Alliance Universities set to play vital role in UK’s pandemic recovery
Wednesday 31 March 2021
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Coventry University and 11 others that make up the University Alliance group will help power the national economic, social and cultural recovery from COVID-19.
The ‘Powering the UK’s Future’ campaign highlights how these universities will deliver the skills, ideas and innovations needed to deliver an economic and skills-driven recovery that will see communities across the country thrive once again.
The 12 Alliance universities train almost a quarter of the nation’s nurses, support almost 24,000 businesses with consultancy, facilities and research, and have been awarded more than £68m to spend on regenerating their local communities, alongside other investments.
Calling for higher education to be positioned and funded as a major asset for the nation’s recovery, University Alliance have released a set of high-level policy asks which if enacted will enhance universities’ contribution to the national economic, social and cultural recovery.
Coventry University has a range of ongoing projects evidencing its commitment to supporting the nation’s recovery from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The award-winning Simulation Centre at Coventry University helps organisations from a wide range of public sector services to exercise, train and develop their staff using simulated experiences, proving extremely useful for those working in emergency response services. The fully immersive virtual environment enables both individual agency teams and multi-agency emergency service groups to train together for ‘major incident’ scenarios.
The university’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering has also collaborated with Unipart Manufacturing, addressing the engineering skills shortage by giving students direct access to real-life engineering projects and delivering industry-ready graduates.
The campaign has been backed by major employers and industry partners, including Tata steel and the International Chamber of Commerce, along with support from numerous SMEs and local organisations who work with Alliance universities to deliver change for their communities.
There’s no doubt that universities have a hugely significant role to play in supporting the nation’s economic recovery in the months and years to come. Our innovative work allows us to produce job-ready graduates, collaborate with major employers and make a real difference. This campaign is further evidence and recognition of what we and all our fellow University Alliance member institutions are striving to achieve.
Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor
As a mission group we are committed to working together, to unlock potential in order to effect change, and this has never been more important for the UK than now. I am proud that through launching this campaign we are demonstrating our potential and readiness as a collective group of universities to power a national renewal and recovery which we all strive for as we look to rebuild from Covid-19 and beyond.
University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson
