The West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute (WM REDI) at the University of Birmingham hosted a closed-forum for Research England (UKRI) to examine the evidence base for a place-based R&D strategy.

The following questions guided discussions:

• What evidence is available (or is needed) to show that different kinds of regional impact result from different kinds of R&D investments / interventions?
• What should the research and innovation system – universities, businesses, research organisation and other intermediaries - do more of to support economic growth in their region?
• How can we ensure different parts of the UK have the mix of interventions they need to enable R&D-led growth?
• What are the major critical dependencies for R&D policy levers at the national and the local level? Is there evidence to show which different levers, incentives, mechanisms and critical dependencies make a difference to scale of impact and/or outcomes?
• What does UKRI, government and local leadership need to do to ensure research and innovation can play a powerful role in levelling up the country?

A short paper summarises the discussions and recommendations.

Here you can find the full paper and appendix, supported by briefings and academic studies from some of the participants and discussants, and a literature review.

Our sincere thanks to the following for their contributions to this Forum and broader policy discussions on the UK place-based R&D strategy:

David Sweeney and Alice Frost Research England, UKRI), Riccardo Crescenzi (LSE), Kieron Flanagan (Manchester), Richard Harris (Durham), Helen Lawton Smith (Birkbeck), Neil Lee (LSE), Kevin Morgan (Cardiff), Paul Nightingale (Sussex), Raquel Ortega-Argilles (Birmingham), Slavo Radosevic (UCL), Andres Rodriguez-Pose (LSE), Maria Savona (Sussex), Elvira Uyarra (Manchester), Anna Valero (LSE).