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Institutional Context
Summary
The Open University (OU) is the largest Higher Education provider in Europe, having delivered teaching to over 2 million students in 157 countries over the past 50 years with a mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We promote educational opportunity and social justice by providing high-quality university education to all who wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential.
The OU has a UK wide presence, delivering world-leading teaching, research and knowledge exchange internationally. Strengths include technology enhanced learning, continued professional development; space science; international development; citizenship and governance and health and wellbeing. The OU specialises in engaged research, working in partnership with the public, third, and private sectors to achieve shared goals or deliver innovation.
Institutional context
The Open University (OU) has a mission to be open to people places, methods and ideas and is the leading university for flexible, innovative teaching in the United Kingdom underpinned by world-leading research.
The OU has a presence across the UK with an undergraduate population studying from home. Headquarters are in Milton Keynes with national centres in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh and regional centres in Manchester, Nottingham and Dublin. Research and Teaching is delivered by Faculties (Arts and Social Sciences; Business and Law; Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths; Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies) and research institutes (Institute of Educational Technology and Knowledge Media Institute).
As a values-led organisation, the OU aims to make a positive difference to society by co-designing its knowledge exchange, evaluation and dissemination activities and outcomes, which lead to beneficial entrepreneurial, societal and economically impactful outcomes. With over 1,000 academics working at the forefront of new research and technology, the OU has the knowledge, expertise, and creative problem-solving skills to address challenges faced by people and organisations, large or small.
The OU appointed a new Vice Chancellor in 2019 and a new Pro Vice Chancellor will join in 2021, at which point the OU will look to refresh its strategic focus around research impacts.
The current Research and Enterprise Strategy (2018-2023) rests on three aspirations: To Inform. To Inspire. To Influence. A key focus is to build capacity in our distinctive engaged, open research through increased and widened public and stakeholder engagement with OU research. It also looks to develop the number and significance of large-scale research and enterprise partnerships.
in addition to traditional innovation and engagement offerings, key OU strengths including:
Engaged research, working with partners in the public, third, and private sectors, to ensure our activities achieve reach and significance
Learner-orientated Continued Professional Development (CPD), combining our strength in online innovation with research into digital pedagogies. In 2018/19, almost 1,500 large businesses employees, 300 SME employees and over 3,000 people from non-commercial organisations developed their professional skills with the OU.
Public and community engagement delivered via informal learning and engagement platforms plus a unique relationship with the BBC that enables the OU to reach millions of people worldwide via a large variety of programmes which draw on OU research.
We look to maximise the impact of our expertise through forming partnerships with organisations in the public and private sectors and developing opportunities for collaboratively designed contract research and consultancy. Across all nations the OU works with local authorities, employers, the third sector and communities.
The OU’s national presence and engaged approach means we are responsive to local and national KE needs as highlighted by our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The has been supporting many HEIs nationally to support their move to online teaching as well as addressing specific needs such as those highlighted by the recent report by Universities in Wales on the Civic Response to COVID-19.
For further information, please send queries to Res-Research-Enterprise@open.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
The Open University (OU) is not based in a single location, but operates across all four Nations of the UK, with offices in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh and a main campus in Milton Keynes. This national presence enables activity to be focused where it can achieve greatest impact for local growth and regeneration across the UK.
The OU is unique in its ability to interact directly with the national governments, developing strong links with the different administrations. We have built relationships with regional business and public communities, working in partnership with stakeholders to identify needs and provide solutions relevant to the area in question, such as delivering specific skills agendas to a region.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The Four Nation status of the OU enables activity to be focused where it can achieve greatest impact. Activity takes place locally, across the UK and Internationally. In response to the Government’s levelling up agenda and Civic Mission, the OU is developing a localism strategy. Key aims are to enable the OU to deliver educational and social opportunities and develop commercial and partnership opportunities with regional employers and organisations where they are most needed.
The current Research and Enterprise Plan (2018 – 2023) encapsulates activity in the four Nations, which are designed to align with Knowledge Exchange priorities of the Devolved Administrations, thus ensuring local stakeholder needs are met. The Plan includes key objectives to:
Build our capacity in distinctive engaged, open research through increased and widened public and stakeholder engagement with OU research;
Develop the number and significance of our large-scale, external research and enterprise and doctoral training partnerships.
The OU works with devolved governments, local authorities, employers, the third sector and communities to understand needs. Examples of strategic foci are:
England: The OU works with the South East Midland Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) to address its local growth plan. SME support is a priority for the region, so since 2016, the OU has delivered SME support via European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), the SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT) and internal funding. This builds on the success of MK:SMART, an OU led project to develop innovative solutions to support economic growth in Milton Keynes.
