EDUCATION TRAINING NEWS

As the new vice chancellor of Falmouth University, I was very interested in the recent publication of the Government’s Levelling Up White paper. As an anchor institution in Cornwall, Falmouth has an important role to play in supporting the growth of the local economy and I was keen to see how Higher Education will fit into the Government’s plan to spread opportunity and prosperity more widely across the UK.

The White Paper presented a thorough and compelling analysis of the complex interdependencies that create ‘successful’ regions. Among the 332 pages, there were two key areas for universities to get their teeth into: Research & Development and higherlevel skills.

While it was good to see HE institutions identified as having a “vital part to play in supporting regional economies, as significant local employers and through their role as anchor institutions”, it would have strengthened the case if there was greater responsibility apportioned to universities on the skills agenda. These efforts help to plug employment gaps, strengthen business capacity and hone future skills and opportunities for our graduate base. It’s ‘Levelling Up’ in action.

Empowering local leadership, putting local businesses at the heart of provision and investing in FE are policies to be applauded, but Vice Chancellors and universities should not be excluded from this mission – we all have an important part to play. Universities across the country are already working in lockstep with their local authority and industry leaders to tailor their academic provision to local need, widen access and participation, and to provide Knowledge Exchange, business partnerships and CPD to support local skills development with the core aim of increasing productivity. In Cornwall, it’s no different. For example, our Launchpad Outreach teams work with local SMEs across the county to identify new ways of helping them grow, innovate and launch new products and experiences. Our Immersive Business lab is helping companies adopt augmented, virtual and extended reality to transform their businesses. We’re proud that our students are working with the likes of Spaceport Cornwall, Goonhilly and local FE partners, helping to develop VR experiences for new space launches, trips to outer space, hologram presentations and satellite deployments. These cutting-edge tools are incredible tools for boosting engagement and participation. When it comes to R&D funding, the White Paper raised questions about the Government’s commitment to spending an increased

Support local proportion of public R&D skills development investment outside the greater south east. Historically, rural with the core and dispersed communities miss out to the large cities and aim of increasing areas of economic prosperity when it comes to investment productivity funding. Levelling-up R&D must include place-based investment that assesses value for money and critical mass against comparator regions, or social or environmental induced impacts, rather than national statistics and an arbitrary measure of ‘excellence’. I’m proud Falmouth is applying its research capacity to address real world challenges, including some of Cornwall’s biggest social and structural roadblocks, focusing its creative and technical efforts on improving health and social opportunities for the most vulnerable and isolated in our communities.

The Connected Healthcare Project (CHC) is one example, using satellite technology to the improve the delivery of mental health care, diabetes care and clinical education in remote communities.

Working with the Cornwall Museums Partnership and the LEP, our wAVE Project aims to use Cornwall’s distinctive heritage to support digital innovation and economic diversification in coastal communities by maximising Cornwall’s digital infrastructure, skills, and heritage for the benefit of the local economy.

And this is my final observation of the White Paper; there isn’t enough about the importance of culture and creativity. Now accounting for 5.9% of the UK economy and supporting innovation across the economy more broadly, creativity is essential in the future economy. It’s also a vital component in placemaking, regeneration and supporting strong resilient communities. Here in Cornwall where, as showcased in our bid for City of Culture, creativity is woven through the sense of local identity and crucial to the local economy, it deserves to have a place at the heart of the Levelling Up strategy.

The White Paper gives those of us living and working in the regions a lot to be enthusiastic and hopeful about. However, in its implementation, it must embrace specific local needs. I hope there will be the recognition of the important role for universities which can be powerhouses of growth and I’m certainly looking forward to Falmouth University playing its part in this policy area.

The chair of Callywith College and former principal of Truro and Penwith College, David Walrond, has been presented with an OBE by The Princess Royal at Windsor Castle for his services to further education and skills in Cornwall.

Walrond’s work was recognised in the Queens New Year’s Honours List in January 2021. He has worked in further education for nearly 40 years and other recent roles in Cornwall include serving as a director of

the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and on the Truro Town Deal Board. He also established the Cornwall Teaching School and is a Founder Member of TPAT (Truro and Penwith Academy Trust) which supports pre-16 education in schools across Cornwall.

He said: “It was a very memorable occasion. The Princess Royal recalled her visit to open the redeveloped Penwith campus over a decade ago and she was appreciative of the fact that similar outstanding opportunities had been made accessible to many more learners through the opening of Callywith College at Bodmin.”

Secondary school students have an out-of-this-world opportunity to immerse themselves in the space sector and future skills at a brand-new Space Camp for Cornwall.

Created and funded by Truro and Penwith College’s Cornwall Space and Aerospace Technology Training project (CSATT), Space Camp Cornwall will be free to year 9 and 10 students this summer.

The week-long, non-residential camp will fully immerse students in the space sector, allowing them to take part in a rocket building challenge, spend a day at Spaceport Cornwall, where the UK’s first rocket will be launched into space, and tour Goonhilly Earth Station’s famous satellite dishes that were recently used to communicate with the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft.

Space Camp cadets will also attend talks from world-leading space experts with topics including: The UK’s First Astronaut Training Centre, Removing Space Junk from Orbit, Safety of UK Rocket Launches and Using Satellite Data to Protect the Environment.

Heidi Thiemann, space project manager at CSATT, said: “We’re over the moon to be able to offer this exciting new summer camp for pupils in Cornwall. Getting handson with the space sector is the best way to find out about the amazing range of opportunities that it can offer young people and we want to give them the best chance of working in a career that they love.”

For more details, go to truro-penwith.ac.uk/csatt

Cornwall-based digital training provider Digital Peninsula Network (DPN) has heralded a successful first six months of running digital skills webinars aimed at small businesses.

The webinars, part of the Progressing Businesses through Digital Skills project, were developed in mid-2021 in response to feedback from Cornish businesses citing time, covid restrictions and geographical constraints being a barrier to accessing training. Topics delivered to date have ranged from how to create a Facebook Business page through to using video for business and Search Engine Optimisation.

Project manager, Lizzie Trudgeon, said: “The success of our webinar series indicates that Cornish businesses, especially micro businesses and sole-traders, are crying out for digital skills training. Learning a new skill through bite sized, online sessions has offered a positive solution allowing time-constrained and remote businesses to access upskilling opportunities online.”

Building on the success of last year, DPN will continue to run monthly digital skills webinars throughout 2022.

Two graduates from the Falmouth University Business School have secured £200k funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.

Harry Deacon and George Bewley secured the funding for their TeX Innovation project, which is part of the Cultivate Cornwall CIC social enterprise.

TeX Innovation aims to stimulate the growth of the sustainable textiles and fashion industry in Cornwall by working closely with local communities, businesses, academic institutions, and policy makers.

Deacon said: “We are astonished by the news of this funding, after spending almost a year planning this next stage we are delighted to now be in a position where we are able to create more opportunities for our local communities and Cornish Businesses.”