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Summary
Liverpool Hope pursues a path of excellence in scholarship and collegial life without reservation or hesitation. Our distinctive philosophy is to ‘educate in the round’ – mind, body and spirit – in the quest for Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
The University’s goal is to be a generator of new knowledge and ideas in order to be a natural epicentre for research, knowledge transfer, consultancy and professional development. We recognise the inherent value in developing entrepreneurial practices of serious ethical intent, conducted in a spirit of service. We continue to significantly increase our research impact and levels of high quality KE with industry and other stakeholders and remain committed to increasing public/community engagement levels with our research, curriculum development and enterprise activities.
Institutional context
As the only ecumenical Christian University foundation in Europe and distinctive because of this characteristic anywhere in the world, Liverpool Hope University is well placed to make an exceptional contribution – well positioned to enable its students and staff to become truly global citizens, not ready just for the world of work, but also to do the work of the world.
We are a proven generator of new knowledge and ideas, a natural centre for research, knowledge transfer, consultancy and professional development. Our students receive appropriate work and learning placement opportunities and throughout their time at Hope are stimulated to engage with society, to be innovative, creative and acquire knowledge and wisdom. We seek
to help them find their vocation and calling. We received TEF Gold rating in 2018 and currently sit in the top half of the rankings nationally for Research Intensity.
The University continues to make significant strategic investments in world class staff and facilities in order to sustain our upward trajectory. This is evident in the £14.5m investment made in state-of-the-art Science and Health complex in 2016 and the recent £3.5m investment which has radically enhanced the University estate and academic provision at our city centre Creative Campus. The enhanced Science and health facilities have dramatically increased our capacity for knowledge exchange in areas crucial to the delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy. The further development of our Creative Campus has cemented Hope’s place at the heart of the thriving creative and digital industries sector, recognised as a growth sector in the NW and UK economy.
Significant elements of our KE strategy focus sharply on the cutting-edge research, teaching and growing industry partnerships in the areas connected to the above two investments, including: AI; immersive technologies; robotics, electronic engineering; mathematics; health sciences; nutrition and sport and exercise sciences; and KE and public/community engagement in the creative industries.
However, the impact of our broader KE strategy can be found across many other areas of the University. Our Business School with its HEIF–funded Business Gateway continues to play a key role in identifying and managing collaborations between subjects and high growth businesses as well as engaging with local, regional and national businesses in a wide range of KE activities. Our School of Education continues its long-established work supporting the development of capacity within schools and further education to improve teaching and promote engagement in STEM subjects by young people. Similarly, our School of Social Science contributes significantly to the social fabric of the Liverpool City Region through its top-notch Social Care and Social Work programmes and has key partnerships with statutory and voluntary organisations in the region and beyond. Our Centre for Socio-Economic Applied Research for Change (SEARCH) produces academically informed and methodologically robust outputs, drawn from Schools across the University to provide immediate practical solutions and real-world impacts for society.
Our KEF strategy is focused on significantly increasing Hope’s Research Impact and levels of high quality KE and Knowledge Transfer with industry and other stakeholders.
For further information, please send queries to mckenni@hope.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Liverpool Hope’s status as the only ecumenical Christian University foundation in Europe positions us as having a unique voice in the conversations and actions related to local, regional and national growth. Since the inception of our founding college in 1844, the mission and values of this University have been rooted in a desire to support the disenfranchised and to enable civic, community and societal engagement and the subsequent growth of its local and regional environment. The University works very closely with regeneration bodies such as the LEP, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the local chambers of commerce, the local education authorities, professional bodies and a host of important local agencies and communities to ensure that our region grows strategically.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Although Hope increasingly engages with a range of international agendas, the bedrock of our mission and values since the inception of our founding college in 1844 has been to pursue social justice and to support the disenfranchised in our local communities (i.e. the Liverpool City Region). The location of our Creative Campus in Everton - one of the UK’s most socio-economically deprived electoral wards – signals our intent to contribute significantly to the regeneration of our city. Indeed, the siting and continued development of this campus, its facilities such as the Capstone Theatre, and the tenancies of organisations such as the European Opera Centre, Milapfest (the UK’S leading Indian Arts Development Trust) and a host of community organisations, have triggered a wide range of other agencies to move into this area to support its continued development.
Our Creative/Performing Arts academics and practitioners play a major role in keeping the University at the heart of the City Region’s creative and digital industries sector, recognised as a growth cluster by both the LEP and the City Region’s Combined Authority. The Head of Creative and Performing Arts and other senior colleagues contribute to the work of the Institute of Cultural Capital (ICC) which specialises in research on the social value and economic impact of arts and culture, set within the context of key national and international cultural policy drivers. We are also a key voice in a multi-agency partnership, including other Merseyside HEIs, seeking to support the growth of North Liverpool, a much-deprived area of the city. The needs of the communities in these areas are defined by the residents and community groups themselves with the University positioning itself as an enabler.
Beyond our immediate local area, our School of Education plays a vital role in increasing the capacity of Schools, their leaders and their teachers across the North West and beyond. The Hope Challenge Programme supports partner local authorities to ensure that all schools within their influence are judged to be at least ‘good’, according to Ofsted criteria. This is a particular challenge for many Local Authorities and HMI’s with reduced capacity. By working collaboratively with schools in ‘challenging socioeconomic circumstances and those judged as “requiring improvement’ (RI), Hope has been able to ensure coherent and planned ways of working that support school improvement to create synergy, add value and build capacity across the sector. Our recent £14.5 investment in Science & Health laboratories at our main campus has ensured that we have been able to enhance our training of STEM teachers and contribute to this area of national shortage, recognised by the UK government as a key hurdle to economic growth as stated in the People Chapter of the UK Governments Industrial Strategy.
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The Business School also plays a key role in Knowledge Exchange and engages in close collaboration with organisations such as the LEP (where we have representation on key boards (e.g. Professional Services), the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and local chambers of commerce. We are keyed into the regeneration strategy for the Liverpool City Region and contribute to the COVID Recovery plan and the region’s graduate retention strategy.
At a national level, many of our academics contribute to government and agencies policy formation. For example, our Psychology department has an extensive record of knowledge exchange with government departments. These activities are most clear in the case of efforts to support de-radicalisation (Home office, UK and US Security services, Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, Police service of Northern Ireland) and public safety (Home office, Department for Transport, UK Security services, Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure).
At an international level, Liverpool Hope has a network of partners with similar missions and values to ours. Our partnerships with top Universities and colleges in India sees our School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering engaging with knowledge exchange programmes, supporting economic growth in several key cities (Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore). These projects range from AV, through cyber security to mathematical modelling. We are currently engaged with our Indian partners helping them to model the spread of COVID-19 in their society.
Also, Global-Hope, the University’s international education programme, gives staff and students the opportunity to engage in projects addressing social justice in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Brazil. The University supports this charitable arm both financially and in encouraging academic and support colleagues to engage in the many life-changing projects each year. These projects are, as a matter of course, driven by local needs.
All of the above priorities and activities are reflected in the University’s Corporate Plan as well our, Research and HEIF strategies.
Aspect 2: Activity
The University’s approach to supporting local growth more often than not begins with its increasing research profile. Over 75% of our academics hold doctorates and are research active, clearly focused on the application and impact of their research. This is supported by our partnerships with key organisations who share our ambitious knowledge exchange agenda.
A key focus of our knowledge exchange agenda is the aim of tackling the enhanced regional disparities in education and skills levels, health and social care.