In response to the growing Government focus on place, the OU joined nine Universities to form the Oxford Cambridge Arc Universities Group (AUG), working with business and government to foster research, skills and innovation, to unleash potential for growth and prosperity for the Arc region.
The OU is developing a localism strategy and is currently identifying regions in England that it can best support in terms of local growth.
OU Ireland: Working with employers to meet their skills and innovation is a key priority and we work closely with CBI NI to gain insight into the skills and training challenges faced by employers in Northern Ireland. Working with Invest Northern Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office, we facilitate connections with individual organisations and create projects to enable broader support. There is also a strong focus on contributions to peacebuilding and regeneration in Northern Ireland.
OU Scotland (OUiS): OUiS approach is influenced by the objectives of the Scottish Funding Council and The Scottish Government. OUiS is active across the whole of Scotland, in 32 local authority areas from the Shetland Isles to the Scottish Borders. Activities are strategically aligned to the priorities of the country, contributing to economic regeneration, social justice and increasing opportunities and widening access to higher education more generally.
OU Wales (OUiW): OUiW aims to deliver positive economic and social outcomes, public engagement, civic mission and impact across Wales. OUiW works within the three economic regions and targets partnership activity in six local authority areas (Cardiff, Swansea, Denbighshire, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent) based on the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation and student demographics in each area. OUiW’s innovation strategy outlines a commitment to economic prosperity through growing partnerships with FE, developing work with employers on skills development and extending a programme of public engagement and civic mission work.
Global The OU has been committed to international development for twenty years and the International Development Office brings our world class expertise in Open and Distance Learning to work in partnership with governments and NGOs to deliver innovative, responsive, and scalable development projects. International Development is a strategic priority for the OU, working where there is the greatest need and where our expertise can impact the many to help create sustainable social and economic development. Focus areas include India and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Aspect 2: Activity
The OU’s approach to local growth, although steered by an overarching strategy, delivers activity at the national and international level, based on local needs in collaboration with local organisations.
England: Staff collaborate with groups in the Milton Keynes (MK) region, such as SEMLEP, South East Physics Network, Silverstone Technology Cluster, Space Applications Catapult and Bucks Cultural Partnership. We are an active member of the Arc Universities Group and works with members of the group on activities including the Oxford University led ESRC Impact Accelerator and several Doctoral Training Partnerships. These collaborations help the OU to deliver needs led KE.
Working with SEMLEP, the OU has formed local partnerships to deliver ERDF SME support, for example, ALPHAS (Accelerating Leadership & Productivity in High Ambition SMEs) provides student placements that focus on solving problems that inhibit SME growth. CityLabs is a place for SMEs to work with academic and industry leaders to develop concepts into prototypes for new products and services in the digital economy. It provides access to the OU hosted MK Data Hub, an award-winning data infrastructure that supports the collection, integration and use of large amounts of data, providing both public and private sector organisations with access to complex, smart city data scenarios.
Beyond MK, the OU uses alternative mechanisms to support growth, for example, since 2012 the OU has brokered over 90 students for 3-month Santander internships at UK-based companies, such as the National Energy Foundation and Ulster Wildlife Trust. Virtual internships are an online OU brokered programme implemented across the UK allowing knowledge sharing to support organisations wherever the need arises.
The OU in Ireland have delivered ‘Open for Growth’, an online business development pilot program to support SMEs in Ireland. Under the guidance of an OU Learning Adviser experienced in businesses development, over 50 participants from 13 small businesses developed their understanding of key business areas which contribute to business growth. We participate in the Connected project, funded by the Department of Economy, it is the first KE programme delivered across HE and FE and aims to support SME’s in NI by exchanging knowledge and research ultimately benefiting the NI economy. It works by connecting industry particularly SMEs with academia and partnerships with HE and FE.
Scotland; As part of post COVID-19 recovery planning, OUiS are working with Skills Development Scotland to assess and respond to specific organisations needs with an emphasis on skills development. SPRINT, the SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology, enables SME growth via the exploitation of space technology. In Scotland, we applied our space expertise to terrestrial problems, working in collaboration with the Scotch Whisky Research Institute to develop a mechanism to detect adulterated and fake whisky. Scotland’s Food and Drink is a major employment sector (including Scotch Whisky) and results in considerable international exports, and contribution to GDP in Scotland.
The OU in Wales is part of the Cardiff Commitment working closely with employers and other education partners to support young people to fulfil their potential while contributing to the economic growth of the city and The Deputy Director of Wales is chair of the newly formed Civic Mission Network in Wales.
