Note You are currently viewing a previous version of this narrative statement as published in previous iterations of the KEF (KEF1 and KEF2). View the latest version
Institutional Context
Summary
The Royal Agriculture University (RAU), Cirencester, is a small specialist land-based Higher Education Institution (HEI). Our knowledge exchange strategy is central to our institutional mission to support the land-based sector, rural enterprises and agri-technology innovation. This strategy seeks to increase prosperity and build a bridge between rural and urban civic society through a dynamic integration of science, policy and practice.
Our knowledge exchange activity is driven by societal needs and is focused on collaborating expertly with government, industry, civil society and other academic institutions and involvement of students in real-world learning. We use evidence-based, practice-led approaches to support policy makers through thought leadership, provide professional development programmes, business support and creating space for innovation and entrepreneurial, business acceleration.
Institutional context
The RAU was founded in 1845 to educate those who had to deliver to the challenge of feeding an increasingly urban population at the time of the first industrial revolution. This strategic direction remains highly relevant today. Our knowledge exchange vision is to be a leading, specialist HEI, focused on the land and food-supply sectors, collaborating expertly with government, industry, civil society and other academic institutions.
The societal need to address the competing challenges of climate change and ecological restoration, the need for a transformational post-Brexit agri-food policy and for food production to provide a catalyst for COVID recovery is compelling and requires innovative approaches and building of capacity and resilience within the agri-food sector. Our knowledge exchange strategy is central to our institutional mission to support the land-based sector, rural enterprises and agri-technology innovation. This strategy seeks to bridge between communities through a dynamic integration of science, policy and practice. RAU academics demonstrate a strong “knowledge exchange mindset” and our knowledge exchange strategy seeks mutual beneficial relationships for the greater good. Our underpinning knowledge exchange mission is: “To impact industry, government, employers & rural and urban communities by providing focused thought leadership, relevant research outputs and shaping policy through the development of dedicated interfaces with our stakeholders.” This mission is supported and framed by innovative research and disseminating best practice.
Our evidence-based, practice-led approach means academics support policy makers through thought leadership in industry, government and civil society organisations. Through our short, long and distance professional development programmes in rural, agricultural and agri-food supply chain management and leadership we provide individuals with the skills and strategic insight required to effectively lead and manage businesses. The John Oldacre Rural Innovation Centre supports skills development essential to optimise food production and management of land. We aim to enable innovation and local growth through the provision of innovation support services, access to knowledge hubs/platforms and space for innovation. Our academics use innovative approaches to facilitate collaboration and co-learning with students, farmers, charities and businesses through learning labs and farm, land-based and supply chain practice led innovation.
Our cross-institution programmes support rural entrepreneurship acceleration, enabling wider and deeper stakeholder partnerships to deliver national (Industrial Strategy) and place based (GFirst LEP) priorities. Central to this approach is the creation of pathways for business and social enterprise development, within our student and alumni body, the local community through the Cirencester Growth Hub, and agri-technology startups and growth-stage companies through the Farm491 programme. Furthermore, the Farm491 Knowledge Hub and our work on a European level agricultural e-knowledge reservoir provide opportunities for knowledge sharing and exchange.
The RAU aspires to be a university with a strong civic mission that plays an important role in the local, national and international community. We are actively involved in supporting our local community through providing access to our grounds and facilities, supporting charities through student fundraising events and more recently specific community COVID support. The RAU is proud of its ‘place’ and has strong links with the communities it serves.
For further information, please send queries to Lisa.WilliamsvanDijk@rau.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is an entrepreneurial university providing a focus for talent generation, provision of support, facilities and innovation expertise through the Cirencester Growth Hub and Farm491, the leading UK agri-technology incubator and accelerator. The RAU has developed an agile, innovative approach to cascading knowledge and entrepreneurial insight to individuals, businesses, social enterprises and policy makers informing personal development, business growth and contributing to the local, national and international economy. With its leadership of the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Agri-food and Rural Business Group and involvement in development of the draft Local Industrial Strategy (2019), Inward Investment Strategies and Gloucestershire Food Strategy, the RAU has provided expertise and insight into opportunities for local growth and regeneration in Gloucestershire.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our knowledge exchange strategy is central to our institutional mission to support the land-based sector, rural enterprises and agri-technology innovation. The strategy focuses on delivery of local growth and regeneration in Gloucestershire, the wider South West, and national programmes, and supports the development of innovative policy and practical solutions for local growth and regeneration contributing £14 million/annum to the local economy. Our wider partnerships allow us to engage with global best practice, which in turn informs our knowledge base that can then be applied to local solutions. The RAU’s knowledge exchange strategy is focused on four key areas:
Rural Collaborative Policy: to initiate “thought leadership” activities that provides intellectual influence, unique collaborative strategic insight and innovative thinking to address the policy challenges facing government and rural industries.
