Professor Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Engagement at the University of York, an organisational member of the Institute of Economic Development, argues the case for new forms of leadership to drive economic development and innovation
Levelling up is central to facilitating and driving economic development and innovation. But what does this mean in practice? And how do we move from great rhetoric to purposeful action?
First, let’s focus on innovation clusters. New forms of leadership within these clusters can play a key role in enabling and accelerating a levelling up ecosystem that builds resilience and adaptability so that places and communities can remain successful and economically and socially vibrant. Universities can be central to this because of their innate involvement in driving research, applied research and knowledge exchange. They are often the best vehicle as they can provide both the scale and breadth of these activities at a local and regional level. In addition, universities play a significant role in developing diverse talent pools in new and emerging sectors.
“Levelling up is central to facilitating and driving economic development and innovation. But what does this mean in practice? And how do we move from great rhetoric to purposeful action?”
Second, new forms of leadership are concerned with action, not just words. Levelling up requires leadership. However, its absence is often notable in discussions on how we ensure innovation in our economy results in new and different kinds of productivity that anchor new innovative industries in place and region. In my organisation, the University of York, we believe leadership is central to innovation and equally crucial in harnessing our R&D capabilities and the talents of our diverse staff and graduates to drive innovation.
How can universities become involved in economic development, skills and innovation under a local devolution model?
The heart of this question is about leadership embedded in a shared sense of purpose, a collective endeavour and is relational. This requires new ways of thinking, new ways of acting and new ways of delivering. Leadership and levelling up is about utilising our convening power and influence to support regional economic development and to be a catalyst for change to ensure we foster and support emergent and existing talent from every part of our region and beyond – that’s what levelling up means in practice. We need anchor institutions prepared to do rather than hold steady.
Delivering levelling up and innovation by placing leadership and collaboration at the heart of the University of York
At the University of York, we deliver on the levelling up and innovation agenda by placing leadership and collaboration at the heart of our activities. One great example of this is bioeconomy, which is a central theme in the devolution deal discussion. We have a globally significant innovation cluster here in York. It combines the R&D strengths of the University of York in agri-tech, biorenewables and the circular economy with industrial research at the Food and Environment Research Agency in Sand Hutton and land-based innovation and training at Askham Bryan College. This is innovation, leadership and collaboration in action.
In summary, levelling up calls for new forms of leadership, which are about being enterprising and entrepreneurial. It requires putting place and region at the heart of our activities by using our research expertise to work together with our partners to improve our communities’ lives and contribute to our city’s equity and substantiality. In essence, levelling up and innovation are about strengths and opportunities coalescing alongside each other and a conduit through which collective leadership delivers productivity and innovation for all – never has the time been so right. So now the question is, are we ready to grasp the nettle?
Professor Kiran Trehan is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Engagement at the University of York, an organisational member of the Institute of Economic Development, who arranged this article.
