Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS)

Thanks to the HCLG Committee for the opportunity to contribute to their inquiry on local government funding with Aileen Murphy Tony Travers LSE School of Public Policy and Jonathan Carr-West Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) - in a nutshell: a radical overhaul needed!

Highly recommend this timely event on 3rd March. What can the North East learn from the Japanese experience of regional strategy development? Naoki Fujiwara, a highly experienced researcher and practitioner, will present the findings from his work in Japan. An expert panel (Jenny Hartley MBE, Prof Colin Herron CBE, Fumi Kitagawa and Kevin Muldoon-Smith) will then reflect on what the implications might be for a new North East local growth plan, currently in development by The North East Combined Authority. This is an in-person only events. Early registration is recommended as places are limited and there is likely to be high demand. https://lnkd.in/dGnVF9iE

We are delighted to share our authors' response to five engaging commentaries on our paper, "Urban State Venturism: On state-led venture capital investments in the urban process of capital accumulation", in Dialogues in Human Geography. Huge thanks to Ilias Alami, Dan Cohen, Sabine Dörry, Emily Rosenman, Hyun Bang Shin, and Heather Whiteside for providing such generous and stimulating discussions on our paper. We hope the research directions proposed in our response (available open access 👇 ) will lead to further conversations on the urban condition(s) of state entrepreneurialism and state capitalism.

Thank you to the iPACT Network (EPSRC) for funding our recent pilot project "Pipeline or Hub? Harnessing critical energy infrastructure on the North Norfolk Coast". Project Team: Stuart Dawley; Gareth Powells; Will Eadson; Markus Steen In the context of the energy transition, our project focused on the Bacton gas terminal and explored the enabling and constraining conditions that might shape its adaptation into a CCS and H2 infrastructural asset to support industrial decarbonisation and low carbon energy. In particular, and as host region to this critical energy infrastructure, our attention also focused on how to ensure this became a development 'for' rather than simply 'in' North Norfolk. Taken together, the Bacton case raises significant opportunities and challenges for the next stage in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero CCS policy landscape, requiring us to move *beyond* the existing *industrial cluster* and *Track 1 & 2* development frameworks. For an overview of our pilot project, see pages 8-9 of the iPACT Brochure: https://lnkd.in/etkaum-r The pilot project has benefitted from a productive collaboration with North Norfolk District Council and STEVE BLATCH. We are also very grateful to a range of international, national and regional stakeholders who have kindly fed into the research. Finally, thanks also to the iPACT team for hosting the network's Showcase event at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers , IYMC on Tuesday 28th January. This gave us the opportunity to present our work under the watchful gaze of George Stephenson (see photo), a man who knew a thing or two about 'Track' related developments. Incidentally, our Geography at Newcastle University is located on the site of George Stephenson's former home (1824-5). #FromNewcastle #CCUS #energytransition Jenny Knight; Newcastle University; Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS)

This opportunity for a one-year placement to work with the Darlington Economic Campus has reopened. It is available to ANY colleague employed at Newcastle University or Durham University (all job families, all schools/colleges/faculties). I think this would be a great role for someone who has been supporting impact and engagement and wants to get some more hands-on experience of the research-policy process. The successful candidate will work closely with (and be supported by) the team at Insights North East. https://lnkd.in/eWV2EPiz

How to shape an inclusive and effective Pathways to Employment system? A great panel lineup for this University of Sunderland Institute for Economic and Social Inclusion event. https://lnkd.in/eusNf8ei

Thanks to North Norfolk District Council, especially STEVE BLATCH, and National Gas for hosting and coordinating a very engaging and productive Bacton Summit. (http://bit.ly/4gUSJNk) We were grateful of the opportunity to contribute to the discussions by drawing on our recent 'Pipeline or Hub? Harnessing Critical Energy Infrastructures on the North Norfolk Coast' pilot project from the iPACT network along with international insights from the CaptureX project led out of SINTEF. Whilst Bacton's future can deliver a critical element for the UK Government's (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) missions around energy security and net zero, there remains a clear and enduring need to ensure this also delivers a *development for, not just in,* North Norfolk and the broader region (al a Morgan and Sayer 1988). Encouragingly, the discussions emerging from the Bacton Summit provide a platform to help realise this potential. We hope our research can continue to feed into these efforts. Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) Newcastle University; Markus Steen; Will Eadson; #netzero #CCUS Carbon Capture and Storage Association

JOB ALERT 📣📣📣 Fantastic opportunity to join the amazing team at Regional Studies Association in a newly-created role

We are pleased to announce two further outputs from our "Beyond 'Left Behind Places'" project! A research paper on varieties of 'left-behindness', published in Regional Studies (open access): https://lnkd.in/e7p8_ye4 And a policy briefing on regional migration in economically lagging regions in the UK, France, and Germany: https://lnkd.in/eHpdSU3G

📢 Join us for the official launch of DataNEt, a vibrant community connecting academics and policymakers to harness data for better public policy outcomes. This event offers an opportunity to learn about DataNEt's mission, meet the Steering Committee, and explore its plans for fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange. Attendees will also help shape the network’s future activities through feedback sessions and interactive discussions. Don't miss this chance to connect and contribute to this growing community! 📅 Event details: Tuesday, 14 January 12.00-13.30 The Core, Newcastle Helix ➡️ Registration is open! Sign up today to secure your place: https://lnkd.in/ebbVHsFe