors, and have established Hartpury University as a go-to partner to engage in knowledge transfer, skill development, and community engagement and innovation initiatives.
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