As published by HEPI on 14 May 2021
This blog has been kindly contributed by Dr Diana Beech, Chief Executive Officer of London Higher, and Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director of Yorkshire Universities – the umbrella bodies representing universities and higher education colleges across their respective regions. You can find Diana and Peter on Twitter at @dianajbeech and @obrienpeter72
Monika Antal, Executive Manager
This week saw the launch of the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission. This independent advisory group brings together a team of climate leaders from across the public, private and third sectors to work collaboratively with local authorities to help drive climate action and respond to the most serious threats facing the region.
OPINION
Professor Shirley Congdon, Chair of the YU Board
Yorkshire universities offer to help local businesses recover from pandemic
If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that we need to change the way we do business. As with any major upheaval, there have been winners and losers. As with the banking crisis of 2008, the pandemic has shown no mercy to businesses that relied on pre-existing norms. As news headlines have shown, this scourge has not just affected small and medium sized businesses. Even some of the mightiest have succumbed to the crisis.
Wednesday 3 March 2021
Speaking after today’s Budget Statement, by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director of Yorkshire Universities, said:
The last twelve months have seen COVID-19 impact in ways we could never have imagined. No one can fail to be shocked by the stories of how the virus has devastated lives, communities, businesses and places, but perhaps at the same time we are also inspired and thankful for the efforts of those on the front-line who have kept essential services functioning.
In July 2020, Yorkshire Universities, the Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network and the NHS Confederation published Levelling Up Yorkshire and Humber: health as the new wealth post-COVID. The report set out the bold actions that are needed by local and national leadership to embed a renewed focus on health, tackle long-standing regional inequalities, and boost future investment in Yorkshire’s health and life sciences assets as we begin living with and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learn more about how working with universities can benefit your business. The opening plenary explores business resilience and opportunities in the face of the pandemic, presenting a range of insights and an overview of available business support initiatives and programmes. Explore opportunities for collaboration with universities on initiatives across healthcare, inclusive creative industries, textiles and …
As published on the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission’s website on 27 January 2021.
Leaders from councils, businesses, utilities, unions, environmental groups and universities from across Yorkshire and Humber are coming together to tackle the climate crisis head on through a major new partnership.
The Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, which is set to launch formally in March, will provide an independent voice to help support and track the delivery of ambitious climate actions across the region.
Ask anyone in a university working on local growth or community engagement whether having dedicated funding for this activity makes their life easier, and you’ll nearly always be told it does. The same person may also bemoan the amount of red tape, small print and complexity involved with this funding – but the benefits of European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF), for example, outweighed the bureaucratic headaches and university engagement in ESIF grew year after year.
One of the last non-virtual gatherings (remember those?) I attended this year was the Climate + Culture + Collaboration event organised by Culture Forum North on the 27th of February. At the time of registering to it, I remember thinking it will be a treat to participate in something that combines professional and personal interests on the same date as my birthday, so I was really looking forward to it.