The University and the City

John Goddard

Emeritus Professor of Regional Development Studies

Outline

• Re-inventing the Civic University

• The university and the public good

• Managing the tensions between academic excellence and access

• Strategic positioning of individual universities

• Newcastle University and the creative city

Academic Perspectives

• Higher education research and policy focuses on the university as an institution.

• City and regional research and policy focuses on research and innovation systems.

• Both under problematise the other and neglect the holistic nature of cities and of universities.

What is the University?

• Corporate identity or sheltered workshop for academic tribes.

• Autonomous or state regulated.• High/low in National higher education

systems/hierarchy.• Sources of income (global/national/local).• Campus/Non-campus.

What is the City?

• Legal entity or a node on global networks of flows.

• Weakly/strongly connected set of actors and agencies.

• Self sufficient/dependent on the nation state.• High/low in the national settlement

system/hierarchy.• Dense/dispersed physical form.

Cities AND Universities

• Nature of relationships highly contingent on specific city and university circumstances.

• What is/should be the role of the university in the city?

• How can/do universities engage with external actors in meeting city needs?

• How do/can cities support universities in achieving their ambitions.

Civic Universities and University Cities

• City status and presence of a university have gone hand in hand through history (Bender/Reich).

• Changing role of the nation state in mediating the relationship between universities and cities.

• Disconnect between higher education policy and urban/regional policy

• The re-emergence of the Civic University.

The University and the Knowledge Society

• “The great significance of the university is that it can be the most important site of connectivity in the Knowledge society… (and)… a key institution for formation of cultural and technological citizenship … (and)… for reviving the decline of the public sphere”.

Gerard Delanty (2002)

Universities as “cities of intellect”

Clark Kerr (2002)

Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1)

• “lay the foundations for further knowledge and wealth”• “(be) a vital element in the development of communities

and regions”.• “(be) integral to our national culture and a cohesive

society (and) nurture the shared values that bind us together”.

• “Unlock British talent and support economic growth through innovation as never before”.

• “(ensure) the financial benefits (of intellectual property) flow through the economy (and) bring about the wider diffusion of knowledge across the country”.

Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (2)

• “The closer a country is to the “technological frontier”…. The more dependent is its growth on a highly educated workforce. For these countries – and regions – innovation, so dependent on higher level skills, is particularly important to their economic progress”.

• “The strength of DIUS should be in its ability to bring all these aspects of higher policy – teaching and research together”.

• “I am minded to conclude that in the future we do need a significant concentration of research activity. I don’t see the future as a step-by-step dilution (or) spread of research activity”.

Structural tensions (Calhoun 2009)

• Knowledge may be in the public interest but not widely circulated• Excellence in the academy is measured in terms of exclusivity• “Public support of universities is based on the effort to educate

citizens in general, to share knowledge, to distribute it as widely as possible, and to produce in accord with publically articulated purposes. This is specially pronounced as one of the guiding principles of democracy, which is held to depend on an educated citizenry, but also of economic development, especially as this requires technical expertise and general education of participants”

• “If the field has no authoritative knowledge it has nothing valuable to share”

On Hierarchies(Calhoun 2009)

• Hierarchies of universities and cities – the excellence/accessibility trade off

• Real knowledge is “eventually” good for humanity as a whole but benefits unequally trickle down

• “We treat our opportunities to do research not as a public trust but as a reward for success in previous studies”

• “Rewards for research are deeply tied up with the production of academic hierarchy…and the relative standing of institutions”

Academic Leadership and External Engagement(After Vestergaard)

Higher Education rationality

Science and Business rationality

Synthesis

Role of government

At a distance Close interaction Close interaction but carefully managed

Division of tasks R&T: HEI

C: Other actors

R&T: HEI

C: HEI

R&T: Researchers

C: Students and Private Sector partners (on campus

Activities undertaken

Guardian of truth Innovation factory, key agent in the innovation supply chain

Innovation cradle

Roles and responsibilities

Independent

academics

Responsive academics Guardians of truth and innovation facilitators

E: Entrepreneurship C: Commercialisation

An increasingly complex environment for higher education institutions: Challenges for institutional leaders

What and how to teach?

Pressure for Rankings

Public Service Decreasing Funding

New frontiers in research

Increased AccountabilityMarket pressures

Governance

A new scenario for HEIs...

Teaching Research

Academic

Societal

Education relevant to workLLL, Sector Skills, prof quals, employability, workforce education

(Relevance)

Translation of knowledge

into innovation

(Applications)

Academic education

World class academic Research base

Higher EducationDrivers

DR M.Wedgwood, Manchester Metropolitan University

Teaching Research

Academic

Societal

Widening Participation/access

Sector Skills

Graduate Employability

Employer Engagement and HE Targets

Professional Quals

Life Long Learning

Workforce Development

Foundation degrees

Economic Growth

Business Competitiveness

Knowledge Transfer

IP exploitation/spinout companies

Regional Development and regeneration

Graduates

Post Graduates

Higher Education Targets

Learning programmes

Intellectual Capital

Academic Research

International research base

Discipline advancement

New knowledge

World Class Knowledge Base

Some agendas/expectations of HE

DR M.Wedgwood, Manchester Metropolitan University,

Teaching Research

Academic

Societal/employerA UK Research Intensive

University?

DR M.Wedgwood, Manchester Metropolitan University

Teaching Research

Academic

SocietalPost 1992 University?

DR M.Wedgwood, Manchester Metropolitan University,

Teaching Research

Academic

SocietalA Mixed Economy University?

DR M.Wedgwood, Manchester Metropolitan University,

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T

R

S

S

I

C

T = T e a c h in gR = R e s e a r c hS = S e rv ic e to th e c o m m u n ity

S = S k illsI = In n o v a t io nC = C u ltu r e a n d c o m m u n ity

U N IV E R S IT Y R E G IO N

University/region value added

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National policies impacting on university / regional relationsKey: S & T Science and Technology

TDP Territorial DevelopmentHE Higher EducationLM Labour MarketIndust Industry policy

LM

HE

TDP

S & T

Indust

Uni

Local & Regional Agencies

vinnova (1) 15

The regionally engaged multi-modal and multi-scalar university (after Arbo and Benneworth)

Skills

Culture

National policy

LM

TDP

IND HE

S&T

‘Global’

Academic kudos

‘National’

‘Regional’

‘Science park

HospitalCulture village

Inward investors

Innovation

Newcastle universities and the city

• An entrepreneurial/innovative city• A learning city• A creative city• A healthy city• A green city• An inclusive city• A well governed city• An international city

Newcastle University Mission

“To be a world-class research intensive University, to deliver teaching of the highest quality and to play a leading role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England”

Transforming Horizons (Excellence with a Purpose)

• Transforming the environment• Transforming health• Transforming culture• Transforming business• Transforming lives

Newcastle University Transforming Culture Spaces and Places

• Creating spaces (buildings) where cultural activities can take place

• Creating places where the university and the community can come together

• Combining university and non-university activities in a collectively managed zone or quarter

The Cultural Mix:Activities and their locations

• Academic schools and research institutes• Intermediate organisations (e.g. theatre company,

support for cultural businesses, learned societies)• Facilities (e.g. performance spaces, display spaces,

digital laboratories, resources for teaching, research and community use, incubators for cultural businesses)

• Diverse art forms and their combinations – visual, music, performance, writing, heritage, digital and tactile

School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics

• Long-standing links with Northern Stage: joint dramaturg post (‘From Page to Stage’ module), potential new MA; research opportunities, student placements, etc.

• Creative writing (poetry and prose): MA and research for several years, now expanding to undergraduate modules. Bill Herbert, Jackie Kay, Jack Mapanje, Margaret Wilkinson, Colin Teevan. Northern Writers’ Centre with New Writing North

• Research collaboration with Seven Stories includes AHRC-funded Collaborative PhD studentship in Children’s Literature

• Workshops with RSC (also in Education)

School of Arts & Cultures

• Music: Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (£4.5m) with Universities for the North East and The Sage Gateshead. Joint research projects. BMus in Folk and Traditional Music with Folkworks. Concert series (all musics)

• Fine Art: BALTIC Chair in Contemporary Art (Susan Hiller)

• International Centre for Cultural & Heritage Studies: teaching and research with Tyne & Wear Museums, English & Scottish Heritage, etc. Great North Museum ‘laboratory’ opportunities

Other School Links

• Historical Studies: local history (joint AHRB research centre); archaeology (Roman frontier studies, etc.)

• Geography, Politics, Sociology: three research studentships with The Sage Gateshead

• Business School: MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise Management; cultural research projects

Other School Links

• Biology; Marine Science & Technology; Civil Engineering & Geosciences: use of Hancock Museum collections for teaching and research projects

• Neurology, Neurobiology & Psychiatry: connections between memory and visual arts explored in Hatton Gallery exhibitions

Research Institutes

• Culture Lab: Digital media including Music, Fine Art, Creative Writing, Film, Electrical, Electronic & Computer Engineering. Opening in summer 2006 in the Old Assembly Rooms

• Policy, Ethics & Life Sciences (PEALS): part of Centre for Life. Sci-Art agenda parallels Culture Lab. Tom Shakespeare, Director of Outreach and Chair of ACENE – public understanding of science

• Environment & Sustainability (IRES): relationship with Great North Museum as ‘Gateway to Landscape of North East England’ – public understanding of environmental issues

Widening Participation

• Museums and gallery have successful track record in education, e.g. Museum of Antiquities finalist for Gulbenkian Prize, Hancock Museum under-5s Den award, Hatton Gallery disadvantaged teenagers

• PARTNERS programme in local schools• Public Lectures for all ages• Also key agenda for Northern Stage, Northern Writers’ Centre, The

Sage Gateshead, etc• ‘Virtual Cultural Quarter’: web portal widening access and building

on museums, rock art website, etc. Links to other partners’ websites

Key Physical Components of Cultural Transformation

• Great North Museum• Northern Stage• Northern Writers Centre• Culture Lab

Partner Organisations

• Major cultural organisations including Northern Stage, The Sage Gateshead, BALTIC, Tyneside Cinema, Tyne & Wear Museums, Seven Stories, New Writing North, Live Theatre, International Centre for Life, RSC

• Arts Council England NE, Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council

• Learned societies: Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, Natural History Society of Northumbria, Lit & Phil

Building the bridge between the university and the city