Across the UK, Continued Professional Development (CPD) is delivered to support local growth. Lifelong learning is exceptional strength of the OU, and we deliver our own material and support organisations such as Unison in developing their own material. The OU’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning creates and uses knowledge to improve policing for the benefit of society. It does this in part through informal and formal learning to support continuing professional development and putting knowledge into practice and is working with 21 police agency partners.
During the COVID 19 crises, CPD and skills development have become increasingly important and the OU has worked with devolved governments to provide free learning through OpenLearn for furloughed workers. This built on previous work including that with Kingston upon Thames Job Centre Plus (JCP) where the OU developed a programme which utilises free courses to help staff and clients build confidence and gain recognition for existing and new skills.
Global: Access to quality education is critical for growth in any nation and the OU responds to teacher needs in the global south to improve education and increase access to it. For example, Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education aims to improve the quality of HE in Myanmar at a critical time in the country’s development. There is an increasing demand for skilled graduates to meet new employment needs, particularly in relation to the environmental management of Myanmar’s natural resources to ensure sustainability
Aspect 3: Results
National outcomes and impacts at the OU are diverse and wide ranging. We have won national and international awards for our excellence, innovation and support for communities.
England The OU has supported over a hundred SMEs as a result of its ERDF projects. CityLabs assisted over seventy SMEs with a structured programme of support that included grants for product development, prototype evaluation, hackathons and individual assistance within the MK Data Hub. One recipient (Eduvocation Ltd) noted “The individual programme of support from CityLABS meant we were able to revise our business model to the next level and really deliver something new to market. We would not have achieved this without CityLABS”
Successful engagement with the Job Centre Plus (JCP) in Kingston was shared across the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and JCP resulting in the programme being introduced to 12 JCPs across South and West London over the past year and there is significant interest in further expansion. The Kingston pilot propagated awareness of the courses in organisations such as Kingston adult education, local FE, Fulham football club and Unilever as a local employer. Cameron King from the Kingston JCP commented that ‘The Department for Education’s Skills Toolkit and the DWPs Job Help and Employer Help websites created in response to COVID-19 also feature and are enhanced by the OU courses and content available which is another example of the willingness and value of the OU sharing its knowledge.’
The OU contributed to the foundation of the Police Reform and Transformation Board which was directly responsible for the creation of a network of 43 Innovation Brokers, one for each Police Force in the country whose role it is to help and encourage front line officers and staff to share their ideas and knowledge.
The Open for Growth pilot in Ireland was completed by 13 small businesses from across the island of Ireland, each of whom was presented with a framed certificate recognising their achievement by former OU Pro-Chancellor Lord Haskins at an event in June 2019. An independent evaluation of the pilot is underway in preparation for a full programme launch across the UK.
The OU in Wales have worked with six local authorities to develop local engagement plans and pilots. Monitoring and evaluating place-based activities allow us to share the learning across other regions and local areas in Wales. For example, a placements and workshops programme established in south-east Wales between FE colleges, industry and the OU is now being rolled out across Wales.
In Scotland, KE activities develop greater understanding of specialised topics and build knowledge and capacity in organisations. For example, the OUiS hosted a consultation event on the socio economics of space science, and the economic benefits of a space port in Scotland attended by over 20 organisations.
Via SPRINT the OUs work with the Scotch Whisky Research Institute to enhance counterfeit detection of Scotch Whisky has helped protect one of the UK’s biggest industries which contributes £1 billion in taxes to the UK Exchequer and employs more than 10,000 people directly across Scotland. In addition, a further 40,000 jobs across the UK are supported by the sector indirectly, with 7,000 of these being in rural areas.
Globally, the OU has achieved tangible outcomes in international communities. Through participation in OU designed programmes over 3000 women in rural Malawi and Sierra Leone have embarked on pathways to financial independence and undergone personal transformation. Over 50% of these women had not previously passed secondary school exams
For further information, please send queries to RES-research-enterprise@open.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
As a UK wide University, the Open University looks to achieve broad and significant reach across the UK and globally. This is accomplished via direct engagement with the public at events, engagement with citizen science projects, through participation in engaged research or our free open learning and as a result of our long-term partnership with the BBC.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The OUs mission is to be ‘open to people, places and ideas’ and this drives our engagement vision and strategic goals. Our vision rests on three aspirations: To Inform. To Inspire. To Influence.
As a UK wide University, signatory of the NCCPE Public Engagement Manifesto and member of the Social Partnerships Network we require broad reach alongside focused, engaged activity spanning all ages, lifestyles, genders, education and employment status.
