levelling up

Levelling up is not a zero-sum game

Dr Peter O’Brien, YU Executive Director In last Sunday’s newspapers, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, confirmed that the government is planning to publish its long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper this week. Whilst other events have pre-occupied the government recently, demand has nevertheless been growing for a clearer direction …

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Working together, universities can connect diverse research assets, for the benefit of all

Monika Antal, Executive Manager This blog was first published by JiSC on 21 January 2022 Like many universities across the nation, the 12 members of the Yorkshire Universities (YU) group supported the COVID-19 response, working with the NHS, government, industry and local authorities to act swiftly. From vaccines to treatments, analysing data, and sharing buildings, …

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New YU Report: Universities and ‘Place Promotion’ in West Yorkshire

Report written by James Ransom, YU Associate This discussion paper provides an overview of some of the key issues shaping the contribution of universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) to the promotion of place, and to attracting inward investment and increased trade into Yorkshire and the Humber, and in particular West Yorkshire. It should be …

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Solidarity or spectacle – two paths to levelling up

James Ransom, YU Associate

Politicians are fond of comparing the UK to Germany – usually as a model of how we could do something better. A recent example is Boris Johnson’s speech on levelling up from last month. “I remember going to former East Germany in 1990 just after the wall had gone down”, he said, “and I remember being amazed at how far behind west Germany it then was – a place of strange little cars with two stroke engines and fake coffee”. But then he adds, “to a large extent Germany has succeeded in levelling up where we have not”.

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Regional Policy, ‘Levelling Up’ and R&D: a north of England perspective

As published on HEPI on 3 June 2021.

This blog was contributed by Dr Annette Bramley, Director, N8 Research Partnership and Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director, Yorkshire Universities. This blog is in response to the recent HEPI report on Regional Policy and R&D. You can find Annette and Peter on Twitter @AnnetteB_N8 and @obrienpeter72.

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Graduates, Jobs and Levelling Up Yorkshire

Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director

Last week, the Queen’s Speech set out the government’s legislative programme for the next session of Parliament, with two bills in particular likely to have a direct impact on the higher education system. In this blog, I frame my comments around the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which is situated alongside the government’s commitment to ‘Level Up’ the regions, and in particular the proposal, as set out in the Queens Speech, to bring more jobs and training to people where they live.

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Boosting regional research and development: The role of regional university networks

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

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Yorkshire’s future depends on higher and further education

Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director

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.

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