Knowledge exchange remains core to how our members engage with, and enrich their communities, society and the economy at regional, national and global levels. The fourth iteration of the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) continues to show the strong performance of London HE across a variety of indicators.
As we look forward to the publication of the Mayor’s London Growth Plan in December, it is a particularly important time to take stock of university performance across KEF perspectives such as: working with business, IP and commercialisation, CPD & grad start-ups, and research partnerships.
London’s diverse base of institutions is reflected among its spread in the KEF cluster types – demonstrating how they all contribute to UK society and economy as engines of growth.
The perspectives of public and community engagement, local growth and regeneration, and working with public/third sectors underscore the importance of the civic element of knowledge exchange. The continued inclusion of narratives for these perspectives is important in allowing institutions to demonstrate impact that may be harder to capture by HEB-CI or regeneration and development income data. The fact that the methodology has not changed for this iteration is useful in starting to provide trend data for our universities. This is particularly important as we consider the wider policy context, including potential revisions to research funding allocations to incorporate KEF considerations.