Rural Innovation Support: to facilitate farm and land-based practitioner-led innovation and sharing of best practice.
Rural Enterprise Acceleration: to accelerate the establishment and growth of rural enterprises and Gloucestershire based businesses through Farm 491, the Student Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme and the Cirencester Growth Hub.
Rural Skills and Business Acumen: to provide world-leading focused professional development programmes in rural, agricultural and agri-food supply chain management and leadership so that individuals develop the skills and strategic insight required to lead and manage businesses and to provide the skills essential to optimise and enhance food production and the management of land through our provision at the John Oldacre Rural Innovation Centre.
Knowledge exchange activity at the RAU is driven by the societal need to address the challenges of climate change and ecological restoration while feeding communities and meeting the complex needs of an ever-growing global population. Globally, nationally and locally, the rise of non-communicable diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, and other food related health issues and food security vulnerabilities remain a critical concern. The need to transform the local and global food production system so it remains resilient and agile with a focus on affordability and equity of access to nutritious food requires an informed and accessible knowledge base for all stakeholders. The application of technology to drive evidence-based decision-making in food production from farm to shelf/menu in the midst of a data revolution provides key local industrial opportunities for addressing inertia and stagnation in some farming sectors and to actively address food loss, food waste and aspirations for net zero living. Further supply chain needs around cybersecurity, traceability and transparency through the development of smart food systems, especially in a post-Brexit economy focused on exports, and on COVID-related economic recovery provides opportunity for the emergence of niche ecopreneurship-focused businesses. These can quickly grow to scale providing economic growth and job creation opportunities globally and nationally, but also specifically in Gloucestershire.
Our knowledge exchange strategy seeks to bridge between rural and urban areas through a dynamic integration of science, policy and practice. This evidence-based practice-led approach has led academics within the RAU to support policy makers at local, national and international level in industry, government and civil society organisations. Examples include expert input into the National Food Strategy (www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/team-2020/) and recent parliamentary policy reflection on the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chains (https://post.parliament.uk/analysis/food-security/effects-of-covid-19-on-the-food-supply-system/). Our enterprise and entrepreneurship programmes support local rural entrepreneurship acceleration activities across the institution, enabling wider and deeper partnerships with our communities to deliver national (Industrial Strategy) and place based (GFirst LEP) strategies.
The Strategic Economic Plan for Gloucestershire aims to grow the local economy by 4.8% GVA per annum (before COVID) and develop the skills of workers in high-growth sectors, including supporting business start-up. The draft Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) was published late 2019 and the priorities link to the UK Industrial Strategy. Gloucestershire has a large SME community; 71.4% of Gloucestershire’s businesses employ less than 5 people, (same as national average), only around 100 businesses employing 250 or more people1. There are specific challenges within the county including areas with persistent deprivation and high unemployment, and a lack of high-speed broadband and mobile phone network coverage in some rural areas. The growth and regeneration needs listed in the LIS are to:
Develop cyber and digital skills capacity in the county.
Attract and retain young talent.
Support the growth of cyber-tech, high-tech and agri-technology innovation.
Utilise agri-technology to create a healthy circular economy in food and farming, and
Create an advanced agri-technology hive, a virtual innovation cluster based on agri-technology and cyber security.2
With specific emphasis on our local strategy, the HEIF allocation, ERDF funding of Farm491 and the GFirst funding of the Cirencester Growth Hub has led to:
The development of a programme of local policy initiatives coherent with the RAU knowledge exchange strategy.
The identification of opportunities to support local rural business policy and practice in collaboration with GFirst LEP and RAU academic expertise.
The deepening of relationships with Gloucestershire research institution partners such as Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) with the result of a successful application for funding to Research England for the establishment of the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE).
