Ahead of last year’s Labour Party conference there was an expectation that Keir Starmer would signal a desire for universities to engage even further with their localities and regions.
An article by David Kernohan hinted at this and, in the same space, Jonathan Grant and Martin Szomszor have asked if the UK research system should be looking for more of a local impact.
When it comes to learning from others around place-shaping and working closely with local policymakers there is much to learn from elsewhere in Europe – where close civic links have been a feature of the education landscape for many years. The University of Exeter’s experience as a member of the self-financing EUniverCities network since around 2016 has provided an opportunity to explore diverse international approaches to civic engagement.
