#innovation

Hull and East Yorkshire Regional Report

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The election of a new mayor for Hull and East Yorkshire, Luke Campbell, is an important moment for the region. Y-PERN and the University of Hull have a strong track record of working with East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council, and the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority. Both the University of Hull and Yorkshire Universities have underlined their commitment to working with Mayor Campbell and the region’s local and combined authorities to enhance regional growth and prosperity for Hull and East Yorkshire. 

The recently published Hull and East Yorkshire Regional Report encapsulates some of this work, highlighting key initiatives driven by the Y-PERN partnership with the University of Hull. These include significant collaborations with the Hull Poverty Truth Commission (HPTC), Town Anywhere, and the Water and Coasts Community Futures Network. The report emphasises the importance of building strong partnerships between academics and local communities, involving community members in meaningful ways, ensuring that their voices are heard and valued. In the report, the University of Hull highlights its role as a pivotal partner in fostering community engagement and innovative policymaking. 

Y-PERN, Yorkshire Universities and the University of Hull look forwards to actively supporting collaboration with public, private and third sector stakeholders to strengthen regional engagement with new Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority and its new mayoral team.

Funded by Research England, Y-PERN is a network-based approach to academic policy engagement in the Yorkshire and Humber region that aims to strengthen collaborations between Yorkshire Universities (YU) and Yorkshire and Humber Councils (YHC)

Y-PERN 2025 Conference: Bridging Academia and Policymaking

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Register now for your ticket for the Y-PERN 2025 Conference on June 27th at the Oastler Building in Huddersfield!

We invite scholars, policymakers, and community leaders to engage in vital discussions surrounding academic-policy collaboration aimed at regional development.

The conference will bring together leading academics, policymakers, and practitioners to explore innovative approaches to incorporating academic academic research into impactful policies. With confirmed speakers including Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, and Robin Tuddenham, Chief Executive of Calderdale Council and President of Solace, the day will include stimulating panel discussions, insightful case studies, and interactive sessions aimed at fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration. These activities will help us explore ways to achieve multi-level growth, promoting fairer, greener, and more inclusive futures.

The conference will begin at 9 AM with a welcome session led by Professor Tim Thornton, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Our guest speakers will include Kersten England, Chief Executive Officer of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council; Harpreet Uppal, Member of Parliament for Huddersfield; and Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire.

The agenda includes engaging discussions on the evolving relationship between universities and policymakers, showcasing the impact of the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network (Y-PERN). Participants will explore Y-PERN network’s collaborative approach, engage in interactive breakout sessions which tackle key regional policy challenges, and will be invited to share ideas for future growth strategies. Themes will include early years education, community inclusion, business support, and housing solutions.

A pivotal focus will be placed on the evolving dynamics of university-policy engagement within the context of a rapidly changing policy landscape. Participants will examine how such collaborations can effectively respond to emerging opportunities and challenges.

The 2025 conference will serve as an important platform for networking among influential speakers, researchers, and organisations committed to fostering effective policymaking. The discussions at the conference are expected to yield insights into practical, evidence-based policy frameworks that can facilitate multi-level growth. By harnessing collaborative efforts, the aim is to create more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient communities across Yorkshire and the Humber.

To view the full agenda and to register for your free ticket, please visit our Eventbrite page.

The event is being delivered by Y-PERN with support from the team at Social. If you have any questions or require further information, please email them on ypern@social.co.uk.

Putting health at the heart of your local economy

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This article was first published on the Yorkshire Universities website.

The NHS Confederation recently hosted a webinar focused on the local growth agenda, the role of acute trusts, and how they can influence local leaders. Y-PERM Policy Director and Yorkshire Universities (YU) Executive Director, Dr Peter O’Brien, was invited to speak at the event to provide broad insights from the higher education sector and regional perspectives from higher education institutes within Yorkshire and the Humber.

The session was chaired by Michael Wood, Head of Health Economic Partnerships at the NHS Confederation, who led the discussion. Christopher George, Health Economic Policy Advisor, also gave a presentation on ‘The NHS as an Economic Actor: The role of the NHS in the Economy’. Accompanying panel members included Mark Rogers, Chief Executive at the Leadership Centre, and Kathryn Lavery, Chair of Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust. Alongside panel members, Peter addressed multiple questions covering collaboration and partnerships, civic goals and local communities, devolution and stability, regional powers and local authorities, financial challenges, and the importance of networks in combating health inequalities.

This webinar supports YU’s work in health & wellbeing, bringing together knowledge to inform our current and future projects. Previous work between YU, the NHS Confederation, and Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber,  includes the development of the YHealth4Growth white paper. The paper was presented in Parliament, in October 2024, to show how Yorkshire can provide a “blueprint” for the new Labour government, regional mayors, and businesses to address health and economic equalities that cost UK plc at least £180billion a year.