Farm491 has worked with GFirst LEP on the Gloucestershire agri-food strategy and the inward investment proposition, to embed agri-technology within the strategy as well as providing input to the national agenda. The Vice Chancellor also chairs the Gfirst LEP Agri-food and Rural Business Group.
As members of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership, the RAU has provided insight into the strong connections between natural capital and local growth and this is a key theme in the LIS. The university is also involved with a LEP funded “wild campus” project. Emergent legislation within the Environment Bill and the Agriculture Bill highlight the need for a sustainable and resilient local and national economy, and the local policy developments in Gloucestershire, aligned with local infrastructural and community growth agendas. The RAU provided thought leadership in the future shape/direction of area of land-based mitigation/natural capital and the net zero carbon agenda.
Aspect 2: Activity
The RAU has delivered a range of activities through its knowledge exchange strategy at international, national and local levels and examples are provided here from the wider portfolio.
The Farm491 programme (https://farm491.com) has been instrumental in supporting companies from local to international level to identify, share and engage with innovation opportunities in the agri-food sector. Following UK and EU funding, the RAU’s Farm491 was commissioned in mid-2016 as a specialist agri-technology business incubator to facilitate the launch of startups and the growth of SMEs in farming, food production, land-management and environmental sectors. Farm 491 is an exemplar of innovation-led knowledge exchange activity that has driven an increase in local employment and local growth through to international economic benefit.
Physical and virtual Farm491 business membership enables the sharing of global best practice with Gloucestershire based businesses, Farm491 tenants and further diffusion into the Cirencester Growth Hub, co-located in the Alliston Centre on the RAU campus. Farm491 organises physical and on-line webinars and workshops and a yearly AgriTech season. Farm491 has also hosted a number of inward investment and fact-finding visits to Gloucestershire. Recent examples include a DIT delegation of NZ agri-technology companies and FCO delegation visits. Farm491 activities ensure that RAU research and teaching activities are aligned with industry and societal research needs and innovation needs of smart food supply chains and entrepreneurial and ecopreneurial activities. A formal partnership has been established with Rothamsted Research and Enterprise with Farm491 providing support for research commercialisation programmes. Another partnership of note is with The Landing, the technology enterprise incubator for high-growth companies at the heart of MediaCity UK, Manchester. They offer workspace, business support, user experience testing-labs, maker-labs and events to their growing community of members.
The Cirencester Growth Hub is a joint project with GFirstLEP, which offers support to local business to thrive. It was the second of 5 Growth Hubs to open in Gloucestershire. The support is in the form of one-to-one business advice, workshops, affordable and professional co-working space, a collaborative community, incubator offices and meeting rooms.
Winner of Enterprise Learning Provider of the Year, Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs Awards 2019, the RAU’s Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme (EEP) (https://www.rau.ac.uk/study/enterprise-entrepreneurship) provides an inspiring and supportive environment in which students can share, develop and launch their business ideas. Guided by lawyers, insurers, marketing professionals and accountants, students can transform their business from the embryo of an idea through to the launch of a fully tried and tested product or service via the “Think It -Try It -Launch It - Grow It” ethos. Through events and interactive sessions, the programme stimulates knowledge acquisition and practical enterprise skills. Central to this is the annual Grand Idea Competition where students pitch their concept and business plan to a panel of expert judges who have included Levi Roots (Reggae Reggae sauce) and Julian Dunkerton (co-founder SuperDry). Students pitch in the competition and the winner receives £2,500 to invest in their business.
A Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) was established in October 2018 to share knowledge and experiences and provide a collective advocacy voice for farmers. The network brings together approximately 1,500 farmers directly involved in farmer-led innovation across the UK. The main aim is to understand, learn from and ‘power-up’ farmer-led innovation initiatives and increase their economic, environmental and social impact across the industry. Over 20 organisations are part of the network, including governmental and non-governmental organisations, research institutes, the levy board, farmer organisations and advisory services.
