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Institutional Context
Summary
With a mission to Advance Knowledge and Transform Lives, the University of Plymouth is renowned for its high quality, internationally-leading education, research and innovation.
With clusters of world class research in particular in marine science and engineering, it is a three-time winner of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, most recently in 2020 for its pioneering research on microplastics pollution in the oceans and its impact on the environment and changing behaviour.
The University has a strong focus on delivering real-world impact through knowledge exchange and support for innovation, particularly with the local SME community, and engages positively with businesses, communities and policy makers while also promoting public and community engagement in, and understanding of, its research.
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Institutional context
Our vision is to be a broad-based, research-intensive university, open to all who can benefit from a University of Plymouth education, delivering excellent interdisciplinary research, experiential education and civic engagement. We aim to deliver impact through significant industry and business partnerships, for the benefit of society and the economy.
The University has a proud heritage based in its roots as a College of Navigation in the 19th century, and retains a commitment to leverage its global connectivity to deliver local benefits. It is among the largest universities in the South West with more than 20,000 students, 2,500 staff and a turnover of £249 million (2018/9). The University conducts teaching and research across three broad faculties: Arts, Humanities & Business; Health; and Science and Engineering.
Our research is renowned for its transformational impact. Our three multi-disciplinary research institutes (Marine Institute, Sustainable Earth Institute and Health Institute) provide a focus for significant contributions to issues of global concern from the ongoing fight against plastic pollution in our oceans, to anti-microbial resistance, development of vaccines for diseases able to jump from animals to humans, and the challenges of soil erosion for agriculture in the developing world.
The University makes a significant contribution to the economic, social and cultural life of the region and beyond, the scale of which was confirmed by an independent impact report published in 2018, and the University was showcased within the Civic University Commission’s report published in February 2019. Building on this, Plymouth was one of the first universities to pledge to develop a Civic University Agreement – reflecting the important role of the University for the local economy and quality of life.
Plymouth and the wider South West region has a number of economic and societal challenges that the University, working in partnership with many other organisations, has a key role in addressing. While Plymouth itself has the highest proportion of its employment in manufacturing of any city in the South of England, the wider economy is dominated by SMEs across a diverse range of sectors, and the Heart of the South West LEP area ranks in the bottom quartile of LEPs in terms of productivity. Reflecting this, the University has a particular focus on supporting local SMEs to innovate and grow, enabling them to access our world class facilities and expertise. The University was ranked 12th in 2018-19 for SME income from use of facilities.
Our region also has an ageing population a decade ahead of the national demographic trend, bringing challenges around health, social care, and the provision of services across a large rural geography, issues that the University’s Centre for Health Technology was established to address. Our commitment to the health and well-being of local communities is highlighted in our public engagement activity with sector leading initiatives, including the Law Clinic and Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise.
The University is firmly committed to making a difference, addressing these, and other, economic and societal issues through KE that is firmly embedded in our research culture.
For further information, please send queries to Adrian.dawson@plymouth.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
The University of Plymouth makes a significant impact on its local economy, reflecting its roots in the City of Plymouth, and its cultural connection to our local industries and communities. We are key strategic partners in our City and the wider region, informing local economic strategies and working in partnership to support the development of key growth sectors and broader innovation across the business community, through enabling access to our world class facilities and creating opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange between researchers and enterprise. This activity has led to us supporting over 800 businesses in the last two years alone (2018-2020) to develop new products, services or processes through research collaborations, consultancy, exploitation of IP, or access to facilities.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The University of Plymouth has a proud heritage as an institution that makes a difference. From its foundations as a College of Navigation in the 19th century, it retains a commitment to leverage its global connectivity to deliver local benefits, reflected in our Civic Mission. True to our roots and place we are pioneering with an aim to advance knowledge and transform lives.
The University’s refreshed strategy 2030, “a Future of Excellence”, has a central objective to “Achieve influence and impact through significant industry and business partnerships”, optimising research impact and knowledge exchange to the benefit of society and the economy.