Through its initial teacher training programmes and consultancy and CPD activities for qualified teachers, schools and education authorities, the University’s Education Faculty is contributing significantly to the development of STEM teaching capacity within secondary schools. For example, programmes in Mastery of Maths and Maths Enhancement are in high demand across the region and the CPD team works with many local and regional schools to deliver the government’s Teacher Development Premium. The Hope Challenge Programme has been developed to support the work of Local Authorities and HMIs in working with schools in socioeconomic challenging circumstances and those judged as requiring improvement, across secondary, primary and special schools including in Maths and STEM subjects.
A key strand of Hope’s HEIF strategy is the strengthening of employability levels among our student and graduate body and the enhancement of graduate retention levels and the utilisation of high-level skills in the region. For example, at undergraduate level, the Business School has developed a series of connected work placement, internships and real-world research project opportunities where students are jointly mentored by both academics and business people. Paid internships awards are offered annually to engaged students by local and regional employers. The number of awards offered has grown from 7 in 2016/17 to 35 in 2019/20. At graduate level, the University has levered in £0.7m of European funding (ESF/YEI) to complement HEIF to deliver a successful Graduate Internship Programme over the past five years which has provided direct routes into employment for more than 320 Hope graduates, at the same time enabling the University and a wide range of employers to benefit from the high-level skills possessed by the interns.
Our Health Science academics work with a wide range of organisations such as NHS trusts, health authorities, sports bodies and other universities to drive knowledge exchange in this area. A significant strategic partnership between the University’s Health Sciences Department, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust and Aintree University Hospitals Trust sees knowledge exchange and the development of collaborative research and funding bids in the area of upper limb research. One of the key outputs of this collaboration was a very successful Shoulder Rehabilitation Conference, hosted by Hope in November 2017, which brought more than 180 Allied Health professionals, practitioners, and clinicians to the University. In addition, the School has five visiting professors (all clinical consultants) who contribute to the development of research projects and funding applications via knowledge exchange. The School was successful in attracting a research grant of £207,500 from Vifor Pharma for a clinical trial in the above area.
In Sports Science, the team has worked with national bodies such as The Lawn Tennis Association, promoting the sport as a healthy lifestyle choice and way of keeping fit for all ages. The University has also worked with Everton F.C on a wide range of research and KE activities, the origins of which are rooted in socio-economic and health needs of a community based in one of the most deprived wards of the UK.
Our Social Work/ Social Care programmes work with key local and regional organisations such as the City of Liverpool local authority, Person Shaped Support (PSS – one of the oldest voluntary organisations in the NW region), and a wide range of community organisations. Our students undertake placements in a range of voluntary, NHS and local authority settings adding value to the community.
The aforementioned investment in our Heath and Science capabilities has also allowed the University to reshape significant elements of its HEIF strategy to better address the government’s Industrial Strategy. We have increased our capacity to: produce excellent research and industrial collaborations in the emerging domain of SEI, including vital areas such as AI, Immersive Technologies and associated disciplines; develop prototype devices/systems for knowledge exchange and to demonstrate the myriad of applications that the research will support; and facilitate the commercialisation of this research leading to the enhancement of the competitiveness of the UK economy through co-development with industrial partners. This has also driven our research impact levels and contributed to our emerging Science and Innovation strategy. Examples of this include the establishment of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships research/education collaborations with major organisations such as Oculus USA and Airbus.
Our HEIF funding supported the creation and development of The Business Gateway in the Business School, which offers local businesses a portal for initiating engagement with the University and a hub for networking, collaborative research and innovation. HEIF has also supported the significant enhancement of research impact across the University and its wide range of stakeholders.