Our academics are also involved in a variety of consultancy activities supporting among others the South Gloucestershire Council, the Environment Agency and DEFRA and the RICS/RAU Rural-Land Market Survey & Farmland Market Directory of Land Prices (https://www.rics.org/uk/news-insight/research/market-surveys/ricsrau-rural-land-market-survey--land-prices/)
Aspect 3: Results
Rural enterprise acceleration is a significant activity for the RAU. Farm491 is the leading UK agri-technology incubator with membership support varying between Gloucestershire-based (EU support) and other companies that are part of a paid membership structure (42 companies). Farm491 has helped establish four grant funded research collaborations, created 32 new jobs and helped members to bring their ideas to the market and raise a total of £31.6 million in funding. The RAU co-funded ERDF programme “Inspiring Agritech Innovation”, has been extended to June 2021. To date the programme has worked with over 80 companies
Farm491 has had its first international members from New York, Australia and Kenya looking to pilot their innovation in the UK with the potential for inward investment in Gloucestershire. The team has ensured Farm491 remains agile, providing value to its members throughout lockdown to minimise impact, converting all delivery to online webinars and working with relevant teams within the RAU to re-open offices safely from mid-June. Now recognised as an expert on innovations changing the food system, the team has been in demand being invited to over 50 events. This includes being invited to be an agri-technology expert on BBC Breakfast, hosting the Agri-Innovation Den with BASF, and judging the World Future Food-Tech Summit in London. Topics include the role that interoperability of technology has on empowering farmers at CropTech 2020, how Big Data can be used to support small and medium farms at The Institution of Agricultural Engineers, and the role technology can play shifting to “net zero” alongside empowering food producers. This has led to increased involvement in UK policy making supporting the adoption of innovation into agriculture including Defra’s National Food Strategy Advisory Oversight Group and cross-departmental Agricultural Productivity Task and Finish Group. Farm491 has also undertaken research on behalf of the UKRI Transforming Food Production Challenge Fund, leading to the launch of a new initiative focussed on breaking down barriers to scaling agri-innovation.
Since opening in July 2018, the Cirencester Growth Hub has directly supported more than 250 local businesses, hosted over 100 business events and workshops, and is currently providing professional workspace to 36 SMEs.
In 2019, the RAU was awarded the Enterprising Learning Provider of the Year at the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) and Institute for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (IOEE) awards. The RAU has also gained Centre of Excellence status for Enterprise from IOEE, one of only six universities to receive the accolade and the only small specialist institution.
For further information, please send queries to mark.horton@rau.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
The Royal Agriculture University (RAU) is a small specialist land-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) based in Cirencester. Our knowledge exchange strategy is central to our institutional mission to support the land-based sector, rural enterprises and agri-technology innovation and to communicate with clarity about food, farming and rural issues.
The RAU is proud of its ‘place’ and aspires to be a university with a strong civic mission that recognises historic and contemporary culture and playing an important role in our local, national and international community. At a time of great global uncertainty, our public engagement activities recognise the needs and concerns of the public and we seek to support wellbeing, health and growth in all the communities we serve.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our vision is to be a leading, specialist higher education institute focused on the land and food-supply sectors, collaborating expertly with government, industry, civil society and other academic institutions. RAU academics demonstrate a strong “knowledge exchange (KE) mindset” and our KE activity seeks to develop mutually beneficial relationships for all communities we interact with at local, national and international levels. The RAU has a well-established reputation for creating pathways for rural and social enterprise development, within its own student and alumni body, within the local rural community and with agri-technology start-ups drawn from across the UK through the Farm491 programme. The Farm491 Knowledge Hub and our work on a European level agricultural e-knowledge reservoir provide access to knowledge and the opportunity for knowledge sharing and exchange.
Key public and community groups include: RAU staff, students, alumni (current and past); delegates on continuous professional development (CPD) programmes and skills training courses, Farm491 and Growth Hub members, the rural and land based industries, agri-food industries and local and international businesses, the general public, government and wider. Founded in 2016, a RAU Strategy Development Group, including external stakeholders, has consulted with industry. Meetings with alumni identified a need to re-engage with industry. In 2017, 4 large discussion workshops, with leading members of the land management and farming sectors, focussed on the RAU’s future KE strategy. Consultation with industry partners also emphasised the need for industry relevant CPD programmes to build skills and business acumen.
Originally the KE strategy was the responsibility of senior academic. However, to ensure prioritisation of the strategic development and operational oversight of KE across the institution, a new Director of Knowledge Exchange was appointed in July 2020. Two further dedicated KE roles support the on-going development and implementation of the strategy. A Head of Knowledge Exchange and Research Support was appointed in July 2019 and a Knowledge Exchange Event Coordinator in March 2019. Both roles focus on providing support to academics to develop their KE activities. The increased capacity has allowed us to build internal support systems to monitor and record KE activities.
