Exceptional industry partnerships deliver evidence-based decision making and innovative thinking to industrial partners through academic research, teaching excellence and student creativity. This leads to economic and social impact.
The University of Salford is a partner in ‘Pendleton Together’, a £650 million regeneration project designed to completely transform the Pendleton area of Salford. Work on the first phase of the project, which includes building more than 1,600 new homes and refurbishing 1,250 existing homes, began in early 2014.
The project is being delivered by the Pendleton Together consortium, led by Together Housing Group, building and regeneration specialist Keepmoat, Salford City Council and the University of Salford.
The University of Salford uses its academic and research expertise and student innovation to underpin and help shape the future direction of the Pendleton Together initiative. This approach means they can support the council and the partners in making evidence-based decisions informed by academic research and also engage the students with real life issues and problem solving tasks. This combines academic rigour with students’ creativity. The University is delivering a number of projects covering ecological sustainability, healthcare, energy, archaeology, technology and independent living. The Partnership is currently actively engaged in more than 25 research, engagement and volunteering projects.
Current and future students from the University’s School of Arts and Media will also film a ‘7-up style’ documentary over the 15-year life of the Pendleton Together project. The aim is to create a living legacy to document the area’s regeneration throughout the life of the ambitious project.
Mike Taylor, Head of Industrial Partnerships at the University of Salford, said, “The University is absolutely focused on teaching and research. Developing our research excellence, improving our students’ experience and their employability are our top priorities. By being more enterprising in our teaching and research through industrial engagement we can deliver against these priorities whilst also contributing significantly to the economy and society locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The University’s priorities are very much aligned with Pendleton Together’s strategic aims of improving the lives of the people of Pendleton over the next 25 years. Our contribution towards this strategic aim is to support them along the way with well researched evidenced-based decision making and to give them access to the creative minds of the future – our students.”
