In a nutshell

The need - There is a significant gap in knowledge transfer associated with building sustainable communities. This is recognised as a pressing strategic objective by Government since the price of developing unsustainably is high not only in economic terms, but also in terms of quality of life, health, security, culture and the environment.

The challenge - There is a lack of the right knowledge in the right places to inform development. The problem is not a lack of policy, will or knowledge, but a lack of coordination. Considerable research investment has been devoted to the issue in recent years and much is now known about the interactions between the social, economic, environmental and institutional systems involved. It is now possible to make urban planning evidence-based, and to engage communities in decision making. However, both the urban supply network and the knowledge domains in the research base are fragmented along disciplinary and organisational lines, thus thwarting attempts to deliver sustainable communities.

The opportunity - Timing is of the essence. London and the wider South East region is about to embark on the largest programme of new urban development since post-war reconstruction. The Olympics and Thames Gateway provide both a stimulus and investment. Radical changes have been introduced to the planning system to encourage collaborative and participative development. The time is right for a significant short term initiative designed to coordinate and bring evidence-based knowledge and learning processes to bear.

The partnership - consists of UCL, a research university with expertise in a range of the key disciplines; UEL, with its excellent regional networks in the Thames Gateway and Olympic development area, and a cohort of other academic institutions with complementary expertise including KnowledgeEast partners and others from around the UK and internationally. We have engaged a group of over seventy stakeholder/user organisations from the public, voluntary and private sectors spanning the full range of the urban lifecycle, from finance to management in use, including designers, implementers, regulators and umbrella groups. All are committed to a significant contribution of time and effort to this initiative.

The proposal - We recognise that knowledge is transferred by people, working together to solve problems. We will build a network of Innovation Fellows embedded in stakeholder organisations and Business Fellows in the HEIs. They will be trained in 'where the expertise is' and will work together to identify and work on live development projects in the wider region. Here they will bring evidence-based and participative processes and new knowledge to bear to develop sustainable communities. The network of Fellows will have their time bought out to devote to the initiative. By working together to solve shared problems on projects not only will academic disciplinary divisions be bridged, but so too will organisational fragmentation in the urban supply network. The projects will help forge a collaborative community. Projects will provide case material for new course modules and learning opportunities, as well as demonstrations to build belief in communities that new development is not necessarily a bad neighbour. Community engagement and dissemination will be based on this experience.

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