We have a commitment to supporting our local community with opportunities to access the campus for a range of activities, for example hosting the University of the Third Age and developing the “wild campus” project.
Aspect 2: Support
The HEIF funding allocation has allowed the RAU to enhance its capacity to improve the management and support of our KE activity and lay the foundations for an ambitious programme of activity coherent with its existing strategy and future aspirations. The RAU’s extensive alumni network, particularly in the area of rural land management, equine science and agricultural management, provides a unique opportunity for KE activities.
In recent years the RAU has invested significantly in KE activities through (co-funding) of specific projects and programmes. For example, the RAU provided £500,000 co-funding for the Farm491 programme and invested in the award-winning Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme for students. Moreover, seed funding is provided to academic schools to organise Thought Leadership events to provide unique collaborative strategic insight into policy challenges facing government and rural industries. Examples of these are the workshops on Influencing UK Agricultural Policy: National Animal Welfare Strategy and the series of 2020 webinars hosted by Farm491 considering data driven leadership and smart food systems. Promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in our local area, a new Growth Hub funded by GFirstLEP has been opened at the Cirencester campus in July 2018. The RAU provides strategic and operational support for its activities.
The RAU aspires to be a KE intensive university, hence, dedicated time in the workload model of academics of KE activities allows them to meaningful engage with the public and other communities. Examples include the Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation masterclass for local sixth-formers in 2018 led by Dr Ian Grange and Dr Kelly Swallow (www.rau.ac.uk/about/news-and-events/news/young-biologists-ispired-rau-experts-conservation-masterclass).
The RAU has a strong network of collaborators to ensure successful delivery of its KE strategy. For example, the RAU is a member of the Countryside and Community Research Institute, based at University of Gloucester (http://www.ccri.ac.uk/), which is the largest specialist rural research centre in the UK, working at the interface of agriculture, society and the environment on issues relevant to rural and urban development. The RAU also works closely with the University College of Estate Management, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Organic Research Centre and the Food and Farming Initiative, an independent, collaborative news and information source for farming and food (www.foodandfarmingfutures.co.uk).
According to the Social Mobility Commission, rural communities have lower rates of participation in Higher Education and higher levels of social exclusion. There is also significant under-representation of BAME communities in rural settings. In the 2011 census, BAME communities accounted for only 5% of the rural population, compared with 22% in urban areas. Our KE activities support the wider implementation of the RAU’s Access and Participation Plan (APP) which is focussed on broadening recruitment to undergraduate land-based programmes beyond rural communities. This has included working with students, schools and communities that would not normally consider accessing university education.
Aspect 3: Activity
KE activity has focused on four key areas described here in turn.
Thought Leadership: RAU academics are involved in KE activities focused on meeting the needs of public stakeholders and community groups around food safety and access to affordable, nutritious food for all. Professor Tom MacMillan has provided expertise to the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission, acting as Research Director, and is a member of the National Food Strategy team (www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/team-2020/). Professor Mark Horton has provided support to government and industry as a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology COVID-19 advisory group and also contributed to parliamentary reports (https://post.parliament.uk/analysis/food-security/effects-of-covid-19-on-the-food-supply-system/). Professor David Main is active in national and international animal welfare policy, including drafting a collaborative policy position by the Farm Animal Welfare Forum in August 2019.
Innovation support: Activities have supported farm and land-based practitioner-led innovation and sharing of best practice. This has direct impact on food safety, animal welfare, environmental benefits and improving biodiversity - all social needs identified by public bodies and community groups. One example is the Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) initiated by the RAU in October 2018 to share knowledge and provide a collective advocacy voice for farmers.
Rural Enterprise Acceleration: In 2016, Farm491 was set up to facilitate the launch of start-ups and growth of SMEs in farming, food production, land management and environmental sectors and is successfully implementing the “Inspiring Agritech Innovation” programme.
Skills and business acumen: This area lies at the heart of our KE activities to support public and community groups. The RAU has a strong reputation in providing world-leading professional training and development programmes and skills-based training run in collaboration with many charities and industry bodies. Examples include the Institute of Agricultural Management, the John Edgar Trust and the Worshipful Company of Farmers.
