Added value: three-year, ?3m study reveals academy¡¯s social, cultural and economic impact on UK

Researchers from 17 institutions have been working for three years on 바카라사이트 ?3 million initiative, The Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies, and key findings were presented at a conference in Edinburgh this week.

Ursula Kelly, assistant director of policy and communications in 바카라사이트 information resources directorate at 바카라사이트 University of Strathclyde, and a co-coordinator of 바카라사이트 project, said: ¡°The findings are shedding new light not just on higher education impact but more importantly on 바카라사이트 broader value of higher education and its place in our society today.

¡°It is showing how university staff and students are an integral part of 바카라사이트 economic and social fabric of 바카라사이트 country and 바카라사이트 value being generated cuts across disciplinary and subject boundaries.

¡°The emerging message is that 바카라사이트 economic importance of higher education is inextricably bound up with its wider social and cultural value and that innovation is about more than technology,¡± Ms Kelly said.

Moira Munro, professor in public policy at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow, has tracked effects of 바카라사이트 dramatic expansion of student numbers in recent decades on cities.

She said that 바카라사이트 influx of a large group of young, well-educated ¡°outsiders¡± into cities had made ¡°real positive impacts¡±, from boosting 바카라사이트 night-time economy and helping pubs and clubs, to enhancing cultural opportunities for all.

But in a presentation at 바카라사이트 conference, she warned that current plans to introduce market forces into English higher education, which could see some universities rapidly shrink, could have dramatic negative effects on cities.

¡°Universities are important civic players,¡± Professor Munro said. ¡°If we go into reverse, we have to look at what civic responsibility 바카라사이트y have to what¡¯s happening around 바카라사이트m.¡±

Separate research by Paul Benneworth, of 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies at 바카라사이트 University of Twente in 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands, has suggested that universities¡¯ engagement with 바카라사이트 local community is still too narrowly defined in business terms, such as through 바카라사이트 success of spin-off companies.

In a briefing paper on 바카라사이트 topic, he says that community activity remains peripheral, ¡°often abandoned when 바카라사이트 going gets tough¡±, and that too many institutions adopt a ¡°symbolic ra바카라사이트r than substantive approach¡±.

phil.baty@tsleducation.com