Learning projects
Knowledge is power – and that’s never been truer. European, national and local policy makers all agree that the future prosperity of the continent, country and Cornwall lies with a well educated and skilled workforce in well-paid jobs with competitive high-value businesses, capitalising on the opportunities of new and sustainable technology - harnessing knowledge.
Until the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) was founded, that knowledge was hard to find here. Many talented young people left to learn, build careers or start businesses elsewhere.
The CUC, a partnership of six universities and colleges, was thought so important for Cornwall’s future, it was the only project specifically written into the original European Objective One Programme contract. Since then, £150 million of European and UK investment has been spent developing it, including the construction of the flagship ‘hub’ campus at Tremough, Penryn.
It now has nearly 7,000 higher education students at a dozen campuses. But from the start, it was seen not just as the driving seat for learning, but as the engine of Cornwall’s economic regeneration. By providing a bigger graduate workforce, expert support for local businesses and the creation of new commercial ventures feeding off academic research, it’s expected to play a massive role in the development of that knowledge-based economy, raising aspirations and offering those well-paid jobs.
And that is already happening. Incubation units at the Knowledge Spa in the Penisula Medical School at Treliske provide bases for pioneering entrepreneurs; businesses and the universities are signing up to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. Graduate placement is helping Cornwall’s businesses gain access to fresh knowledge and ideas, while also helping graduates and post graduates start their careers here.
For instance, ‘Unlocking Cornish Potential’ uses Convergence investment to place them with small and medium sized firms to carry out business development projects. Four out of five have full-time jobs by the end of those projects.
Patrick Gottelier, Director of the School of Design at the CUC’s University College Falmouth, says: “We aspire to nurturing creative thinkers, wherever that takes them. If history tells us anything, it’s that environments and policies change; however, in order to continue to create wealth, to create value – the common denominator is creativity.
“At the School of Design we draw on an incredible heritage of art and design practice here in Cornwall. And in this post-industrial era of computer applications to manufacturing and connective technology, the designers we are training no longer have to be in commuting distance of a machine. That means they can continue to live and work here – which potentially puts Falmouth and Cornwall on the edge of an extraordinary new era as an international centre of design excellence.”
The CUC also has a further ambitious list of projects proposed – all aimed at cementing its role in fostering new business thinking and skills.
These include the founding of research institutes focussing on areas important for Cornwall (such as environment, design, health, enterprise, agrifood and marine) and offering opportunities to develop high growth businesses; establishing innovation and creativity centres to support new and developing enterprises, and providing more inclusive and vocation learning.
The skills level in Cornwall generally has surged over the past few years (although it still lags behind the UK average). By 2008, more than 25 per cent of working age people had gained a minimum of an NVQ level 4 qualification, compared with just 20 per cent three years previously.
Meanwhile, innovative social enterprise programmes are helping those who struggled at school or are out of work to develop their abilities. Such as the Real Ideas Organisation’s projects; ‘Create Your Own Future’, supporting people in Cornwall back into work through involvement with the creative industries; ‘Xtravert’, using skateboarding as a hook to teach young people carpentry skills, and ‘Cross Step’, providing surf instructor and lifeguard training.
And of course, the best known; Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, offering disadvantaged young people apprenticeships as chefs. Chief Executive Dave Meneer says: “What we do is at once a pioneering, contemporary training programme but also maybe just an old fashioned apprentice scheme with some fairy dust sprinkled on it - sprinkled pretty effectively.
“We deliberately seek out young people who have factors in their lives or backgrounds which act as barriers to even getting into training or the jobs market. As well as instruction in the kitchen, our purpose is to help them really believe in themselves and know that they can create very different, more positive futures.”
Targeting groups at real or perceived risk of redundancy, Dott’s New Work