As a regional university, we draw the majority of our students from the South West and are committed to our role as key partners in economic development, looking outwards and collaborating globally, but leveraging the benefits of these connections for the businesses, communities and environment of the region. Our “place” is defined by the physical and economic geography of the South West peninsula, heavily influenced by its maritime and peripheral location, with the city of Plymouth its most significant economic driver.
Plymouth and the wider South West peninsula have a number of economic and societal challenges that the University, working in partnership with many other organisations, has played a key role in identifying through provision of intelligence and insight, and will play a key role in addressing. These local growth and regeneration needs are articulated clearly in a range of local economic plans at different levels, but in particular through the Local Industrial Strategies of the two LEP areas within which we have a physical footprint, strategies in which we were heavily involved in their development.
While Plymouth itself has the highest proportion of its employment in manufacturing of any city in the South of England, the wider economy is dominated by SMEs across a diverse range of sectors. The Heart of the South West (HoTSW) LEP area ranked 7th lowest of 39 LEPs in terms of productivity in 2015 while HotSW businesses are less likely to either export or invest in innovation. Start-ups and scale-up levels are also lower. The result of these factors is that economic resilience is lower than in other areas, and raising levels of productivity through supporting the growth of highly productive and disruptive sectors, and supporting wider innovation is a key strategic aim for the area, an aim that the University is committed to supporting.
Another key feature of the SW peninsula is its ageing population with 50% of the population aged over 45 and 22% above the age of 65; 6% higher than the national average. It is therefore around 10 years ahead of the rest of the country in terms of the population demographic. This brings challenges around an ageing and decreasing workforce, and the provision of services (particularly health and transport provision) across a large rural geography. However this also presents a significant opportunity to develop the digital health sector, the region being an ideal test bed for interventions that will be required on a national scale in the future.
Our region is also one that may be one of the most negatively impacted by Brexit, with a high proportion of its exporters exporting solely to the EU. It has been in receipt of significant EU structural fund investment, a key focus of which is support for R&D and academic / industry collaboration. There is now significant longer term uncertainty around such funding post Brexit. HE led KE and R&D activities will therefore become more important, as will the role of the University in supporting businesses at a time of uncertainty.
Aspect 2: Activity
Reflecting the University’s role in addressing the economic and societal challenges of its place our KE strategy outlines our overarching priorities for knowledge exchange and how we will deliver positive growth and regeneration impact locally, while also contributing to national priorities aligned with the Industrial Strategy.
Our activities are focused on two complementary strands:
Supporting key growth sectors aligned with local strategy and linked to our inter-disciplinary research, and
Driving innovation in our local SME community
Supporting key growth sectors aligned with local strategy and linked to our inter-disciplinary research
Marine & Maritime: A key strategic focus in the region is the growth and development of marine science and engineering including offshore renewable energy, marine autonomous systems, and maritime cyber security. In support of this the University:
Provides commercial access to world-class test facilities in its Coastal Ocean and Sediment Transport Laboratory (COASTLab), offering advanced capability for commercial testing of wave and tidal Marine Renewable Energy devices,
Is a partner in the Marine Business Technology Centre, within the Oceansgate Enterprise Zone, offering in-depth product testing and development of marine-related technologies, supported by the University’s researchers and facilities
Has secured £3m Research England funding for a Cyber-SHIP Lab which addresses a number of the complex and interlinked cyber-security issues that affect the maritime industry.
Has worked with a range of research and commercial partners on Marine I – a pioneering project supporting marine technology businesses in Cornwall take their products to the next stage of commercialisation
Has developed partnerships with key regional industry partners such as Princess Yachts , Thales and Babcock to inform curricula, identify collaborative research opportunities and create graduate opportunities.
