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Regional networks

Regional networks bring together researchers, the policy community and knowledge mobilisers to support the use of evidence in place-based policymaking.

Interested in regional or place-based policymaking? Find out what’s happening in local academic-policy engagement through the UK’s regional networks.

Insights North East

Insights North East is a collaborative hub for place-based policy insights. Bringing together knowledge and experience from researchers, practitioners, decision-makers and communities, they aim to create a fuller picture to equip policymakers with insights that are relevant, grounded and actionable.

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Red brick building on Newcastle University campus

Based at Newcastle University

North West Policy Partnership (NWPP)

The NWPP brings researchers, policymakers and practitioners together to strengthen collaboration, share evidence, and support better-informed policymaking for the most pressing policy challenges facing the region.

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Glass building at Manchester Metropolitan University

Based at Manchester Metropolitan University

Research Policy Partnership London (RPPL)

RPPL, formerly LRaPP, aims to build long-term, sustainable relationships between academic researchers and policymakers, sharing knowledge, skills and resources to tackle some of the capital’s biggest challenges.

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Senate House

Based at University of London

The Yorkshire & Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network (Y-PERN)

Y-PERN brings together researchers, policy makers and wider society to support inclusive, place-based policy making in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Y-PERN focus on producing regional briefings, as well as supporting the development of Areas of Research Interest projects and policy innovation partnerships.

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Buildings bordering Leeds canal

Y-PERN is a network of 12 Yorkshire universities

The academic-policy ecosystem

See where the UK’s regions fit into the academic policy engagement ecosystem.

Three hands are pointing at an interactive screen, which displays circles with lines emanating from them. A middle bigger circle reads 'national academies' and the smaller circles around it list the specific academies. You can see other nodes of the map in the background, out of focus. Launch our interactive map

What this map includes and excludes

The map includes UK based sector or cross-government level organisations focused on research and public policy engagement. It does not include single institutional initiatives, and it does not cover international policy engagement.

We note that formal infrastructure should not distract from the importance of the informal, that is relationships, networks, shared norms, and ways of working between government and universities which sits underneath and within this ecosystem.

Regional engagement resources

Building the case for local and regional ARIs

A man stood talking to a group of people.

What lessons can we learn from the Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) ecosystem in West Yorkshire, and how might this work expand across the region?

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Regional ARIs: Challenges and opportunities

Two people talking at a professional event

This report covers key recommendations that emerged from the insights of over 50 practitioners who attended a learning workshop on regional ARIs.

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Many flowers: The future of place-based ARIs

Decorative image of a tram travelling through Manchester City Centre

What might the future of regional ARIs look like? Find out about the ambitions to turn isolated regional ARIs into a functioning ecosystem.

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