Aspect 3: Results
All Knowledge-Exchange projects are evaluated for impact and are recorded in our central impact repository. Because of the care in which projects are chosen and the effective planning processes in place, most projects can demonstrate appropriate levels of impact. For some projects, this may be as basic as the collation of evaluation forms from participants; for others it may be through increased local/regional profile and requests to contribute to events and boards or the publication and dissemination of major findings; and for others it may result in recognised improvements in local and/or regional conditions and/or further funding streams
For example, the collaborative research between the Sports Science team and the LTA bolstered a number of funding bids for improvement in existing or construction of new tennis facilities nationally. Furthermore, the research was highlighted in a UK government report, conducted by Guild-HE and the Physiological Society, analysing the impact of sport and exercise-science study on the UK economy*. The impact of a further collaborative project with Liverpool City Council (Physical Activity and Sport) had a significant effect on Liverpool becoming the First UK city to be awarded the Global Active City Certificate. Comprehensive data collected since the development of the PAS strategy strongly indicate the positive impact on the engagement of the public in physical activity and sport. Furthermore, strategic plans and bids developed by the PAS stakeholder group have secured funds to facilitate further public engagement in sporting activities.
Another example of impact can be seen in the KE work conducted with Everton F.C. The findings of this work provided insight that enabled improvements in the club’s community engagement strategy, by focusing resource in areas that achieve the greatest social impact. The findings were also used as evidence enabling Everton to achieve success in the 2018 Football Business Awards, Best Football Community Scheme – Premier League and Football Business Awards, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme (Home Is Where the Heart Is).
The impact of activities contributing to the growth of our communities is disseminated in a number of ways: through publications and conferences; public/community meetings; partnership meetings, and via the University’s website, social-media platforms and blogs.
*The Physiological Society (2019) Sport and Science Education.
For further information, please send queries to mckenni@hope.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Since the establishment of its first founding college in 1844, this University has been engaging with our communities, especially those who are disenfranchised, in order to share knowledge and enrich society.
Our approach to knowledge exchange is founded on a relational model of participation, responding to the needs identified by the community. As partners, we aim to develop shared solutions so the sense of success can reinforce collaboration.
Public/community engagement is embedded within the strategies/plans of our key research centres and academic schools/departments. It is also embedded in our programme development processes, which draw on principles of co-design and engage local community stakeholders. This collaboration is reflected in subsequent new programme developments which are responsive to local needs.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The history, mission and values of this University ensures that we are embedded into the fabric of many cornerstone aspects of society, including: Church and faith-related communities; Education and teacher development; and social work and social care in its broadest sense. Our development as a Liberal Arts University has also seen the growth of key partnerships with the stakeholders in the health science, creative and performing arts and humanities and business sectors. Most recently, our School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering, with its growing expertise in robotics, AI, VR/AR, and Engineering, has increased its partnership work, collaborative research and public engagement activities, contributing to the realisation of the government’s Industrial strategy. Therefore, we both inform and are informed by continuous dialogue with some of the most influential agencies in society today. Indeed, we embrace public engagement in its broadest sense as part of the University’s social responsibility; we are accountable to the public and we aspire to increase the relevance of our research, academic and professional endeavours in people’s lives. Our commitment to signing the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s Manifesto is a strong signal of this intent.
At a strategic level public/community engagement, Impact and dissemination are all integral to our Corporate Plan and strategies relating to Research, Impact, Knowledge Exchange and even Estate Management, where we have a solid track record of engaging with our neighbours, both residents and local businesses to shape and manage our shared environment.
We use a wide variety of means to connect this top-level strategy with our academic community in an effective way. The priorities of these institutional as well as School-based plans are shaped by interaction between our academic colleagues and key partners, coming together with their own knowledge capacities, interests, questions and challenges, and working collectively to create new knowledge, products, processes, policies and solutions. As partners we aim to develop shared solutions, then the sense of success can reinforce collaboration. For example:
Global Hope is the University’s international education programme which gives staff and students the opportunity to engage in projects addressing social justice in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Brazil. The University supports this charitable arm both financially and in encouraging academic and support colleagues to engage in the many life-changing projects each year.
