Group of six people, men and women, all putting their hand into the middle of the group.

Led by the University of Birmingham’s City Region Economic and Development Institute (City-REDI), the hub will investigate the social, community, economic and environmental priorities that contribute towards inclusive sustainable economic growth.

Funded by the ESRC, Innovate UK and the Art and Humanities Research Council, the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub will bring together a network of people who have delivered engagement, impact, and translational research.

The hub will work with communities to understand local challenges and formulate solutions across the UK through an innovative and effective service-driven approach to place-based policy-making and public service delivery.

Rebecca Riley, Associate Professor for Enterprise, Engagement and Impact at City-REDI said: “It is an honour to be able to lead on this initiative, this is the next step in City-REDI’s future, taking learning at the regional to the national level.

“The Hub will provide capacity building opportunities, whilst tackling the gap in linking the ‘local’ with the ‘national’ in policy development. Acting as an intermediary, learning about the local context and challenges faced in each partnership’s area.”

It is an honour to be able to lead on this initiative, this is the next step in City-REDI’s future, taking learning at the regional to the national level.

Dr Rebecca Riley, University of Birmingham

The Hub will be led by a leadership team, comprising of staff from the University of Birmingham, the National Co-Ordinating Centre for Public Engagement and Inner Circle Consulting (non-academic Co-Investigator) and a wider network team of 13 delivery partners: St Andrews University; University of Glasgow; London School of Tropical Medicine; University of Exeter; University of York; Manchester University; University of South Wales; Queens University Belfast; Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy; Centre for Local Economic Strategies; Involve.

A key aim for the Hub will be to access local challenges and formulate solutions, which can be scaled up across the UK, to solve through place-based policymaking. It is designed to lead to a change in the quality and impact of the evidence created by universities and their local place partners.

Economic and Social Research Council Interim Executive Chair, Professor Alison Park, said: “From bridging skills gaps to promoting cultural recovery and building a greener economy, the LPIPs present an exciting new way of using the UK’s strengths in research and innovation to contribute to developing place-based solutions to some of the UK’s most pressing local and regional challenges.

“This first round of funding will enable the LPIPs to build the robust, wide-reaching partnerships necessary to give their proposals the best possible chance of delivering real results for communities and the country as a whole.”

Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell said: “I would like to congratulate City-REDI on their incredible success leading this new wave of place-based evidence and research. We hope to scale up their current research and collaborate further across this experienced partnership to be able to impact policy and make changes for the better in the UK.”