How Can We Mitigate the Impact of the COVID-19 Unemployment Crisis Through Lifelong Learning?

A new report by City-REDI and the Industrial Strategy Council presents evidence on some of the skills challenges facing the UK and how they might be addressed. Dr Abigail Taylor considers the key points in the report that are relevant to the West Midlands as it seeks to plan its recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. … Continue reading “How Can We Mitigate the Impact of the COVID-19 Unemployment Crisis Through Lifelong Learning?”

Universities and the Recovery of Local Communities From the COVID-19 Crisis: A Role for the Social Sciences

In this blog, Professor John Goddard and Des McNulty discuss how COVID-19 provides an opportunity for social science and universities to contribute to the recovery and renewal not just of the nation, but of their areas and regions, contributing to ‘levelling up’. It was originally commissioned and published by the Campaign for Social Science as … Continue reading “Universities and the Recovery of Local Communities From the COVID-19 Crisis: A Role for the Social Sciences”

COVID-19 and the Impact on Crime in the West Midlands

In this blog, Dr Sara Hassan (WM REDI) and Emerzon Somera (West Midlands Combined Authority) look into how crime statistics have changed since lockdown began, and some of the factors that have influenced these changes. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, many speculated changes in crime. These statistics show the impact of COVID-19 on … Continue reading “COVID-19 and the Impact on Crime in the West Midlands”

The Need for Greater Devolution in England to Respond to COVID-19

Welcome to REDI-Updates, a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. West Midlands REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss various topics, with this first publication focusing on how inclusive growth can be a tool to tackle regional imbalances across the UK. In this article, Dr Charlotte Hoole … Continue reading “The Need for Greater Devolution in England to Respond to COVID-19”

Optimising Entrepreneurial Development Processes for Smart Specialisation in the European Union

Optimizing entrepreneurial development process for smart specialization in the European Union by Laszlo Szerb, Raquel Ortega-Argiles, Zoltan Acs and Eva Komlosi.  This paper published in Regional Science demonstrates how the Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI) can be used to optimize local entrepreneurial discovery processes, in a manner which can support the construction of regional … Continue reading “Optimising Entrepreneurial Development Processes for Smart Specialisation in the European Union”

City-REDI / WM REDI Research E-Symposium

On May 27, 13.00-16.00, researchers from City-REDI/WM REDI will be presenting their ongoing work at the institutes. You are most welcome to join our webinar and find out about our research. Please register here The programme and abstracts for the e-symposium are below: Time Title Presenter 13.00 – 13.10 Introduction & Welcome Professor Simon Collinson … Continue reading “City-REDI / WM REDI Research E-Symposium”

Resilience and Inclusive Growth: Two Faces of the Same Dice?

Welcome to REDI-Updates. REDI-Updates is a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. WM REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss various topics, with this first publication focusing on how inclusive growth can be a tool to tackle regional imbalances across the UK.  In this article, Dr Anastasios … Continue reading “Resilience and Inclusive Growth: Two Faces of the Same Dice?”

The Impact of COVID-19 on Firm Innovation: The Case of the West Midlands

In this blog, Dr Chloe Billing explores the impact of COVID-19 on innovation activities in the West Midlands. A full range of business support measures has been made available to UK businesses to help with the current COVID-19 crisis. These were discussed in a recent blog by Professor Raquel Ortega Argiles and include the Coronavirus … Continue reading “The Impact of COVID-19 on Firm Innovation: The Case of the West Midlands”

REDI to Debate – The Effect of COVID-19 on Levelling-Up and the Government’s Green Book

Welcome to REDI to Debate in the first edition of REDI-Updates. REDI-Updates is a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. WM REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss various topics, with this first publication focusing on how inclusive growth can be a tool to tackle regional imbalances … Continue reading “REDI to Debate – The Effect of COVID-19 on Levelling-Up and the Government’s Green Book”

REDI Updates 1: Director’s Welcome – Regional Research Collaboration Will Be Crucial to Improve Our Economy and Society

Foreword – by Simon Collinson and Ben Brittain When we began writing this, our first edition of REDI-Updates, the COVID-19 pandemic was a small and distant threat. A local crisis limited to a single city-region in China. The world has changed dramatically since then. As we re-focus our research efforts and our analytics towards projects … Continue reading “REDI Updates 1: Director’s Welcome – Regional Research Collaboration Will Be Crucial to Improve Our Economy and Society”