A group of business professionals smiling and having a meeting in an open plan office.
A group of business professionals smiling and having a meeting in an open plan office.

UWL holds inaugural Knowledge Exchange Conference for academic staff and external partners

Intro

Academic staff and external partners gathered at UWL’s first Knowledge Exchange Conference on Wednesday 29 March. Knowledge Exchange (KE) activity is defined as university interactions with businesses, public services, charities, and communities that generate a positive impact on society and the economy.

Main body

The conference explored what constitutes KE activity and how best practices can support career development and business growth via a diverse range of talks, Q&A sessions, and video clips.

Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Woodman said in his opening remarks:

This Conference feels like it’s been 10 years in the making. A lot of the academic staff at UWL have been doing Knowledge Exchange activities as part of our culture. I hope this conference will become a firm fixture in our calendar.” 

Jennie Shorley and Dr Matthew Sutherland from the professional association for KE practitioners PraxisAuril gave the keynote address. Jennie is Head of Engaged Scholarship at Manchester Metropolitan University and Matthew is an Associate Professor at Northumbria University and founder of the ‘Why Small Business Matters’ podcast.

Matthew said:

UWL is an amazing institution looking to build on its momentum in the KE field. Fantastic staff. Exciting times ahead!"

Jennie said:

It was an honour to deliver the keynote at UWL’s first KE Conference! It was great to meet so many engaged academics doing fantastic work."  

Other speakers included Ken Ross, CEO of B2B marketing agency Now Comms, John Charlton, Head of KE at UWL, Matt Snowden, Dean of Academic Partnerships (UK) and Director of Research and Enterprise as well as academic colleagues who have received KE project funding.

Matt said:  

We do KE very well at UWL and the launch of this conference marks the start of a new phase of how the university seeks to build its capability and capacity for academic colleagues to deliver effective KE activity. We were delighted with the level of engagement and attendance and our team look forward to supporting colleagues with the broad range of KE activities we deliver."  

Related news