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Institutional Context
Summary
Kingston’s mission is to foster knowledge and learning that enables its students and staff to contribute strongly to society and the economy. Our history is based in professional and practical training and education to deliver skills, foster creativity, and encourage entrepreneurship. Our inclusive approach informs both knowledge exchange and business and community engagement, which we approach in terms of mutual benefit and co-production. Building on the outcome of data and reports from 2016 and 2017 on the University’s Economic Impact and Civic Engagement which set direction of travel, our strategic focus is upon harnessing the University’s strengths to support cultural and economic development through collaboration with our partners in a variety of key sectors.Institutional context
Kingston is a modern civic-facing university situated across 4 campuses in Greater London, with a student population of 16,785 and academic and professional support staff numbering 1,912. The University’s Vision and Mission aligns the forms of knowledge produced within the University to a clear focus upon social and economic impact delivered through local and regional partnership, business engagement, and collaborative working in a variety of public and community settings. This alignment encompasses our activity in research, education, and professional practice. The approach set out in our Strategic Plan forms the context for the University’s response to a number of national agendas including education and skills and research and development, and shapes our contribution to current and emerging needs around economic recovery and sustainable employment.
As an anchor institution and major employer in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames (RBK), the University collaborates with the local authority in realising its social, cultural and economic development objectives. Kingston’s estate vision articulates our commitment to investing in the locality for the benefit of our student, staff, business and local communities. Our recognised strengths in entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, demonstrated by our track record in business start-ups, growing volume of apprenticeships and planned development of strategic partnerships, is pitched to the needs of the local and regional economy. We are working with both the borough and post-16 education providers to deliver a joined-up approach to the demands set out by the skills agenda, in particular to stimulate growth and regeneration in knowledge-driven sectors, whether professional or technical. In terms of long-standing areas of strength, the University is well placed to meet the emerging emphasis within technical education on areas such as design, construction, digital production, health, education, and childcare. We work with agencies such as the London Economic Action Partnership and South London Partnership to optimise the relationship between knowledge providers and key employment sectors in the capital in support of growth, productivity and innovation. Alongside regional activity, we engage in partnerships to foster positive outcomes around national strategic priorities in areas such as health and cybersecurity. International priorities for knowledge exchange have grown from skills development in areas such as design, fashion, business and technology.
The focus within our Strategic Plan on delivering social and economic impacts is underpinned by a clear commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We have ambitious targets to close gaps in degree awards and graduate prospects for our diverse student population. EDI informs our commitment to students’ skills and employability, but also aligns our educational and research objectives to engagement with business and the community.
We have placed staff training and career development at the core of building skills and capacity in knowledge exchange. We have invested in maximising the impact of our research and expertise by increasing the depth and range of our partnerships, working with key stakeholders in specific areas of strength. An ambitious £80m investment in infrastructure and estate facilitates an evolving knowledge exchange strategy by enabling external collaboration and strengthening civic purpose.
For further information, please send queries to KEF@kingston.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Kingston’s approach to knowledge exchange develops research and expertise which makes an impact on culture, society, and industry; it reflects our commitment to sustainability and support for local and regional organisations. This is evidenced by our investment in a landmark campus redevelopment programme aligned to external engagement, and by an institutional culture of openness and exchange for mutual benefit. Our strategy is place-based, driven by creativity and innovation within a learning environment that encourages students and staff to make a significant impact on the world of work. We are focussed on creating opportunities for the organisations and communities we engage through the co-production of creative solutions to complex economic challenges in close collaboration with key strategic partners.Aspect 1: Strategy
Kingston University is located in Southwest London with links across the South East England region and close access to major road (M25, M23, M3), rail (mainline fast track to London and wider South East) and air (within 30 minutes of both Gatwick and Heathrow Airports) infrastructure.
As a major organisation within Kingston, the University collaborates with the local authority on its economic development objectives; our estate vision reflects investment in our locality for the benefit of student, staff, business and local communities, ensuring provision and protection of workspace to support economic growth and resilience. Our £80m campus development investment led to the completion in 2020 of the landmark Town House building, housing a new library, and public and performing arts spaces;
while the Mill Street building and extensive refurbishment of Kingston School of Arts Knights Park campus provides state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for creative sector students, researchers and businesses.
