Project Leader: Jim Skea
Sponsor: HEFCE
Background
The University of Westminster has received support from the HEFCE Higher Education Reach-out to Business and the Community Fund (HEROBAC) to develop sectoral business clusters. The overall aim of this pilot project is to create an open, neutral space - parallel to but separate from existing institutional structures - in which interested parties, especially SMEs, can come together to share and exploit knowledge. The specific goals are:
Project Design
PSI's role is to co-ordinate work on each of the three sub-clusters, convene a Steering Group and to undertake the climate change work.
Each of the sub-cluster co-ordinators will commission issue papers which will: set out the key commercial and policy developments affecting the sub-cluster over the next five years; identify the types of firms, especially SMEs, which will be affected by these developments; identify the commercial implications; identify specific organisations which might become engaged; and identify possible sources of funding. They will then arrange a 'Needs and Opportunities' workshop engaging around 25 people. These will consider the issues papers, refine the agenda to be considered in a business plan and identify ways of moving forward.
Importance of Research
The principle of sustainable development is becoming increasingly accepted. The Mayor and the Greater London Authority are charged with considering how their policies will affect sustainable development in the UK as a whole. Several of the Mayor's statutory obligations relate to sustainable development, including those on Transport, Biodiversity, Air Quality and Waste Management. The GLA will also produce a non-statutory London Energy Strategy. However sustainable development is still too abstract for most SMEs focused on short-term profitability. The pilot project therefore focuses on three specific areas with immediate commercial significance where public policy has significant impacts on the business environment: climate change; logistics; and property management.