Our growing number of cultural partnerships with local organisations including the Liverpool Philharmonic, National Museums Liverpool, Bluecoat and FACT has enabled us to expand our research activity in a range of Arts and Humanities areas vital to the cultural, artistic, and mental health perspectives of society. We host on our Creative campus organisations such as the European Opera Centre and Milapfest, Britain’s leading Indian arts development trust. Both engage in collaborative research activity with our academics and a wide range of public engagement activities both fuel and are driven by these academic and professional joint ventures.
The University has also partnered with Everton Football Club for a first of its kind research partnership utilising the University’s high-quality academic resources to support the club’s strategy of public/community engagement. This has led to a wide range of benefits for stakeholders and has resulted in a Chair in Social Responsibility and a subsequent increase in research applied to the enhancement of society.
The University delegates responsibility for the establishment and development of public engagement activities and the handling of enquiries to the Schools/Departments with each area having a recognised key point of conduct – for example, within the Business School, our HEIF-funded Business Gateway acts as a “one-stop-shop” for all enquiries.
Aspect 2: Support
The University supports its public engagement and research impact activity through the use of its core HEIF funding as well as discretionary operational budgets devolved to the Schools. Academic Schools, individual academics and professional colleagues can also bid for financial support for public engagement projects from the Vice-Chancellor’s Initiative fund as well as seeking funding and training and development from the University’s Research and Funding facilitator.
The University is very conscious of engaging external voices and views when designing academic courses. It has recently introduced a new Co-Design model which requires external stakeholders from business, the professions and the wider community to have significant input to the shaping of our core provision.
Hope has a very well-established Service and Leadership Award for students who engage with community groups on a voluntary basis. As well as offering a range of Service Leadership interventions, this activity drives an increasing level of dialogue between the student, community groups and often vulnerable elements of our society. This helps to form the minds and life-approach of many participating students and information from these interventions often enriches both the academic work of the students and the knowledge base of the University in relation to key issues affecting members of the public and our communities.
The University has a centrally housed social media presence across all main platforms and employs colleagues with specific skills in this area to ensure its effectiveness and levels of responsiveness are always at the very least fit for purpose. Schools/departments and very often individual academics maintain their own specialist blogs which have an excellent track record of engaging members of the public in meaningful dialogue – for example a blog arising out of the University’s recent Global Youth Congress (The Big-Hope2) has attracted over 12,500 hits.
Aspect 3: Activity
As pointed out by Benneworth(2010), there are a number of pillars which support our public engagement activities. The physical location of the university in a large city, including an inner-city campus, acts as a primary focus for engagement activity. The University also has a long track record in volunteering in the community both by staff and students. Our degree programmes have community engagement built into them, both at the course design level and in the specifics of the academic curriculum. We are unique among HEIs in that we hold a Foundation Hour every Wednesday where the Hope community stop work and reflect on our mission. The public are invited to engage in the range of Foundation Hour activities. Finally, a wide range of community-based groups and projects are located on our campuses. These organisations are related to the activities and strengths of the university as well as helping the university with its Widening Participation mission.
Researchers within the University have a strong reputation for engaging with the public on a local, national and international level, with outreach activities and direct engagement with a wide cross-section of the public. Additionally, academics have reached large audiences by making regular contributions through media outlets such as television, radio, newspaper and lay journal articles, as well as presenting expertise to specialist programmes.
Furthermore, public/community engagement features high on the agenda of Liverpool Hope’s major research centres. Not only do we seek academic excellence but also an increased awareness and understanding of our work by the communities we serve. In turn, our engagement with the public and community groups helps to shape our understanding of their needs and thus drives further research interests and developments.
The Centre for Educational Policy Analysis engages organisations such as EMTAS, UK-NARIC, and the Knowledge Partnership in its work. It conducted a public engagement initiative for PGR students, which was presented at the University’s global youth congress, Big Hope 2. There is also a blog maintained by a member of the Centre which has so far attracted over 12,500 hits.