Kingston-upon-Thames has a higher than average number of micro-businesses and SMEs. Our strategic focus on creative and innovative entrepreneurship responds to this fruitful start-up environment by offering a range of bespoke programmes for entrepreneurs at each stage of the start-up life cycle, focused on practice-based, problem-solving experiential methodologies.
Hosting London’s third largest concentration of retail jobs (See 7: Retail (Part G))
and exceeding both the London and GB average sectoral representation in ‘Information and Communications’, and ‘Professional, Scientific and Technical’, a shared mission for both the University and RBK is creating a diverse metropolitan centre for the future, focusing on quality development, better transport and improved environment. We actively collaborate with the Borough on its Town Centre Vision, which aims to identify long-term strategic priorities to ensure the future economic growth and positive social impact of the retail and business sector. This collaboration also serves our arts and cultural strategy as evidenced by proprietorship of the Dorich House Museum
and the Stanley Picker Gallery,
and our continuing support for The Rose Theatre.
Growth sector analysis from RBK’s Economic Growth and Development Strategy highlights future potential from two key ‘higher value’, knowledge-driven sectors with the capability to generate more GVA and therefore rebalance and diversify the future town centre, namely ‘information and communications’ and ‘professional scientific and technical services’. Moreover, high levels of resident employment in knowledge-driven sectors provide opportunities for growth and inward investment from knowledge-intensive businesses.
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated the need for increased skills in these sectors and greater access to fit-for-purpose work environments. The pandemic has therefore deepened the strategic partnership between RBK, the University, local FE provision, the Business Improvement District (Kingston First) and major employers in the borough. An Economic Recovery Task Force leads a coordinated, collaborative response to economic restart and renewal, collectively maximising public and private sector resources and assets to address the most pressing challenges. As one feature of this, we have launched an ambitious programme of student/business internships. Interdisciplinary groups of almost 100 graduating students have been supported by Careers and Business Engagement professionals to work directly with some 20 businesses on recovery and rebuild projects.
In terms of local strategy, our joint Faculty with St George’s Hospital, University of London, delivers practice-based research, training and expertise, focused on meeting the workforce development needs of local and regional providers of health care, social care and education. Using methods of co-production, we work with local providers, policy makers and patient and community groups to identify and implement actions to improve the quality of provision.
The size and complexity of the London economy necessitates sub-regional alliances between boroughs. The South London Partnership is a sub-regional collaboration of five London boroughs (Croydon, Kingston-upon-Thames, Merton, Richmond-upon-Thames and Sutton). With a population of 1.2 million, a GVA of £28 billion, 60,000 active businesses and 500,000 jobs, the SLP sub-region has significant growth potential. Home to five major acute hospitals, two mental health trusts, six community health providers and over 200 GPs, the area provides a fertile ground for partnership working for our Health Social Care and STEM academics. With key sectors in retail, construction, culture and creative industries, financial and business services, tourism, sports sciences, technology and life sciences, 99.7% of all businesses in the SLP sub-region are SMEs with start-up levels six times higher than the London average. We partner with SMEs to deliver knowledge exchange, employability experience and employment for our student population. Numerous challenges exist around a migrating skilled workforce (46 per cent commute into Central London), in-area job quality, large disparities in skills base and transportation challenges (the lowest levels of connectivity of any sub-region in the capital). The University therefore partners with the SLP on strategically significant sub-regional projects aimed at improving GDP through enhancing productivity and increasing innovation. We also address skills gaps and research and innovation challenges in particular sectors through investment in research centres as means to deliver impact and knowledge exchange.
Aspect 2: Activity
The University’s Partnerships and Business Engagement (PBE) team works with local, regional and national organisations in a variety of ways, from representation on the South London Partnership Skills and Employment and Kingston Chamber of Commerce boards, to sponsorship of the bi-annual Kingston Business Expo and the Kingston Business Excellence Awards. The team leads on IP and commercialisation, apprenticeship delivery and all knowledge exchange activity. It also hosts a regular programme of events for the business community, ranging from an annual civic showcase to regular business breakfasts, as well as leading business engagement training and development programmes for our academic and postgraduate research communities.
