Nottingham’s two universities, together with the City and County’s Local Authorities, hospitals, Integrated Care System and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, have today (29 July 2020) announced the inaugural Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement – the first of its kind in the country.
Following the launch of the Universities for Nottingham initiative back in January, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University have worked with a number of core local partners to accelerate and refocus the development of this inaugural Civic Agreement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Agreement contains a programme of fourteen priority initiatives that will begin in 2020-21 and will be delivered by the universities and the other signatories to help drive economic revival, support communities and protect jobs. The development of a Civic Agreement was one of the recommendations of the national UPP Foundation Civic University Commission and they are the first of nearly 60 universities across the UK who have, thus far, committed to publishing one.
Currently, signatories to the Civic Agreement are:
- D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership
- Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System
- Nottingham City Council
- Nottingham Trent University
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust
- University of Nottingham
Overall, the Civic Agreement is the result of over 400 hours of conversation between over 150 local partners and colleagues that have taken place over the last 18 months, including the many comments and suggestions received from attendees at the launch in January. It sets out a programme of initiatives identified collectively as being a priority for the universities and partners to work together on over the coming year. The shared ambition is for this first Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement to make difference to the educational opportunity, economic prosperity, health and wellbeing and environmental sustainability of local communities.
The Agreement is attached and is also accompanied by a Consultation Synthesis Document which sets out in greater detail the evidence-base and conversations that have helped shape it so far. All the resources, interactive maps, case studies and stories that have been produced by the initiative are available at www.universitiesfornottingham.ac.uk