Ray Hudson

Ray Hudson is Professor of Geography and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Durham University, with responsibility for the University's regional engagement strategy. Prior to taking this post, he was Director of the inter-disciplinary Wolfson Research Institute. He has a BA, PhD and DSc from the University of Bristol and a Honorary DSc from Roskilde University. His main research interests lie in political-economic geography, particularly geographies of economies, the politics and policies of territorial development and the social and health consequences of economic decline. He is author or editor of over 20 published books and numerous papers. His work has been recognized by the Royal Geographical Society, and he is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences, the British Academy and Academia Europaea and the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. He is involved in regeneration work in north east England, and has advised the EU and  the House of Commons Select Committee on coalfields regeneration.

The Responsibilities of Universities to their Regions: a View from North East England

I begin from an assumption - that universities have the potential to influence for the better life beyond their boundaries and that it is important to capture this potential and ensure that it leads to positive impacts This is especially so in regions that have suffered the debilitating effects of successive waves of economic restructuring, such as that in which my university is located, north east England.

There are five dimensions on which universities can and should contribute to enhancing life in their region.

First, they have a responsibility to provide leadership, both individual and collective. Key individuals in the universities should be visible and active players in their region while universities, as institutions, should be key contributors to sustaining a vibrant public sphere.

Secondly, leading universities are the home for 'blue skies' scholarship, the pursuit of knowledge as an end in itself - cutting edge research and scholarship across the full range of disciplines. As such, they employ key intellectual figures who push forward and help re-define the frontiers of knowledge, and who, because of this, are instrumental in attracting other key players and cutting edge ideas to the region.  Universities are key nodes in global knowledge flows, in global communities of scholars, and this in turn can be of immense benefit to the region by virtue of the talent that they attract there.

Thirdly, much of the discussion about the relationships between universities and their regions has come to centre on universities as key institutions in building 'knowledge based economies', capitalising on the results of scientific research. This is an important approach and is fine as far as it goes, but it has limits in terms of the capacities of the universities to commercialise the results of such research and the absorptive power of the regional economy in terms of new and existing firms that can respond to such possibilities. Therefore, of equal - and indeed arguably of more - importance in many regions are activities that support the more mundane knowledge-based activities of the ordinary economy of more routine manufacturing and services.

Fourthly, another important way - perhaps the major way - in which universities can assist in the economic development of their region is via their activities in supporting social and cultural developments and the education of highly skilled workers. The role of universities in the development of the arts, culture, sport and the social fabric of the region can be considerable. A vibrant leisure and tourism sector can add greatly to the wealth and economic well being of the region, and create jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs. But supporting culture and social life goes beyond merely helping establish new sources of economic activity and also leads to a region becoming a better place in which to live, with better quality provision of health services, healthier environments that promote well-being, and in general to better quality lives for its citizens.

Finally, universities have a significant and legitimate part to play in the regeneration of people and places that have suffered the consequences of economic decline, of which there are still many in regions such as the north east, in helping tackle problems of social exclusion, poverty, worklessness and the blight of long-tern unemployment. This can be undertaken through policy development, through research based interventions, and via direct involvement and working with such communities. This will help open up universities as a resource for many more people and make that resource available to a much bigger and more diverse constituency. Seeking to engage in these ways will require sensitivity - there is, quite justifiably in the light of history, a suspicion of universities in many disadvantaged places - and a long-term approach, in which building trust and a degree of mutual understanding will be critical.