Our research centres deliver high-quality applied and practice-based expertise, fostering engagement, impact and funding opportunities. We operate at international, national and local levels. For example, our Small Business Research Centre (SBRC) is a recognised presence in the field of small business and entrepreneurships that collaborate with larger organisations such as the Bank of England, the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); it is also part of several international research networks, including the European Network for Social Research (ENSR). Our research centres also support academic spinout activity including Bridges Self-Management Ltd , a pioneering social enterprise with national impact utilising co-production methodologies to empower stroke survivors in their own rehabilitation. Also at national level, the Centre in Cyber Security Education and Culture is our GCHQ certified centre offering state-of-the-art cyber security education and knowledge exchange in partnership with industry and government. More locally, our Creative Agency (Studio KT1) provides freelance industry opportunities across the creative arts and computing, whilst leading on creative knowledge exchange.
Kingston University also seeks to address key sub-regional challenges by working collaboratively. Spanning the five South London boroughs, the £4m InnovaTe Internet of Things project aims to establish an IoT network across borough boundaries and build new ways of addressing common issues at scale, leading to economic growth and service improvements. Additionally, the South London Knowledge Exchange Programme is the culmination of relationship-building across the sub-region, resulting in a £6.2m collaboration of five boroughs and six South London universities with the aim of supporting business growth and innovation through the establishment of five innovation hubs supported by a comprehensive knowledge exchange programme.
Alongside its research-based knowledge exchange, education-based and student-led KE is core to the University’s approach. Consistently ranked highest nationally for student start-ups, the University responds to the highly active start-up and micro-business environment in South London by utilising an interdisciplinary, experiential, and practise-based problem-solving approach to support the business community through knowledge exchange activity. Led by the Enterprise Education team and working with over 100 businesses, the Santander Universities Enterprise and Entrepreneurship-funded Hackcentre delivers bespoke innovation support for business and students, utilising problem-solving methodologies to creatively resolve challenges. Likewise, our long-running Bright Ideas student entrepreneurship competition has supported thousands of students through a programme of workshops, events, and mentorship with local business leaders, resulting in high growth-potential student businesses benefiting from direct revenue share investment.
| Student Facing Activity | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | Total |
| Bright Ideas total engagement | 2092 | 1765 | 2355 | 6212 |
| Hackathon attendances | 50 | 1300 | 1670 | 3020 |
| Total students engaged, Bright Ideas & Hack Centre | 2142 | 3065 | 4025 | 9232 |
For example, we have invested in the innovative company Chip[s]board who make building materials from potato starch and Grocemania, a grocery delivery platform bringing together shoppers with multiple grocery retailers via a bicycle delivery service.
We host successful apprenticeship programmes, partnering with a number of industry bodies including The South London Apprenticeship Project Board to deliver vital professional skills across a range of sectors, including Civil and Infrastructure Engineering and Social Work. The programme has grown to nearly 400 students on six apprenticeship programmes, leading to the expansion and development of existing employer relationships and higher-level skills and training in the Construction, Environmental, Health and Science-related sectors. This has also promoted increased business engagement, creating a unique opportunity to redefine the parameters of talent co-creation between HE and external organisations. The choice of Kingston as the principle provider for London and surrounding regions to co-produce the Social Work degree apprenticeship programme for use by all London borough employers and programme members results from this approach. Meanwhile, our Continuing Professional Development experts deliver a range of bespoke programmes , including specialist NHS and Health Education England-funded professional practice training in health and social care partnership with the South West London Workforce Education Partnership, and business productivity improvement programmes funded from Innovate UK.
We also have one of the largest social care Teaching Partnerships in the UK, the result of a successful 2018 bid to the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care. This involves seven local authorities and social care providers, as well as the South West London Partnership and the South East Thames Partnership. The collaboration led to one of 11 national pilot programmes training Nursing Associates, and an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice, delivered by Kingston University staff, to meet the evolving workforce development needs of local healthcare providers.
