Knowledge Exchange Concordat

The Knowledge Exchange Concordat (KEC) aims to 

• give universities, other higher education providers and research institutions, along with their staff and students, a clarity of mission and support for the KE activities they perform;
• give governing bodies and governments broad confidence in the activity that is taking place;
• give partners an accurate representation of the approach that individual organisations are taking to KE;
• provide clear indicators of their approaches to performance improvement;
• encourage organisations to work together to strengthen KE practices across the sector and to deliver KE when appropriate.

The KE Concordat has eight guiding principles:

• Mission
• Policies and processes
• Engagement
• Working transparently and ethically
• Capacity building
• Recognition and rewards
• Continuous improvement
• Evaluating success

The University has signed up to the eight KE Concordat principles and has taken part in the development year. This required the University to undertake a self-assessment and gap analysis and develop an associated action plan that detailed how we would address any significant gaps against the Concordat’s eight principles.

Workstreams

Following a review of the action plan the University has developed a comprehensive implementation plan that will be delivered through six work streams, which overlap with the Concordat’s eight principles. 

These six workstreams, some with several sub themes will be led by a small team of academic and professional services staff from across the institution

KE Policy and Processes

Contact: Amanda Selvaratnam

• To review existing KE policies and processes and develop appropriate guidance as required to address any gaps.
• To develop a costing and pricing model for CPD and consultancy and an effective approach for monitoring of cost recovery for facilities accessed by external and internal stakeholders.
• Review of recruitment processes and development of institutional guidance on KE reward and recognition.

KE Training 

Contact: Blake Prime 

• To review the existing training provision for KE and to develop a portfolio of training that will build skills in both academic and professional services staff delivering or supporting KE activities.
• Review the potential for sharing or accessing training provision with external partners.

Managing KE Partnerships 

Contact: Mary Haworth

• Develop a proactive approach for prioritising external partnerships and for growing strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships.
• Establish processes and policies for external engagement and management of partnerships.
• Establish centralised resources for due diligence.
• Investigate the use of a CRM tool for more strategic account management and to develop best practice eg Sales Force.

KE Communications 

Contact: Sam Gardner

• Develop internal comms plan promoting the institution's priorities and support for KE, including its value and purpose.
• Improve quality and reach of external facing business web pages including regular updating of case studies and other information showcasing the institutions KE.
• Develop a clearer “front door” and signposting to improve external engagement.
• Raise awareness of our institutional values, including our commitment to EDI, to existing and future partners.

KE Governance, Reporting and Monitoring

Contact: Linda Ko Ferrigno

• Using the Institutional Strategy identify our KE priorities
• Develop metrics and performance indicators to monitor and report progress on priorities through UPEC.
• Align and embed KE governance with existing structures.
• Build HEBCIS and KEF data into the KE planning process.

KE Culture

Contact: Rachel Curwen

• Develop an institutionally agreed definition of KE.
• Develop and support faculty and departmental structures for responsibility and academic championing of KE.
• Build on existing responsible Innovation activities.
• Scope and develop a range of approaches for embedding KE in workload models (also part of research productivity exercise (savings and earnings).

Action plan activities

Example activities as part of the action plan include:

• Develop a internal culture that supports staff and students wishing to undertake all types of knowledge exchange.
• Build a portfolio of training programmes to support staff undertaking KE activities from CPD to KTPs to commercialisation.
• Work with National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) to develop approaches for measuring and evaluating public engagement activities.
• Formalise processes for responding to external enquiries to ensure they are managed effectively.
• Develop a clearer “front door” with effective signposting to facilitate external engagement.
• Develop methods for monitoring KE workforce EDI characteristics.

View the full action plan

If you would like to be involved in any of the work streams, or for further information about the University’s action plan and its implementation, please contact Clare.Murgatroyd@york.ac.uk.