Our academics are involved in a range of KE public engagement activities from providing public lectures and webinars, cascading knowledge through the RAU and Farm491 YouTube channels, and appearances on podcasts, television and radio programmes including global news and current affairs e.g. Coast, Country File and the BBC Farming Today. The RAU also has a long-standing history of working on international level. The recent opening of a joint Institute for Advanced Agri-technology at Qingdao Agricultural University in China is an example of this as well as the GCRF funded East Pemba Maritime Heritage project (https://risingfromthedepths.com/eastpemba/) by RAU professor, television presenter and writer Mark Horton. We also have an active programme working with local schools and colleges sharing knowledge on food and farming.
We are actively involved supporting our local community including providing access to our grounds and facilities, for example the Park Run, Lambing Live Weekend, and supporting local charities through fundraising events during the Raise and Give Week by our students. More, recently, the RAU provided specific community support to cope with the impact of COVID-19 for example joining the Feeding the 5,000 project to help provide meals to those in need during the Coronavirus crisis, and providing the facilities for a COVID-19 testing unit.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
An evaluation framework was developed as part of our KE strategy to evaluate individual activities to consider whether they addressed our strategic objectives and achievements for public and community. Our underpinning KE objective is: “To impact industry, government, employers & rural and urban communities by providing focused thought leadership, relevant research outputs and shaping policy through the development of dedicated interfaces with our stakeholders. Examples are now given with a focus on where the overarching objective is met.
Thought Leadership: The impact of our thought leadership activities on government policy and strategy is demonstrated on both a national and local level, for example providing input into the Gloucestershire Local Industrial Strategy in terms of its focus on advanced agri-technology. The Food, Farming & Countryside Commission report co-authored by Professor Tom MacMillan was widely disseminated in the UK and internationally. It was downloaded over 8,000 times, with 150K Twitter impressions and received cross-party political support. This high-profile activity has also resulted in his participation as senior consultant to the National Food Strategy, the most substantial review of food-policy in England in 75 years.
Rural enterprise acceleration: Farm491 as the UK leading agri-technology incubator has helped establish four grant funded research collaborations, created 32 new jobs and helped members to bring their ideas to market and raise a total of £31.6 million in funding. The RAU co-funded ERDF programme “Inspiring Agritech Innovation”, has been extended to June 2021. To date the programme has worked with over 80 companies
Skills and business acumen: In the year 18/19 there were 1609 participants in our courses who as a result have developed skills and insights that could be applied into business settings. In light of COVID the delivery model for business skills training and personal development has been pivoted with the first on-line management courses delivered in September 2020. The insight gained from delivery of more innovative and accessible ways of learning will be fed into the programme design of future offerings at the RAU.
Currently work is ongoing to develop a more robust KE monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system and embed M&E practices in all KE activities.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
Our small specialist institutional status and our understanding of the communities we serve at local, national and international scale means that our KE strategy is central to our mission. We have implemented four elements of our KE strategy and developed mechanisms to evaluate the outcomes of individual activities and programmes, some of which are showcased here. Our KE activities and outcomes are showcased in our Annual Report and on our institutional websites. We need to build on our current activities so we can continue to develop research-informed programmes that drive innovative policy and practice associated with the land-based sector, rural enterprises and agri-technology innovation. Our activities sit within the wider context of planetary change, biodiversity loss and stark public health issues associated with food consumption and lifestyles. There is also the need to develop innovative business and practice in the context of post-Brexit and COVID-related economic recovery and regeneration and we have a vital role as an institution to support and facilitate entrepreneurial and innovative solutions.
The value delivered to the RAU from our KE activity and the associated evaluation processes is how it informs our teaching and research practice. The recent appointment of a Director of Knowledge Exchange will specifically address how we continuously improve as an institution and how we deliver our planned outcomes and beneficial impacts for the general public and the communities we serve, both internal and external to the university. Collaborating with other UK HEIs will continue to be crucially important for our KE activity. The RAU has responded to the consultation regarding assessment of KE as part of KEF. We will incorporate additional strategic processes and institutional metrics to determine the impact of our KE activities as we develop and enhance our strategy in coming years.
For further information, please send queries to mark.horton@rau.ac.uk