Internationally, Kingston University Enterprise Education has supported more than 250 KU students from outside the EU exploring starting businesses in the UK since the launch of the UKBA Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa Scheme. A total of 72 have gained visas, and worked with Enterprise Education through The Nest, our business incubation programme, with a further 27 individuals having gained the follow-on Entrepreneur Visa: representing a total of £1,350,000 investment in new UK businesses. In terms of international entrepreneurship education, we participate in the British Council’s Creative Spark programme, which transfers knowledge about running start-up workshops, incubation and acceleration activities to the Tech Startup School (TSUS) in Lviv.
Aspect 3: Results
Regional engagement is at the heart of our corporate strategy, underpinning our approach to business engagement and economic development, where we seek to co-produce solutions in collaboration with key stakeholders. By utilising the social capital and human and physical assets of the University, we deliver programmes of activity with the potential to make a significant difference to the lives of students, staff, and local communities. Our estate development programme coupled with a commitment to enacting our role in the region has led to numerous quantifiable benefits, including participation in the £10m+ South London Partnership Strategy Investment Pot programmes; the Re-imaging the High Street Project; and strategic collaborations with over twenty organisations across the region, representing a target increase in business interactions of over 300%. Our academic development and training programme potentialises a further increase in knowledge exchange activity across the region, as greater academic involvement is incentivised to foster engagement in KE. Our Strategic Plan together with our academic careers framework provide the mechanisms to increase staff engagement and enhance the skills required to scale up activity. Results will be measured through the University’s KPIs for business engagement and impact developed as part of the delivery framework and programme management of the 2022 Strategic Plan.For further information, please send queries to A.Roberts-Hunt@kingston.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Our vision and mission identifies public and community engagement as the ways in which ”our local and global community will seek our research and expertise for its impact on culture, society and industry; will seek our graduates as employees, partners and providers of services; and will benefit from our commitment to sustainability and support for local and regional communities and groups”.
Our Public and Community Engagement strategy sets goals for advancing knowledge and impact; developing our Civic University Agreement and delivering the civic priorities found in our estate vision. Through local and regional engagement, we foster aspiration and inclusion by working co-creatively with diverse communities to increase visibility and representation, improve well-being and enrich cultural and social life.
Aspect 1: Strategy
As a diverse and inclusive university committed to developing students’ social and economic contribution, public and community engagement is vital to our mission. A member of the Kingston Strategic Partnership, we work with Kingston Council and the Greater London Authority (GLA), Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Kingston First BID on shared strategic priorities. This has supported the development of a public realm strategy for Kingston’s town centre, a community-led framework for diversifying activities in key sites. During the pandemic, having been members of the Borough Resilience Forum and Silver Command, our contribution to the Council’s Economic Recovery Taskforce is also based on this collaboration.
Civic purpose is embedded in our estate vision. A steady increase in public and community use of our campus and facilities is supported by our new Town House, designed as a civic gateway to the University. The building and its programmes are open to the public; we target usage to foster stronger collaboration with local communities. Our refurbished Knights Park Campus has extended its community access to increase short-course provision and use of facilities by local communities. Our renovated Seething Wells Halls will also offer community use and potential for local business incubators. The University is a founding partner of Kingston’s Rose Theatre; supports local arts, literacy and performance through its Performing Arts and Community Engagement (PACE) programme and the Writers Centre Kingston; and delivers extensive cultural engagement with a wide variety of publics through the university-owned Dorich House Museum and Stanley Picker Gallery. Our Corporate and Social Responsibility Policy puts social value and public benefit at its centre, while our Public Affairs and Insight team engages with key stakeholders, ensuring that our community engagement is embedded within strategic priorities. We also work co-creatively with communities to improve advocacy and enhance well-being.
