7 May 2009 at 1 Great Georges Street, London

You can now register for this event online.  There is no charge to attend.  Click here to view the final programme.

AURIL is very conscious of the contribution Institutions have and can make to help business in the current economic situation.

The research generated and the consultancy services provided by UK universities are world class. 

This research should be put to good use, both to assist in economic development and for the social and public good. Universities are keen to make that happen.

Over the last 10 years the government has invested heavily in helping universities nurture their business links.  We have been doing really good work over the last few years which has had real economic and social impact. 

What we have not done, as a sector, is to highlight or promote how we have engaged with business to the major stakeholders.

It is vital that we get the message across to government that KT and innovation is essential to the future economic growth of the UK and  that the relationship between HE and business is key.

If the UK is to be catapulted out of the current economic situation it is vital that businesses embrace innovation and adopt the latest technology to make their companies more competitive. SMEs are particularly vulnerable in this climate but equally they are more flexible and can adapt more quickly.  We are there to help and will do everything we can to assist in that process. 

UUK and GuildHE, with support from HEFCE, developed and distributed a brochure - 'Standing Together' - to highlight the contribution that HE can make to help the economy and society in the economic downturn. but we can do more to get this message across!

Since then, HEIs, individually, in collaborations and working regionally and locally, have continued to take action to help businesses and their local communities. HEFCE recently launch an 'Economic Challenge Investment Fund' to help accelerate this HEI action.

AURIL is hosting an event to increase awareness of the contribution of knowledge transfer in meeting the downturn challenge, short and long term, and to share good practice across the HE sector on what is working on the ground.   The event is sponsored by HEFCE and supported by UUK.

We are inviting members to contribute to this FREE event which will highlight how they can help in this current economic downturn. We will provide poster space, table and a uniform template so you can promote and disseminate your best programmes - all you need to do is provide the content to fill the poster.  We would welcome posters from individual HEIs as well as groups of HEIs that are working in partnership with each other.  A CD of all the posters will be available on the day.  Click here to view the guidelines and here for the poster template.  Please note the deadline for submission of posters has now been extended to Wednesday 15 April 2009.

You will be able to flag up what you are doing for the country - what is working to meet the immediate challenges (as well as things that may help spring board an upturn).  This is an ideal opportunity to showcase your KT programmes.

The event will start with some high-level contributions from national policy-makers on the role of HE in the economic downturn with confirmed speakers including Prof Oisin MacNamara, Chair of AURIL; Jonathan Kestenbaum, CEO of NESTA; Prof Adam Ogilvie-Smith, Robert Gordon University; Baroness Diana Warwick, CEO of UUK; Dr Ed Metcalfe, Chief Scientific Advisor of SEEDA and David Sweeney, Director of Research, Innovation and Skills at HEFCE. 

There will then follow an extended session for HEI colleagues to engage with each other, network and share insights on good practices.  

We may also have very short presentations for good case studies.  We realise that we don’t have all the answers and that much more can and should be done but interacting with each other at this event will be a great starting point in promoting the message as a sector.

The event will be held in on 7 May 09 at 1 Great Georges St, London.  This is close enough to Westminster to enable national policy-makers to engage and get our message across.  We hope that as many members as possible will be able to come and participate fully.

You can now register for this event online.  For further information regarding poster displays contact: Philip Graham, Executive Director AURIL, p.graham@qub.ac.uk, phone 077 111 26638.  All registration and operational queries should be addressed to Kate Doherty, Operations Director, Happening Communications, kate@happen.co.uk, phone 028 9066 4020.