16 education & business
Vision for 2020 attracts key national figure as guest speaker
Southampton Solent University has announced that Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) will be this year‘s keynote speaker at its Vision for 2020 symposium scheduled for October 17. The Business Magazine‘s Sue Hughes reports
The University launched its Vision for 2020 initiative two years ago to improve regional graduate employment prospects and highlight the need for the Solent region to grow its knowledge economy.
Solent‘s vice-chancellor, Professor Van Gore, a champion of several niche economic sectors, including maritime and the creative industries, is delighted that the initiative has attracted a high-profile speaker of national calibre.
Matthew Taylor became chief executive of the RSA in 2006. Prior to this appointment, he was chief adviser on political strategy to the prime minister. In advance of his address, the University will host a ‘fact-finding‘ visit in September, and this will include a boardroom meeting with key figures from the area, hosted by Van Gore, to provide their views on the major economic and social issues.
Founded in a coffee shop in Covent Garden in 1754, the RSA has a wealth of notable achievements and fellows in its 250- year history. However, at the heart of its contemporary mission and public debates about the future prospects for the human race is the question: ‘Can we go on like this?‘ Will the ideas and values which transformed our world in the past two centuries be sufficient to find solutions to the challenges we now face or do we need new ways of thinking?
A ‘fact finding‘ visit in September will include a board room meeting in which key figures from the area will provide their views on the major economic and social issues
Recently published research by Centre for Cities, regular contributors to Vision for 2020 events, places Southampton in the upper quartile of its Recovery from Recession Index of 63 UK cities. Although the recession hit many cities hard, including Southampton, as soon as it began in 2008, the Centre‘s analysis shows clearly that this has been a downturn of two halves and that understanding how different cities have been affected can help to inform more effective policies, both national and local.
The Government‘s decision in February to give Southampton and Portsmouth the green light for their £1.5 billion City Deal,
www.businessmag.co.uk Matthew Taylor
which would bring thousands of new jobs and homes to the Solent area, will also help recovery and regeneration. Southampton and Portsmouth city councils, backed by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and other key partners, are now negotiating with the Government on the details of the package.
Solent University‘s director of marketing and communications, Trevor Thorne, believes working together is the key, and the University is currently discussing partnership accords with Business Solent and Hampshire Chamber of Commerce to add to those it already has in place with many other colleges and employers in the region.
Recently published research ... places Southampton in the upper quartile of its Recovery from Recession Index of 63 UK cities
Presently, 30% or so of the graduates of Southampton‘s two universities stay to live and work in the Solent region when they complete their studies. Thorne believes this needs to grow significantly and recently visited the South West LEP based in Bristol to better grasp how the Avon region retains 70% of the graduates of the Universities in Bristol and Bath.
He says: “At the first Vision for 2020 symposium, Paul Swinney‘s research for Centre for
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2013
Cities provided compelling evidence of the relationship between higher level qualifications and business productivity. However it is the location of job opportunities, rather than the location of a graduate‘s university, that will have the biggest influence on where a graduate goes.
“So, the answer is simple. We have to create more graduate level jobs to keep the brightest talent in the area. Buoyant cities are developing knowledge economies because employers are plugging in to the skills their local universities are providing. And universities are attracting new employers to locate to particular regions because they know the skills sets they need are inside the universities. In effect, we are becoming mini regional development agencies helping to drive economic change.“
30% or so of the graduates of Southampton‘s two universities stay to live and work in the Solent region when they complete their studies. Thorne believes this needs to grow significantly
Solent University has also been working with US company EMSI, a specialist in labour market and economic impact analysis, to assess areas of growth and decline in the regional economy and how the University can better connect with employers to meet their education and skills needs. This will help to shape a curriculum driven by demand rather than the more traditional supply-based model.
As the University‘s own brand develops, its strengths in niche areas are becoming highly regarded in the creative industries, health and sport, the maritime and retail sectors, and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.
The University is working with employers to mutual benefit in the key economic areas in which it can help make the difference, reaching out to others to support their development alongside its own. This was recently recognised by the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Southampton City Council, when Southampton Solent University won the Southampton Business Success Award 2013.
Details:
www.solent.ac.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48