Our objective is to deliver excellence in the planning, enactment and assessment of open and engaged practices across our portfolio. We strive to engage and involve communities internationally, nationally and locally, and our Academics and students are encouraged to engage stakeholders, end-users and the public through rigorous, responsive and responsible ways of working with a variety of participation methods and communication modes.
A key objective of our Research and Enterprise Plan (2018-23) is to “Build our capacity in engaged research through increased and widened public and stakeholder engagement”. We have always influenced wider communities bringing social and economic benefits through research impact on public policy, culture, social issues and the environment across the UK and internationally. Success is monitored annually at Research Board.
The OU strategy is responsive to current needs and developments. For example, we created COVID-19 working groups, one of which focused on public understanding of the situation.
In addition to the overarching ambition of reach and engaged research, each Nation has specific priorities:
In Ireland, strategic focus is on engagement through lifelong learning, plus a strong focus on contributions to peacebuilding and regeneration in Northern Ireland. Regular sessions are run to identify the needs of individual and community stakeholders.
The OU in Scotland (OUiS) strategy is informed by the Scottish government’s priorities and look to offer a breadth of events to reach a broad and diverse audience.
The OU in Wales (OUiW) has just developed its three-year strategy, a key strand of which is to extend their programme of PE and civic mission work.
Our key channels for public and community engagement are:
Media via our BBC partnership. Appropriately skilled researchers are allocated time to be consultants for radio, television and online broadcast. Subjects come from the University (aligning with institutional objectives) the BBC or independent production companies.
Citizen science platforms designed by the OU to meaningfully engage the public
Free learning platforms
Engaged research activity
Public events
All are promoted via a multitude of channels including the OU website, social media, academic and partner blogs.
Aspect 2: Support
Academics are supported by qualified professional staff, training and funding to deliver PE. A community of practise is evolving via an interdisciplinary KE working group (KEWG) comprising professional and academic representatives from across the organisation who share best practise.
OU staff collaborate and share expertise externally, for example The Deputy Director of OU Wales is Chair of the Welsh Civic Mission Network. Professional staff regularly participate in externally focussed KE events to broaden their understanding. Membership of ARMA, UPEN and PraxisAuril facilitate learning and sharing of best practice.
Within Faculties, Knowledge Exchange (KE) and/or External Engagement leads have been appointed who act as champions and support staff, including senior management posts such an Associate Dean for Enterprise and External Engagement in STEM Faculty.
National funding is used strategically to support public and community engagement. Areas of focus include PE events, partnership creation, academic training plus delivery and evaluation of engaged research.
Media Fellows and Outreach and PE Officers provide a link between Faculties, communities and the broadcasting team. They support PE through the BBC partnership and OpenLearn. Internal resources are made available to develop free courses, broadcasts and MOOCs.
The award winning OpenSTEM Labs have received millions of pounds of internal and external investment and are used by OU students and the public. The OU has developed and part funded CORE, the largest repository of open access articles in the world in collaboration with JISC.
External funding is sought to deliver activity and OUiW recently secured UKRI funds to work in one of its targeted local authority areas. The Blaenau Gwent Residents Engaging in Arts, Community and Heritage project (BG REACH) is a collaboration with Aberbeeg Community Group and Linc Cymru Housing Association to celebrate the rich history and culture of Blaenau Gwent. External engagement is also funded internally and in partnership with Oxford University via an ESRC Impact Accelerator Account (IAA).
PE is embedded in our Academic Development programme and promotion criteria, resulting in three professors of KE. A researcher development programme and academic monitoring procedures exist to enable alignment of KE evidence capture with personalised academic pathways for PE, promotion, and grant acquisition success.
The OU hosts annual Research Awards where excellence in PE is celebrated. Externally we participate in the Guardian Impact Awards and Oxford’s ESRC IAA awards to showcase collaborative successes.
Aspect 3: Activity
We collaborate with the BBC on a range of content with 926 million people watching a BBC/OU broadcast over the last three years. In 2018 members of the Open Arts Objects team were academic consultants for the BBC series Civilisations, reaching 13.7 million viewers. Linked to this, the OU worked with 15 UK galleries and museums to produce 50 shorts available on the Open Arts Archive with 500 views per week from just under 140 countries.
The Bottom Line (2020) an OU collaboration on Radio 4, covered a variety of topics with top UK and global business leaders. Presented by OU honorary graduate Evan Davis, the series covers issues such as ‘Synthetic Biology’, ‘TV Streaming’ and ‘Post-Brexit Business culture’.
Citizen Science is an important strand of OU activity. The award-winning nQuire hosts missions, each with a ‘big question’ that can be answered with the public’s help. Developed in partnership with the BBC it supports organisations to run citizen science projects. Millions have engaged with missions over the last three years. The garden watch mission (2019) saw 200,000 pieces of evidence uploaded during 20 minutes of the BBC programme.