The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies has connections with many organisations such as the Balfour Project, Justice and Peace Commission, Romero Trust, Pax Christi Liverpool, Mission & Public Affairs Division of Archbishops Council (Church House), and The Oldham Pledge to Peace Forum. It delivers a series of seminars which attracts a wide range of people from academics to activist groups and the general public. The aim of its most recently planned annual conference was to explore the relationship between climate change and challenges to peace.
The Centre for Culture and Disability Studies (CCDS) annually hosts 60+ events, free to attend and open to the public, including the series Changing Social Attitudes to Disability; The Voice of Disability; and Disability and the Emotions. It also hosts its own YouTube Channel; both a strategy for engagement and an output.
The Centre for Socio-Economic and Applied Research for Change (SEARCH) brings together expertise in business, economics and sociology, with core projects built around a strategic partnership with Everton Football Club and the community it serves. Community engagement projects involve organisations such as Everton in the Community, Overseas Everton Supporters’ Clubs, Survivors to Thrivers (a domestic violence charity), Breathing Space-Safe Hands (a project aimed at vulnerable young people), the Everton Free School, and We Can Kick It (a young women’s disability project).
Other engagement activities include:
Accessible resources for schools, educators, and the public for science demonstrations and activities
An Annual Science Week, coinciding with British Science Week, which is open to schools and members of the public
Angel Field Festival: film, music, theatre, dance and visual arts which is open to the public
Artists in Residence in civic buildings and Music Therapy in hospitals.
Public lectures and talks, distinguished speaker events, professorial inaugural lectures
Aspect 4: Results and learning
We have an excellent track record of impact and it is through our clear strategy for KE and Impact that a University of our size is able to engage so confidently with the public and our communities. This builds on our growing reputation in this area as stated in the ESRC Benneworth(2010) report, “Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies”.
The main metrics used to measure Hope’s public/community/cultural engagement are to be found in the annual HEBCIS return. Obviously, these metrics are purely quantitative in nature. While they demonstrate year-on-year increases in activity levels, they only tell part of the story. More qualitative data can be found in project reports, Annual Review and Enhancement reports and research impact statements. Until recently, there was little centralised consideration of the impact of such activities – rather, research centres and academic departments reflected on impact and adjusted/increased their activities accordingly. The University is addressing this with the creation of a central repository focusing on impact and related public/community engagement, including an increasingly broad range of Research Impact case studies.
Two examples of where public/community engagement arising out of KE activity is proven to be successful are detailed below.
1)Hope researchers worked with Everton in the Community staff and local community groups and stakeholders to quantify and provide evidence of the social impact the Club’s charity makes within the City of Liverpool. The findings from this research provided insight that enabled improvements, by focusing resource in areas that achieve the greatest social impact. This research fed back to the club and was used as evidence in achieving in 2018 Football Business Awards, Best Football Community Scheme – Premier League and Football Business Awards, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme (Home Is Where the Heart Is) this was followed up in 2019 when they were awarded Sports Business Awards, Best Club CSR or Community Scheme (Home Is Where the Heart Is).
2)Our School of Education has developed a participatory mapping project (InSite Maps) using GoogleMyMaps to support refugee and asylum seekers in the process of resettlement in Liverpool. The mapping project has been piloted with children at Liverpool Council’s initial accommodation provision centre through field trips and participatory mapping of local sites (e.g., community gardens). The project, endorsed by Liverpool City Council’s Refugee and Asylum Seeker Education Strategy Co-ordinator, and is being employed by Liverpool Red Cross, Refugee Action, Collective Encounters, Bedsit Liverpool and a number of other resettlement organisations.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
While this is an area that the University acknowledges needs addressing, there is a good deal of project by project assessment of outcomes and feedback from stakeholders. Analysis tends to take place at School level and project evaluations take into account the level and impact of outcomes are routinely compiled and are considered as part of the School’s Annual Review and Enhancement protocols. As a matter of course, the outcomes and results of public engagement activities are shared with the relevant stakeholders.
For further information, please send queries to mckenni@hope.ac.uk