Health Technology and Innovation
Reflecting the challenges and opportunities around healthcare outlined in the Local Industrial Strategy, the University:
Has established the Centre for Health Technology bringing together digital health and technology expertise to drive the development, evaluation and implementation of innovative technologies, products, services and approaches to transform the health and social care sector. Focusing principally on digitally-enabled innovations, our researchers work with a network of cross-sector partners, to deliver research and development of international importance, enabled by the unique population and geographical characteristics of the region.
Has established the Plymouth Health Innovation Alliance, to complement the Health Innovation Campus within which 60% of the City’s healthcare provision is delivered supporting over 6,000 jobs with another 1,000 in the supply chain. Centred around Plymouth Science Park and the largest hospital in the South West, it brings together the NHS Trust, the University’s Derriford Research Facility, Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit and Plymouth Allied Health Care, with 27 medical companies based at the Science Park, building a vibrant cluster of real significance for the regional economy.
Leads the eHealth Productivity and Innovation in Cornwall project (EPIC) – a £6.7M collaboration seeking to help grow eHealth businesses and improve health, wellbeing and enhance care quality. The development of a thriving eHealth sector will not only create new jobs, new products and support the local economy, but will strengthen the existing health and care network in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Creative and cultural industries
Reflecting the importance of the creative and cultural sector to the City of Plymouth and wider region, the University has developed a bespoke KE offer for businesses in these sectors. Known as The Bridge – its objective is to enable creative businesses and organisations to develop new products, services and experiences and gain access to skills, talent and resources. Through The Bridge the University:
Played a leading role in the development and delivery of the South West Creative Technology Network - a £6.5 million collaborative project, supported by Research England, designed to drive the growth of the regional creative economy
Led the iMAyflower consortium, a £5.9 million collaborative project, supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS’) Cultural Development Fund, designed to build Plymouth’s Creative Industries and nurture creative people power across the city
Is a partner in Cultivator, a business development programme that supports the creative industries in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Was recently successful in securing OfS funding for an innovative Engaging Students in KE project which will build on the University’s successful track record of delivering KE and drive toward understanding and maximising the benefit to students engaging in this type of activity with business and community partners.
Is a strategic partner in the development of The Box, a major multi-million pound cultural centre and visitor attraction on the edge of the campus.
Driving innovation in our local SME community
The University has always taken its role seriously in supporting the creation and growth of the micro-enterprises and SMEs that characterise the local economy. SME engagement is coordinated by the business-facing Enterprise Solutions Service which helps businesses in access university support to overcome their barrier to growth. This gateway, one of the first of its kind to be established, signposts commercial partners to the most appropriate solution to their business need, including through:
Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre – enabling regional SMEs to access facilities normally only available to large corporates, with applications across a diverse range of sectors from food and drink to photonics.
Cornwall Innovation Centres and Brixham Laboratory- The University operates three Innovation Centres in Cornwall with a total of 140 high growth enterprises creating high quality jobs in a region typified by low wages and low productivity
Acceleration through Innovation – a £3.4M project providing high value and intensive innovation support to SMEs
Formation Zone - a nationally recognised incubator model providing an open and interactive environment for undergraduate, graduate and external entrepreneurs to test their business idea
Aspect 3: Results
The University identified a number of key outcome based KPIs in our KE strategy and in 2018-19 & 2019-20 delivered the following:
805 businesses supported to develop new products, services or processes (through research collaborations, consultancy support, exploitation of IP, access to facilities etc) derived from a total of 3230 initial engagements with businesses.
61 new student start-ups, with a further 51 sustained
Positive influence on regional partnerships / initiatives through strategic engagement. Recent focus has been supporting the HoTSW LEP with the development of its Productivity Strategy Delivery Plan and the Local Industrial Strategy through the provision of research, coordination and engagement with key partners. We also worked in partnership with Exeter University to produce the Digital Skills Plan for HoTSW, one of the first pilots in the country to produce underpinning data to tackle the digital divide.
