Regional Innovation
and Regeneration Centre
Delivering interventions, programmes and research projects that enhance the innovation, productivity, wellbeing and community wealth of the region.
The Regional Innovation and Regeneration Centre at Cardiff School of Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University, delivers interventions, programmes and research projects that enhance the innovation, productivity, wellbeing and community wealth of the region and which enable practitioners to implement policies based on robust academically underpinned research. The Centre contributes to the place-based development agenda, and the impact thereof via executive education programmes such as Circular Economy Innovation Communities and the Cardiff Circular Economy Network.
The Centre’s research focuses on organisational innovation (predominantly circular economy and foundational economy) innovation networks, regional innovation and asymmetric devolution in UK and delivery of economic development policies.
The Centre’s research reports on the individual, firm (organisational) and meso level (regional networks, communities of practice etc). Our research has an applied focus, we have recently been commissioned by the Welsh Government (Foundational Economy and the Innovation Departments), Wales Innovation Network (WIN), Innovation Caucus (Innovate UK), the Welsh European Funding Office and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Cross-disciplinary research with colleagues at Cardiff Met (School of Art & Design) has investigated innovation intermediaries, creativity and the use of ‘co-working’ spaces, and the spatial implications of remote working following Covid 19 (the latter which has involved recent commissioned work from Welsh Government with colleagues at the University of Southampton).
We also conduct collaborative research and have published reports with Swansea University, Aberystwyth University, Bangor University and the University of Central Lancashire.
Our Directors
Prof Nick Clifton
Research
Nick Clifton, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK, is a Professor of Economic Geography and Regional Development. His research interests lie in the fields of regional economics, small business and entrepreneurship, networks, business strategy, innovation, and creativity, remote working and coworking spaces. In particular, he is interested in how individuals and firms use networks to acquire knowledge and innovate. He has published over 140 contributions to academic and policy debates, including over 45 scholarly articles in these areas. Nick has undertaken funded research for Innovate UK (including a recent report on innovation for a circular economy), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), The Scottish Executive, the Welsh Government, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCFW), Federation of Small Business (FSB), Research Councils UK, and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA). He presently serves as Research Excellence Framework (REF) Coordinator for UoA17 (Management) at Cardiff Met, where he led a REF2021 3* rated impact case study on SME development. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an affiliated member of the Centre for Innovation Research (CIRCLE) at Lund University, Sweden. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Growth and Change: a journal of urban and regional policy, published by Wiley.
In 2016 Nick joined the Innovation and Research Caucus an initiative funded by Innovate UK and the ESRC to support innovation-led growth and promote greater engagement between the social sciences and businesses. He also served on the Advisory Board of Cardiff Central Enterprise Zone, was a member of the Organising Committee of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) conference (Cardiff 2021), and co-organised Symposium and Lab sessions at EURAM (European Academy of Management) conference (Dublin 2023).
He has provided expert evidence to a range of stakeholder bodies including The Senedd (Welsh Government) Petitions Committee in relation to the valuation of urban green infrastructure, and the UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the UK Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (commenting on ‘Levelling Up’ Fund methodologies, and to peer review the associated Towns Fund proposed monitoring and evaluation strategy), and served on the ReWAGE sub-group for Work, wages and employment in the UK’s hospitality sector which reported in June 2023.
Click here to see Prof Nick Clifton’s full list of publications (ORCID)
Dr Gary Walpole
Innovation
A strategic organization development practical academic with an outstanding record of conceptualizing and leading multi-partner, multi-million-pound projects. Designed, secured, and delivered projects and research totalling £16m in last decade. He is passionate about Organisational Development through the development of leadership and innovation skills.
He currently directs the Circular Economy Innovation Community project (£3.7m, ESF). The Circular Economy Innovation Communities (CEIC) project is creating regional collaborative innovation networks (communities of practice) across public service organisations to co-produce new service solutions that implement Circular Economy (CE) principles. Participants enhance their innovation knowledge and skills by applying new tools and techniques to enable their organisations to reduce their carbon footprint, costs and enhance service levels, evidence through group presentations. The formal 10-month programme creates Communities of Practice proven to facilitate regional innovation. The project design, it’s impact and implications are outlined in a report commissioned by Innovate UK ‘Innovation for a Circular Economy’.
He also directs the Cardiff Circular Economy Network which created a CE community of practice within the Cardiff Council boundary, in collaboration with One Planet Cardiff. He previously designed and directed the highly successful ‘Leading Growth’ programme (ION leadership, £7.9m ESF) that facilitated productivity gains and business growth in more than 1200 SMEs across Wales. He also designed and delivered the the Open Innovation Programme; DIPFSCC programme (Welsh Government part funded) and the Skills for Innovation in Manufacturing programme (UKCES funded) to businesses across Wales. He was formerly Director of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership & Management Skills in Wales (£2.9m) at Cardiff University.
Click here to see Dr Gary Walpole’s full list of publications (ORCID)
