In this response to Richard Jones’ blog, Rebecca Riley highlights how the University of Birmingham is putting civic engagement into practice through City-REDI, the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub, and its Civic Agreement. Showing how universities can play a vital role in tackling regional inequality and supporting local growth.
Richard Jones’ recent blog offers a compelling and urgent call for UK universities to reimagine their role in society, not as isolated institutions chasing global prestige, but as civic anchors embedded in the economic and social fabric of their regions. His argument that universities must “lean in” to the national effort to address productivity and place-based inequality resonates strongly with the work being done at the University of Birmingham, particularly through City-REDI and its work with regional partners, our development of a new civic university agreement through the Birmingham Promise and our investments in research and innovation in support of local businesses and people.
Jones rightly identifies the productivity crisis and regional disparities as central challenges. His observation that many UK cities—especially in the North and Midlands—are locked into a “low skills, low productivity, low innovation” equilibrium is borne out by extensive research at City-REDI. In fact, this very framing underpins much of the Institute’s work, which seeks to understand and address the structural barriers to inclusive growth.
Bridging Research and Policy
There is a long history of universities bridging to policy, some examples including The Heseltine, City-REDI, Insights North East, YPern, Institute for Collective Place Leadership and the Nottingham Collaboratory, these are examples of where universities have directly invested and supported bridging functions, with a combination of other funding including Research England and contract research. One of the most promising recent responses to the issues Jones raises is the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub, led by City-REDI, and the wider LPIP programme of four pilots. Funded by the ESRC, the LPIP Hub is designed to connect academic research with local policymaking, ensuring that national strategies are informed by local realities. It’s a direct attempt to overcome the disconnect Jones describes between universities and the communities they serve.
The Hub brings together universities, think tanks, and civic partners to co-create solutions to regional challenges. It’s not just about producing research; it’s about building collaboration, targeting effort on those topics where research expertise is needed most and embedding research (and researchers) in the places where it can make a difference. This is precisely the kind of civic role Jones advocates for, and it is encouraging to see it being realised in practice in the four pilot areas. This type of working, however, is not easy, and the pilots have had to overcome a wide range of set-up issues, both structural and relational. The effort in setting up these partnerships needs to be invested in for the long term, by the university, local partners and the funding bodies to enable high-quality relationships, which address local challenges.
The University of Birmingham’s Civic Agreement: A Public Commitment
Jones also calls for universities to earn their “social licence to operate.” The University of Birmingham’s Civic Agreement, launched in 2025, is a public articulation of that licence. It commits the university to four pillars: promoting education and opportunity, driving innovation, supporting the community, and fostering inclusive growth.
This isn’t just rhetoric. The agreement is backed by concrete actions through the regional engagement plan, collaborations with local authorities, support for SMEs, and partnerships with FE colleges aimed at aligning skills provision with regional needs. It reflects a deep understanding that universities must be both more agile and accountable to the places they inhabit.
The university is currently reviewing how we enable our staff and students to act on this promise, what the challenges and barriers are, as well as the opportunities. Birmingham, as the first civic university, and its leadership, are committed to delivering the regional engagement plan. This is not a new way of working; like all universities, working locally is normal. What’s new is having a strategic approach and support to make things happen. Developing our understanding and our priorities, we can scale to achieve more. Creating collaborations across the university to enable more productive relationships with partners is key to this, and as Jones says, universities “will have to do some things differently”.
A Broader View of Innovation
Jones critiques the narrow focus on spin-outs and IP as the primary mode of university innovation. City-REDI’s work supports this critique. While spin-outs and frontier science remain important, the Institute emphasises innovation diffusion, skills ecosystems, and policy engagement as equally vital. For example, its research into regional labour markets and business support mechanisms helps inform strategies that benefit not just high-tech firms, but the broader SME base.
Conclusion: From Vision to Action
Jones’ blog is a powerful vision statement. What’s heartening is that this vision is already being acted upon in Birmingham. Through City-REDI, the LPIP Hub, and the Civic Agreement, the University of Birmingham is a trailblazer in demonstrating what it means to be a truly civic university, one that doesn’t retreat in times of crisis, but steps forward to lead. Other universities are learning from the steps we have taken, and our approach is resonating with both national and regional tiers of government. The important thing is to build on that trajectory, recognising that the civic mission builds on the strengths of the university and supports the city and the West Midlands region to improve prosperity and the well-being of its citizens.
As Louise Kempton posted in response to Jones, “Great piece by Richard Jones on the regional civic role of universities. But the question remains, who will do this work (and pay for it)? Especially at a time when many universities are making fairly substantial staff reductions, implementing recruitment freezes and spending restrictions. University staff will struggle to do their ‘day jobs’ in the current climate; the danger is this other important role gets filed under ‘nice to do’ and universities become even more detached from their local communities.” This is the ultimate challenge, which will take a quadruple helix approach, with universities in partnership continuing to invest, but funders and place organisations also committing to the vision in the long term.
This blog was written by Rebecca Riley, Professor for Enterprise, Engagement and Impact, City-REDI, University of Birmingham and the Director of the LPIP Hub.
Find out more about the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of City-REDI or the University of Birmingham.