The University also undertakes impact evaluations of all its project activity, which enable us to demonstrate and celebrate success, while learning lessons for future provision and we also track and publish the impacts of our Innovation Centre operation through regular surveys and annual reports, the latest of which found that:
During the previous twelve months the Cornwall Innovation Centre Businesses accounted for 169 FTE new jobs and £10.5 million in GVA.
£6.84 million in additional business turnover was created due to businesses locating in the Innovation Centre.
In addition we also track and benchmark our performance on business related metrics within the HEBCIS. While these are income measures, they do provide a useful proxy for the level of activity and its impact with our regional business base, and in particular our focus on supporting SMEs, who typically find it harder to engage with Universities. Highlights of the most recent figures (for 2018-19) include
1st in the SW for facilities and equipment related income from SMEs (12th in UK)
2nd in the SW for consultancy income (44th in UK)
3rd in SW for regeneration income (14th nationally) – 8th nationally for ERDF, 6th nationally for ESF
3rd in SW (18th nationally) for current turnover of active spinouts
Reflecting the significant economic and societal impact of the University, an independent study was commissioned and published in 2018, as an opportunity to celebrate the role of the University in regional growth and regeneration, but also stimulate debate around our role as a Civic University. The report found that the University generated 5,882 FTE jobs across the HoTSW LEP area ,equivalent to just over 1% of all HoTSW employment. The University’s activities also drove £585.2m of output and contributed £324.2m of HoTSW GVA, equivalent to nearly 1% of total GVA. Across the South West as a whole, the University’s activities generated £844.6m of output, £448.4m of GVA and created 8,331 FTE jobs.
For further information, please send queries to Adrian.dawson@plymouth.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Public and Community Engagement (PCE) is embedded across the University of Plymouth. We specialise in long term, embedded PCE, having strategic, equitable collaborations with local organisations. Working in partnership is a key strength and we prioritise working with groups who are marginalised or find it difficult to engage with mainstream services. PCE is firmly embedded in our strategy of delivering positive economic and societal outcomes which runs throughout our research areas from marine to dentistry. It engages both students and staff, while our academics recognise the benefits which public engagement brings both to society and their own research. We look to constantly improve our approach to PCE and are keen to integrate it with our work on our civic mission.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our Vision is to be ‘a broad-based, research-intensive university, open to all who can benefit from a University of Plymouth education, and delivering excellent interdisciplinary research, experiential education and civic engagement’. Public and Community Engagement (PCE) is embedded across the University and this is recognised within the 2030 strategy which highlights our focus on ‘Impacting economic and societal outcomes through strong and productive industrial and civic engagement’. Our Research and Innovation Strategy promotes the importance of delivering impact and wider public engagement as part of our aim to ‘make a difference in economic, social, and cultural terms’.
Public engagement with research is one of the core functions of our research institutes. For example, our Sustainable Earth Institute aims to “bring researchers together with businesses, community groups and individuals to develop cutting-edge research and innovative approaches that build resilience to global challenges”
To evaluate our impact and inform future actions, the University commissioned an independent study of the social and economic impact of our work (2018). The research concluded ‘one of the most distinctive features of the University is the way in which external engagement and partnership working is embedded across the institution’. Building on this report, we organised a conference with external partners and ran a workshop facilitated by National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) to help us develop a shared vision for public engagement.
One of the agreed actions was to set up our Public Engagement Champions Group (2019). Led by our Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and with senior representatives from across the University (both academic and professional services), it includes the Directors of our Research Institutes and representation from each Faculty. This active group has developed Terms of Reference to promote, monitor and champion public engagement.
The responsibility for PCE sits with our DVC (Research and Enterprise) who is a committed advocate of public engagement alongside the Head of Research Impact and Partnerships. We have worked to understand community needs, and opportunities in our city through our networks, our own research and the joint delivery of projects. University staff sit on numerous boards and groups to help us identify needs in our city/region and build upon our long term, embedded relationships. These range from the Local Enterprise Partnerships to local charities and social enterprises.