Other citizen science initiatives include iSpot, where the community helps identify wildlife and Treezilla, a platform to create an online map of all UK trees that can be used for education, outreach, research and biological surveillance.
The OpenSTEM Labs make practical experiments and experiences created for our undergraduates more widely available to the public. This includes remote telescopes and virtual microscopes which showcase Moonrocks from the Apollo missions and specimens specifically targeted at the A level curriculum.
In 2018/2019, OU staff delivered almost 450 free public events across the UK including public lectures, school presentations, science festivals and exhibitions reaching almost 150,000 people.
We work with a variety of partners including museums, schools, businesses and the third sector. Examples include the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership which networks academics with practitioners and policy makers interested in leadership of voluntary organisations and the TATE exchange – an annual week of research, experimental arts and collective action around issues of citizenship and migration.
Engagement is global. For example, collaboration with FIFA and UNICEF to develop safeguarding training material for sports coaches to support children across the world and development of a pre-university OpenLearn hub for overseas secondary school teachers, students and their parents.
In Scotland, a range of business and public related events take place including engagement with Glasgow and Edinburgh Science Festivals, health focused events (e.g. Living well with Dementia, building age friendly communities) and work with the third sector on homelessness. In 2019, OUiS ran over 25 PE events engaging over 10,000 attendees. Further, the Pan Commonwealth Forum on online learning was held in Edinburgh with OU support. Current focus is on Climate Change and activity around the Conference of Parties (COP26).
The OU in Wales developed bilingual school governor OpenLearn resources in partnership with Governors Wales and education consortia; bilingual Essential Maths and Essential English OpenLearn resources in partnership with FE colleges; a series of OpenTalks based on OU/BBC co-productions and outreach in schools and colleges across Wales. The BG REACH project has hosted music workshops to engage the public.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
PE reach is measured annually, with consistent reach of ~300 million people annually (except 2017/18 (780M) due to BPII). Faculties and Nations reflect on their performance plus institutional review of performance and time spent on PE.
OU activity is recognised externally. For example, Open Arts Objects was short-listed for the Times Higher Education Awards (KE/Transfer Initiative of the Year 2019) for its impact in changing museums’ educational programmes and professional practice.
An increasing number of charities, HEIs and individuals are co-designing citizen science missions on nQuire, with many developing multiple missions, showing the value gained from the experience. In 2020, nQuire was used by almost 120k people to observe changes in their seasonal garden in a mission co-designed with the British Trust for Ornithology.
A process of regular review of activities to ensure institutional strategic alignment and provide quality assurance exists. Qualitative and quantitative markers of success are used to assess effectiveness of PE activities. These include online surveys, direct exchange with stakeholders, metrics and best value reviews.
In Wales, the new Research Wales Innovation Fund Strategy includes measurable outcomes and feedback will be through an annual monitoring report to HEFCW on key performance indicators. As part of a new KE strategy development, KPIs for the OU will be considered
Project evaluations focus on social impact and real-world change. Evaluation methodologies are chosen based on project requirements or the activity type. NCCPE EDGE self-assessment is planned as part of KE review (2021).
When codesigning projects, the OU works in partnership to devise expectations and measures for evaluation. For example, working with the UNESCO learning study director in Derry to develop baseline expectations for the Learning Cities project against which achievements will be measured.
The Open Media and Informal Learning (OMIL) commissions content and manages the production of OpenLearn, YouTube, Amazon (Kindle), Google Play output to support the OU’s mission which is systematically reviewed to ensure high-quality is retained. Engagement numbers and satisfaction levels are monitored annually by OU senior management
Training on planning for KE has been introduced in the past year, including project evaluation, capturing and analysis of data for impact and KE. This will ensure robust data to inform future strategic decisions, activity planning and increase stakeholder satisfaction.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
Continuous improvement is central to the OU’s approach. Internally, information on PE performance is shared with a variety of stakeholders and monitored by internal research governance structures. Data on public engagement with free open learning is monitored by the University governance committees. The University shares outcomes with communities and organisations and engages in open dialogues with stakeholders. OU successes are shared extensively internally through various staff communication mechanisms and externally through social media channels, the OU website and through our organisations.
Each Nation reports to relevant National bodies and data is monitored internally, for example the HE-BCI data on PE is reviewed annually at the institution level and performance compared against the sector.
The KE working group has a remit to improve the communication, evaluation, results processing and learning from KE activities. They will be addressed in the KE Concordat evaluation and KE Action plan development.
For further information, please send queries to RES-research-enterprise@open.ac.uk