REDI-Updates: How Does the Cost-Of-Living Crisis Impact People’s Health and Well-Being?

The latest edition of REDI-Updates is out now – providing expert data insights and clear policy guidance. In this edition, the WMREDI team investigates what factors are contributing to the cost-of-living crisis and the impact it is having on households, businesses, public services and the third sector. We also look at how the crisis in … Continue reading “REDI-Updates: How Does the Cost-Of-Living Crisis Impact People’s Health and Well-Being?”

The LPIP Hub: Can Productivity Bring Around the Change We Need in Places?

Rebecca Riley recently attended an RSA Urban Futures Roundtable looking at the potential of the UK’s cities. In a series of blogs, Rebecca reflects on the challenges facing places in building regenerative economies. This blog is for the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub which launched early this year. The Hub seeks to address nationwide issues … Continue reading “The LPIP Hub: Can Productivity Bring Around the Change We Need in Places?”

WMREDI Policy Seminar: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Growth

WMREDI keeps a finger on the pulse of the biggest trends, opportunities and challenges facing the West Midlands economy. In June 2023, WMREDI held a series of policy seminars at The Exchange, in Centenary Square, Birmingham, to bring the most up-to-date information and insights to inform policymakers and business leaders’ decision-making. Our first policy seminar … Continue reading “WMREDI Policy Seminar: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Growth”

Boosting and Measuring Regional Innovation, Adoption, and Pan-University Partnerships

On 28th June, WMREDI held a hybrid seminar with Dr Helen Turner and Tyler Rickard to discuss innovation policy and pan-university innovation partnerships. This seminar gave an overview of the big challenges facing innovation policy: measuring and boosting the adoption and diffusion of innovations. Tyler Rickard outlined how innovation policies are adopted and used to … Continue reading “Boosting and Measuring Regional Innovation, Adoption, and Pan-University Partnerships”

The UK Regional Economy and the Uneven Impacts of Brexit

Donald Houston and Iain Docherty highlight that insufficient attention has been paid to the regional implications of economic policy choices such as Brexit, which has hampered efforts to address place-based inequalities. This blog was originally posted on the UK in a Changing Europe website. For almost a century, the UK policy system has – with … Continue reading “The UK Regional Economy and the Uneven Impacts of Brexit”

Skills and Regional Economic Development

Anne Green and Abigail Taylor discuss skills policy in the UK. How can we improve skill provision to reduce regional economical disparity? This blog post was produced for inclusion in the Birmingham Economic Review for 2022.  The annual Birmingham Economic Review is produced by the University of Birmingham’s City-REDI and the Greater Birmingham Chambers of … Continue reading “Skills and Regional Economic Development”

WMREDI Policy Briefing: Pride In Place

Pride in place is one of four overarching objectives in the Levelling Up White Paper as well as the least detailed of its twelve missions. This policy briefing by Rebecca Riley and Des McNulty explores this objective from the perspective of the role universities could play. The underlying argument of the pride in place mission … Continue reading “WMREDI Policy Briefing: Pride In Place”

What Makes a Cluster and Who (and Where) Benefits?

Policymakers are once again focused on the potential of clusters to boost regional growth. However, as James Davies and Simon Collinson demonstrate, a cluster’s contribution to growth can cross regional, national or even continental boundaries. Policymakers, consultants and academics have focused on the potential of clusters to contribute to regional economic growth for a long … Continue reading “What Makes a Cluster and Who (and Where) Benefits?”

Reconceptualising University Contribution to Knowledge Exchange: Broadening our Understanding of Motivations, Channels and Stakeholders

Fumi Kitagawa and colleagues discuss the importance of knowledge exchange for Universities, but how there remains a bias towards the commercialisation of STEM fields. This was originally published on the Centre for Innovation Management Research website. In recent years, fostering knowledge exchange (KE) between academics and external stakeholders has become increasingly important within the policy … Continue reading “Reconceptualising University Contribution to Knowledge Exchange: Broadening our Understanding of Motivations, Channels and Stakeholders”

WMREDI City Index Tool: Core Cities Comparison

The City Index Tool is a data dashboard which allows users to compare and rank 61 English cities using a varierty of metrics and categories. Alice Pugh demonstrates its use by comparing the 8 English members of the Core City UK alliance. View the City Index, part of the WMREDI Data Lab. What is the … Continue reading “WMREDI City Index Tool: Core Cities Comparison”