Aspect 2: Support
We have a long track record of PCE and support is provided through our Research and Innovation Directorate, External Relations and via Schools and Faculties. In recognition of the need to develop PE work further, we have committed to appointing a full time Public Engagement Officer in 2020/2021.
Practical support includes:
Recognition and Reward: We use a variety of methods to recognise and reward “External Engagement and Enterprise”. One criterion for academic promotion is a “Significant track record of effective and innovative public engagement in research” and is part of our annual performance reviews and included in Research Leadership training and Research Mentoring. Faculties have annual allocations for KE which can be used to recognise and support existing PE activity including Histories of the Unexpected and the Creative Associates programme which has explored novel ways to share research with the public, including visualisations, sound installations, mapping memories and photography.
Support and Advice: Our Research Office ensures PE is considered and costed in research proposals and is of the highest quality. Examples include the Centre for Health Technology Pop-Up project which was funded under the UKRI Enhancing Place-Based Partnerships in Public Engagement call and tackles health inequalities in one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. PE advice and support are also provided post award as part of project planning.
Raising Awareness: External Relations (ER) promote PE and support submissions for external awards. Recent successes include our Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise being named in the NatWest SE100 Social Business Top 100 Index and our Law Clinic winning Best Contribution by a Team of Students (in partnership with the British Red Cross) in the 2020 Pro LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards. External Relations promote PCE activity via press releases, social media and staff bulletins. The events team run an annual Public Research programme including a weeklong Research Festival, through which we engage the public on subjects ranging from marine robotics to socially-engaged heritage projects with over 15000 people attending the programme annually.
Aspect 3: Activity
University staff and students regularly use their skills and expertise for public engagement, knowledge exchange and public service. In a typical year, staff are estimated to deliver more than 255,000 hours of PCE worth around £17.6m. Over 40% of staff contribute to public engagement.
There is a vast programme of activity, some planned centrally but much of it developed by academics interested in sharing their research with the public and recognising the benefits this brings to society and their own research. We specialise in long term, embedded PCE, often with hard to engage groups who are marginalised. To ensure activity is meeting the needs of our communities, we build feedback and evaluation into delivery.
Our activity falls under the following themes and includes some key examples;
1.Tackling Inequalities
The University has pioneered a PCE approach to tackling oral health inequalities, a key issue in our city. Starting 10 years ago, this now runs through a social enterprise structure with a team of eight staff. It is a credit-bearing element of undergraduate programmes, and in 2019 students provided 26,448 dental appointments with treatment for 4,245 people who couldn’t access a dentist otherwise. The programme includes ‘Dental Buddies’ in schools and ‘Dental Ambassadors’ which supports peer led approaches for adults and young people with learning disabilities. A key offering is a clinic treating people experiencing homelessness, which has recently expanded to include individuals using drug and alcohol services, as well as vulnerable women who risk having multiple children removed from their care. We are now replicating this award-winning model with medical and optometry students.
The Law Clinic runs a range of pro bono projects offering advice and representation to clients. In a year, students provide over 10,000 hours of support to approximately 200 clients with issues such as welfare tribunals, refugee legal advice and family law. It is co-ordinated by students, supervised by staff and practitioners, and has partnerships with organisations such as Citizens Advice, the British Red Cross and Plymouth City Council, as well as working in communities via a street law approach, informing and empowering local people for the benefit of the wider community.
A new partnership project, The Rainbow Connection, uses a series of community workshops and oral history practice, to create safe spaces for Plymouth’s LGBT+ heritage to be shared, supported and celebrated. Through the process, the project will create a unique intergenerational mentoring scheme as well as an archival resource for this and future generations.
Our evaluation research unit, SERIO, work with public and third sector organisations to help understand what works in tackling deep rooted social issues such as loneliness amongst older people, long-term unemployment, using green space in cities etc. The team use innovative public engagement methods to work with local communities and ensure their voice is heard, including successfully recruiting, training and supporting a team of older people to become citizen evaluators.