Involving students in community engagement is a core part of our teaching and learning strategy. The Careers and Employability Service fosters relationships with community-based organisations as well as employers. Broadening Horizons offers extra-curricular opportunities for students to utilise their expertise in real-world settings, working with SMEs, charities and social enterprises on a consultancy basis. The University’s Enterprise Education team works to deliver bespoke support for local organisations via hackathons on a range of challenges. Our Access and Participation Plan displays strong commitment to raising aspirations and improving outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; our Education Liaison team works with over 300 regional schools, in particular where there are low rates of progression to higher education.
In summary, we have areas of best practice demonstrating a mature, reflective approach to civic and educational outreach, and benefitting areas such as health, arts and the local environment as well as business and employers.
Aspect 2: Support
Support: Our Public Affairs Team oversee civic and community liaison; the Business, Research and Impact Development Teams support staff in developing funding plans, building partnerships, and responding to organisational needs and regional priorities. Centres for research and external engagement provide mentorship, build skills and foster networking. Our Impact team supports the gathering of public engagement evidence using surveys and other evaluative methods.
Training: Training for staff and postgraduate researchers is delivered through staff development and Graduate Research School programmes. Our twice-yearly Festival of Research has been extended in 2020 to cover specific areas of public policy, health, and social care, working with national and local government and the voluntary sector. A blended approach to delivery combines internal expertise with external providers (eg. the Local Government Information Unit; National Council for Voluntary Organisations).
Representation: the University partners across the borough on a range of strategic priorities; we engage actively with business organisations including Kingston Chamber of Commerce and the Kingston First BID, and have senior members of staff on the boards of both organisations.
Recognition: Staff are supported through our new academic careers development framework, which explicitly acknowledges and rewards public and community engagement, allowing both workload recognition and pathways to career progression. We also have student reward and recognition schemes, allowing students to access paid employment and valuable external experience. Our recently established Creative Agency, Studio KT1, employs a student-driven business model, undertaking projects that enhance community assets and encourage social enterprise (eg. a recent collaboration to fill vacant shops in a local shopping centre). Our focus on student employability means that initiatives supporting local engagement are embedded in the curriculum in ways that bring benefit to students’ futures and strengthen bonds with stakeholders.
Aspect 3: Activity
Key strengths include our work on patient care through the Centre for Public Engagement which provides expertise and leadership in all aspects of patient involvement, engaging service users, carers and lay people in education, workforce development, service improvement and policy making. An exemplar of our patient public involvement (PPI) is the ESCAPE Pain programme, supporting healthy living self-management of osteoarthritic pain, delivered nationally in over 200 centres across the UK by more than 1000 facilitators, about 400 of whom are exercise professionals. This benefits more than 15,000 people, has been adopted by the NHS ten-year plan, and was awarded MSK Health Innovation of the Year in 2020.
Meanwhile, our Centre for Research into Communities, Identities and Difference collaborates with charities and community groups to focus on wider social justice issues and the community-impacts of underprivilege. Community engagement through Kingston’s Small Business Research Centre has supported entrepreneurs with disabilities and aided community flood resilience.
Our creative and cultural engagement aims at enhancing interactions with local organisations and increasing student skills. Our long-running Heritage2Health initiative brings together healthcare workers with local heritage providers to enhance well-being. Sustained engagement with The Community Brain has produced multiple community initiatives involving art and design, local heritage and the environment, including the community-led Tolworth regeneration scheme Shed X. Evolving over time, other educational initiatives have significant public engagement impact, such as the award-winning Fixperts learning programme (FixEd) which encourages a human-centred design approach to problem solving in universities and schools. FixEd has grown to support a global community of fixers through its open access resources.
As a sponsor of the International Youth Arts Festival and through our PACE programme, our staff and students work with partners to bring performances to the wider community. Studio KT1 provides an interface for the University to work collaboratively on creative projects. The collaborative enterprise of our students delivers positive outcomes for our community. Examples include the student-designed Kingston Pound, a local currency incentivising users to spend locally with independent businesses. Broadening Horizons has funded 150 students to work on over 40 consultancy projects with local SMEs, charities, and social enterprises over the past three years. Examples include website development and a social media campaign for a small First Aid training organisation, and a business improvement project for a water analysis company. By inviting school groups to our bespoke STEM Outreach Centre in addition to taking the university experience to over 10,000 students in around 100 organisations via our STEM Lab in a Lorry, we are working with communities across the region to raise aspirations and enhance social mobility. Beginning as a scheme to ease transition to university life and to build a sense of community, KU’s Big Read is our award-winning literacy project which is now being shared with RBK and local schools to support educational transitions at earlier learning stages; and with other HEIs as a knowledge transfer activity.
