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• urban economic development including the restructuring and competitiveness of traditional industries and economies
• rural economic development including agricultural restructuring and alternative food supply chains
• urban and rural connectivity through new industries, tourism, hertiage and the cultural economy
• basic and higher level skills needs and provision in local and regional labour markets

Food Strategy for the West Midlands

Tourism & Heritage Research

Motor Industry Observatory

Carried out in conjunction with WM Enterprise, this research was commissioned by Advantage West Midlands and aimed to establish a Food Strategy for the West Midlands to improve current operations and ensure the sustainability of the sector in the region.

The initial stage of the research involved extensive information collection and collation in order to provide

• a robust evidence base to support regional policy
• a clear understanding of sector characteristics and trends and
• a knowledge of what works and where it is targeted

The second phase of the research involved analysing the data collated in Phase One and the development of the policy itself through

• analysis of information across all elements driving the commission
• determination of whether clustering is an appropriate technique
• development of an action plan to support implementation of policy

Methods

Literature review; data review; GIS mapping; business survey; stakeholder consultation; business support mapping; evidence base analysis; policy/action plan development; study paper development

As tourism is now the world’s largest service industry, it is hardly surprising that it comes high on the redevelopment and regeneration agendas.  Recent work by SURGE researchers in this area includes:

• Developing sustainable tourism in a mass tourism hot-spot – Goa
• Developing motoring tourism locally in a way that maximises its attractiveness
• Investigating the potential impacts of a Civil War Heritage Centre in Coventry
• Promoting sustainable regeneration through mega-sports events – the Cricket World Cup and London 2012
• Promoting peace and reconciliation through sports events – the case of India-Pakistan Test Matches

SURGE research includes work in the area of pedagogy.  Work has been undertaken for the HEA Subject Group for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism to develop video seminar support material and reusable learning objects.

Cross-group research has included work on the Landscapes of War Project with colleagues in ISSS), insolvency in English Football clubs (with colleagues in CIBS) and the development of e-materials for postgraduate researchers (with colleagues across the Faculty of BES).

Internationally SURGE is represented on the Executive Board of ATLAS and the ATLAS Mass Tourism Special Interest Group.  In May 2007 SURGE hosted the latter group at its first international conference.

Motor Industry Observatory 

Established in 1999 the Motor Industry Observatory (MIO) at Coventry University is headed up by Professor Tom Donnelly. The function of the (MIO) is to observe, analyse, comment and publish on developments within the industry. The research is channelled through the MIO, which has conducted a number of projects on the automotive industry in the UK and overseas in recent years.

Visit the MIO page for further information on research in this area.

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