2. Global Challenges:
The International Marine Litter Research Unit has been at the forefront of work on micro-plastics for over two decades, focusing on the global distribution of microplastics; their ingestion by marine life; and the role that textiles and wastewater play. The team have also worked closely with communities, psychologists, artists, educators, and schoolchildren to advocate and bring about behaviour change in society.
Risky Research is a research programme which explores how complex and contested Earth science issues can most effectively be shared with non-technical (public) audiences. Working with a team of doctoral students, human geographers, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists, the research looks at how to communicate risk and uncertainty around geoscience problems. The research programme includes working with communities to understand cultural responses to geo-hazard threats and to emerging geo-energy developments.
3. Strengthening the creative sector:
The Arts Institute runs a wide-ranging public arts programme which plays a pivotal role in building culture and art in the city and South West region. It includes The Levinsky Gallery, the Jill Craigie Cinema, a cutting-edge theatre and dance programme; musical performances, concerts and events. All facilities are open to the public and they reach audiences of up to 40,000. Their autumn 2020 programme asks questions about history, historic memory, Black Lives Matter and social justice.
Alongside the Arts Institute, The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business is currently managing a portfolio of externally funded, collaborative KE projects worth over £15.5 million. Through working with city partners, these funds have been secured for Plymouth and public engagement runs throughout. They include delivering large scale cultural events to inspire and enrich lives such as the Illuminate light festival, in which the University is a key partner. We are also working in partnership to support the recently opened The Box, the largest multi-disciplinary arts and heritage space to open in the country in 2020.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
Our PCE activity contributes towards tackling city inequalities, helps build a stronger creative sector and engages the community in tackling global challenges at a local level, such as improving the environment via beach cleans and community tree planting.
The report on the impact of the university (2018) highlighted partnership work as a strength. Building upon this, we started working on our Civic Mission and are undertaking a programme of research with communities and stakeholders to understand priorities and opportunities for the role we play in our city. This will also feed into our PCE approach.
We work closely with external partners to understand how to improve our approach. Projects such as Community Dentistry and the Law Clinic have locally set KPIs and we are developing institution wide KPIs. The dentistry group produce an annual Social Audit Report and have evaluated their work with homeless people using a mixed methods approach. The Arts Institute has identified a set of KPI's to measure activity, this includes data collection, audience attendance, online engagement, and feedback forms. They share the learning and knowledge with institutional and city-wide cultural venues and community groups, as well as national cultural networks.
We were recently successful in being awarded £500,000 (Office for Students and Research England) to deliver and evaluate a programme of student KE. The impact of projects such as the Law Clinic and our community music in schools will be evaluated over the next two years. As part of this, we are developing an institutional wide evaluation model and toolkit based upon the Theory of Change which will be available for all PE projects at Plymouth.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
The key mechanism for reviewing outcomes of activities has been the economic and social impact report, the findings of which were discussed at the Public Engagement Champions Group and debated at an external conference. Actions include considering KPIs for public PCE and adopting good practice from the Creative Associates programme.
At a local level, we act on the evaluation findings of projects. Examples include:
Community Dentistry – local schools wanted more support for key oral health messages which led to the ‘Open Wide and Step Inside’ project. Findings have been shared with schools, pupils and widely across community networks.
Citizen Evaluators (CEs) – Evaluation highlighted the benefit of role playing as part of the CE training and the opportunity for CEs to undertake feedback to communities and funders. The training has now been adjusted and CEs have travelled to events and prepared their own presentations, in their own words.
The Law Clinic – feedback highlighted the need for a dedicated space on campus, the project is now moving into this space allowing them to expand further and have a more welcoming space.
We find that we are constantly learning and developing what works well in different contexts. We look forward to developing our expertise alongside our partners and ensuring our learning is shared both with our sector and with our community.
For further information, please send queries to Allice.hocking@plymouth.ac.uk