Our approach to engagement activity is responsive and agile but seeks to incorporate learning over the longer term. Throughout the pandemic we have supported partners around priority needs, such as donation and manufacturer of PPE for local NHS services, care homes, food banks and local businesses. We have deployed over 450 student nurses to support regional NHS frontline services. Yet the pandemic has also strengthened our local relationships and cemented the University’s key role in the recovery, working with RBK and other stakeholders to put learning into action.
Our evolving civic focus and strategy has therefore strengthened our contribution to place-making in Kingston. In 2019 we completed a major strategic project with RBK, Kingston First Business Improvement District and the GLA, Re-imagining Kingston Town Centre’s Spaces and Places, which provides a comprehensive public realm strategy. Its creation involved an in-depth social value audit and programme of community engagement to foreground the community voice. The project has strengthened links between the University and the town centre and enhanced opportunities for students’ active involvement in community projects.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
The Town House has already played a key role in projects including Re-imagining Kingston Town Centre’s Spaces and Places, which has been endorsed by our partners as an example of best practice. Our strategy now forms an important aspect of RBK policy, therefore, guiding future developments in the Town Centre.
For strategic projects more generally, the University undertakes extensive community consultation to capture and analyse community views. Best practice examples include consultation events, partner workshops and online surveys to ensure activities are inclusive. Survey feedback from our annual civic showcase event, designed to bring together ‘town and gown’ to foster civic engagement and local impact, informs future activity-planning. In 2019, for example, the event ‘Bringing the Community into the Classroom’ was the most highly rated of all activities: performances, exhibition and keynote talks were also received extremely positively.
Similarly, our community partnerships such as Creative Youth and Community Brain enable us to work responsively to support community cohesion and actions around culture, the environment and local amenities, whilst at the same time benefiting our students through real world collaborative experience. For example, our long running collaboration with Community Brain is testament to our embedded approach: projects co-designed with University staff and students (including Colouring in Kingston, the Museum of Futures and HLF-funded ShedX projects) are delivered as part of a continuous cycle of dialogue and learning. Drawing best practice from across the institution and from our partners therefore allows us to monitor and evaluate our activities effectively. Moving forward we intend to embed best practice more widely through developing our Civic University Agreement.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
To ensure we are meeting our aims and improving our performance, we regularly review our activities, notably through the delivery of our Strategic Plan, which includes an emphasis on external community and business engagement and employability. This approach also enables us to adapt and respond to evolving community needs.
Positive community engagement and collaboration often acts as a springboard to longer-term activity and strengthened relationships. Taking inspiration from the steering group for the Re-imagining Kingston Town Centre Spaces and Places project, the University and RBK have worked together to bring this approach to other partnership workstreams, enabling collaborative discussions on the Town Centre Vision, and we will be supporting the Council in its plans for community engagement.
The Re-imagining Kingston Town Centre Spaces and Places strategy has also been presented back to the community at consultation events, and has benefited from promotion by both the University and the Council. An Implementation Board has been formed where the University plays a leading role to ensure the framework is embedded across the community and that key projects are supported to delivery.
In summary, building on the outcome of foundational reports on the University’s Economic Impact and Civic Engagement early in the KEF cycle, we are now reflecting on all of our subsequent activity in working towards the Civic University Agreement. As well as extending our events programmes, capitalising on our estates and infrastructure investment will underpin our community and public engagement. Alongside our regular reporting mechanisms to internal audiences we use our website, social media channels and an annual civic showcase (as well as regular public-facing talks, exhibitions, and performances) to disseminate our activities. This supports important feedback and evaluation within the University, which is then reviewed in light of our KPIs for research impact, business engagement and student employability.
For further information, please send queries to j.schofield@kingston.ac.uk