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Working in Partnership for Place: Universities for Nottingham initiative delivering on its aims

The Universities for Nottingham partnership, a pioneering collaboration that sees the city’s two world-class universities work together with local partners, has seen strong levels of success since its launch, a new report shows.

    Nottingham City
    Universities for Nottingham achievements

    The partnership set out to improve levels of economic prosperity, educational opportunity, sustainability and the health and wellbeing of residents and the communities of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Good progress has been made towards achieving these ambitious targets.

    The refreshed Civic Agreement, signed by both universities and eight local partners in March 2022, has resulted in several key achievements for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, highlighted in this new report.

    These include:

    • Securing the £5.1 million Co(l)laboratory project, which will train 50 PhD students and provide 25 paid ‘Citizen Scientist’ research placements over the next eight years. These roles will aim to work on finding solutions to local challenges, with the first ten PhD projects already underway.

    • The development of the Student Living Strategy. The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University have worked in partnership with Nottingham City Council to support the integration of students into their local communities.  The strategy sets out three priorities: Providing diverse and appropriate student accommodation; working together to tackle any waste and noise issues; promoting the benefits that the student population brings to Nottingham.

    • Incentivising over half a million individuals to make positive sustainable choices, tracked using the Green Rewards App. This has helped avoid the emission of over one million tonnes of CO2 from the universities and local councils.

    In a statement from Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, and Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, they said: “We are very much at the beginning of what we hope will be a constantly evolving partnership journey, but we are immensely proud of the way the partnership has begun to take shape. We are motivated by the challenges ahead and heartened by the clear evidence that working together can have real, lasting benefits.”

    Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, said: “Nottingham was the first city in which both universities came together to develop a Civic Agreement in this way. This pioneering partnership, which brings together key anchor institutions from across the area, has gone from strength to strength. It is great to see the real progress being delivered against key challenges for our region.”

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      Notes to editors:

      The University of Nottingham

      Ranked 18th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings 2023, University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.

      The University is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.The University is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.

      We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.

      More news…

      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      NTU is ranked 2nd most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

      About Universities for Nottingham

      The Universities for Nottingham initiative is a pioneering collaboration which brings together the combined strength and civic missions of 10 anchor institutions from across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Working with local communities and partners we aim to improve levels of economic prosperity, educational opportunity, environmental sustainability and health and wellbeing for the benefit of our people and place.

      As part of the response to the challenges we collectively face, we have announced a refreshed Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement with our partners, setting out our joint plans for the future.

      Find out more at www.universitiesfornottingham.ac.uk #UnisForNottingham

    Published on 2 August 2023
    • Category: Press office