You can download the webinar presentation slides here, which provide details on the NHS as an economic actor and presents a new framework centered around economic growth – in line with the Government’s central mission.

The Y-PERN Year 2 Regional Report has landed

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The team at Y-PERN are pleased to present our Year 2 Regional Report.

The report, which summarises Y-PERN’s activity to date, reflects on what we have learnt about our impact and value, how Yorkshire and the Humber is leading the way in regional academic policy engagement and discusses how Universities can support multi-level governance for inclusive and sustainable growth.

The Y-PERN report evidences in detail how Yorkshire and the Humber is leading the way in regional academic policy engagement, and suggests how Universities can support multi-level governance for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Let us continue to work together across the region for the benefit of the places we live in, work in & call home.

- Andrew Brown, Y-PERN Academic Director, Kersten England CBE, Y-PERN Engagement Director & Peter O’Brien, Y-PERN Policy Director

In the report, you’ll discover:

  • Activities and impacts from the Yorkshire sub-regions including:

o   How Y-PERN synthesized ten projects related to early years education and childcare to help shape West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s economic strategy and local growth plan

o   How Y-PERN’s academic insights on the region’s economic history and recent economic growth areas have fed into South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s Skills Strategy and Plan for Good Growth

  •  How Y-PERN is working to connect and our region’s policy makers, researchers and community organisations
  •  Emergent findings on local governance issues with Yorkshire and Humber being a ‘live laboratory’ for regional devolution
  • Strategical next steps for Y-PERN and the future of regional policy engagement

Discover how Y-PERN is transforming the way university academics and knowledge exchange experts work with policy partners across the region in our Y-PERN Year 2 Regional Report

Communities Innovating Yorkshire Fund – launching soon

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The £800k ‘Communities Innovating Yorkshire Fund’ will launch on 3 February 2025. This fund will be an opportunity for additional innovative emerging projects, studies, activities, and ideas that reflect the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership’s (YPIP) focus on accelerating community-led inclusive and sustainable growth. 

Y-PERN and YPIP are enhancing collaboration between university academics and policymakers in Yorkshire and the Humber to develop evidence-based policies that benefit local communities. With £4 million in funding, Y-PERN connects policymakers and academics through a network including 11 policy fellows and an academic steering group. YPIP has secured £5 million in funding to build on Y-PERN’s efforts, creating a Local Innovation Partnership that involves all Yorkshire universities and addresses inclusive growth, sustainable living, and data analytics, with a focus on marginalized communities.

Projects must align with one of the 5 YPIP themes:

  • Data informatics 
  • Inclusive business practices  
  • Creative industries
  • Sustainable living 
  • Communities in their places. 

Projects must bring together a collaboration of different stakeholders through meaningful community engagement. Proposals will be submitted via an online application form and assessed against 5 criteria by a decision panel which will include Co-directors, Co-Investigators and members of the community panel.

There will be two funding pathways to be inclusive of grassroot and larger scale community organisations to demonstrate their innovative ideas: seedcorn projects of up to £10k, and larger projects of up to £50k. The spending deadline for funded projects is expected to be autumn 2026.

Watch this space for further updates on the fund, and please do give a heads up to partners who are working across our themes in the region. 

Contact ypip@leeds.ac.uk for queries. 

Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP) are recruiting local people to join their project Community Panel

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Do you have ideas about how to improve your community? Would you like to see better jobs in your area or find ways to live in a greener way?

The Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP) project brings universities, communities, voluntary organisations, businesses and councils together to work on place-based initiatives.

Y-PERN and YPIP are enhancing collaboration between university academics and policymakers in Yorkshire and the Humber to develop evidence-based policies that benefit local communities. With £4 million in funding, Y-PERN connects policymakers and academics through a network including 11 policy fellows and an academic steering group. YPIP has secured £5 million in funding to build on Y-PERN’s efforts, creating a Local Innovation Partnership that involves all Yorkshire universities and addresses inclusive growth, sustainable living, and data analytics, with a focus on marginalized communities.

At the heart of the YPIP project is a community panel where we will listen, learn and make decisions together to shape local and regional policy. If this sounds interesting, we would love to hear from you.

The aim is to ensure that local people have an equal say in improving their communities and bringing better employment, sustainable living and inclusive growth to their areas.

The community panel is a group of 24 people from across Yorkshire and from all walks of life. It will make decisions about how the project runs and how we can improve our communities by agreeing on good practice examples of living and working sustainably in our communities.

Panel members will receive training and support with quarterly meetings throughout the project. Panel members will be paid a fee of £15 an hour for their time and their expenses will be reimbursed

Find out more about the person and role specification, and express your interest in joining the panel by contacting Ben Jessop b.jessop@hull.ac.uk

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