Akademi Norr in Cornwall

New European Higher Education Partnership Launched

Official launch of UNICREDS – University Collaboration in Regional Development Spaces

Representatives from northern Sweden at the UNICREDS launch event in Cornwall: Anders Norberg from Umeå University, Jan-Olof Karlsson, Anne Åberg and Agneta Nordin from Akademi Norr

UNICREDS, a € 2-million project looking at how different models of higher education can benefit regional economic development, was recently officially launched in Cornwall, UK. Cornwall Council is leading UNICREDS which is majority funded by the EU in addition to co-financing from each of the 15 partners from countries including Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and the United Kingdom. Sweden was represented by Akademi Norr, the Municipality of Skellefteå and Region Västerbotten.

UNICREDS is a three-year project which aims to demonstrate how collaboration between universities, industry and the public sector can help transform deprived or peripheral regions into centres of excellence in research and innovation, Partners will share knowledge and experience with a view to driving forward economic development. The ultimate object is to develop this 'triple helix' approach for future education and regional development into a transferable model that can be adopted by the European Commission.

More than 50 delegates attended the UNICREDS launch event at New County Hall in Truro. Presentations were made by each of the UNICREDS partners. Other speakers included Dr Denis Gartside of University College Falmouth; Carolyn Rule, Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration, Cornwall Council; Nicolas Wallet, Project Manager for UNICREDS; Zoltan Karácsonyi; Director of Centre for Environmental Management and Policy at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. The Swedish presenters were Bernt Vedin from Region Västerbotten, Harry Häggström and Johnny Högberg, Akademi Norr, and Ingrid Thylin, the Municipality of Skellefteå.

Project Manager, Nicolas Wallet, is responsible for running UNICREDS on behalf of Cornwall Council from his base at Cornwall College Camborne. Talking about the programme, he said: "UNICREDS brings together regions from across Europe, including Cornwall, that share similar characteristics, for example their geographical location and distance from key areas of economic activity, population and demographics or decline of traditional industries. The aim is to develop a model for regional development that is integrated into local, regional, national and EU policy structures."

The Swedish representatives talked about their experiences from dealing with this kind of issues in sparsely populated northern Sweden.

During her introduction to UNICREDS, Carolyn Rule said: "UNICREDS is all about sharing information between European countries to help drive forward the role of universities in boosting regional economies. It is an exciting and important programme for both Cornwall and Europe.”

Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) is a UNICREDS partner and one of the project's best practice models of a decentralized, multi-campus approach to delibering higher education. Following the launch event, a selection of delegates were taken on a tour showcasing the Tremough Campus near Falmouth.

Commenting on what CUC hopes to learn during the UNICREDS project, Dr Sue Brownmow, CUC Director, said: "Thanks to EU investment through Objective 1 and Convergence, Cornwall has pioneered a radical new approach to university education over the past decade, with the specific aim of using higher education to drive economic regeneration. We have learnt a grat deal along the way, but we are still navigating uncharted territory, so the opportunity to look in detail at how others have tackled similar challenges is very welcome. I am particularly looking forward to sharing experiences of how universities and colleges can play a key role in supporting small businesses, which is an area where we have made progress but would like to achieve more."

UNICREDS stands for University Collaboration in Regional Development Spaces.
UNICREDS is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and made possible by the INTERREG 4C prpgramme.
UNICREDS is a partnership of 15 partners from 7 EU regions who share the belief that decentralized universities can help transform deprived regional economies into centres of excellence in research and innovation.
The ‘triple helix’ model is based on a multi-sited university and its integration with the private and public sectors.
The aim of the UNICREDS programme is to share knowledge between the member partners, to further develop the triple helix model, and to ultimately lobby EU policy makers to adopt the model across Europe.

UNICREDS partners:

1. Cornwall Council, UK www.cornwall.gov.uk

2. Combined Universities in Cornwall, UK www.cuc.ac.uk

3. The Municipality of Skellefteå, Sweden www.skelleftea.se

4. Regional Council of Västerbotten, Sweden www.regionvasterbotten.se

5. Akademi Norr, Sweden www.akademinorr.se

6. City of Seinäjoki, Finland www.seinajoki.fi

7. University Consortium Seinäjoki/Tampere, Finland www.ucs.fi

8. Seinäjoki Technology Centre Ltd, Finland www.stoy.fi/en

9. University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic www.jcu.cz

10. South Bohemia Regional Authority, Czech Republic www.kraj-jihocesky.cz

11. Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Bulgaria www.mrrb.government.bg

12. Sofia University, Bulgaria www.uni-sofia.bg

13. University of Debrecen, Hungary www.envm.unideb.hu

14. Regional Authority Hadju Bihar, Hungary www.hbmo.hu

15. Millenium Institute University of Highlands & Islands, UK www.uhi.ac.uk

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