Applied Knowledge Exchange

Glasgow Caledonian University’s Applied Knowledge Exchange was at the S2S Social Enterprise Fair this week. We enjoyed chatting with Social Enterprises, other universities and inviduals about the growing social enterprise sector.

Our PgC Social Enterprise course was a hot topic of the day!

Find out more from wwww.gcu.ac.uk/business or give us a ring on 0141 331 3139 for a copy of our promotional DVD, which features Mel Young of the Big Issue and Homeless World Cup.

The Applied Knowledge Exchange sponsored a successful Social Enterprise colloquium here at GCU this week.

We joined special guest speakers Karen Gilligan from Kibble, Tony Traynor from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Roana Dickson from GCU’s School of Health and Heather Sim from Space Unlimited.

Our speakers talked with our MBA and fourth year students about the development of Social Enterprises - a hot topic for the Scottish Government. Very interesting stuff! We will be at the S2S fair to get involved in promoting Social Enterprise next month.

The Applied Knowledge Exchange shall be going to the S2S fair in Edinburgh next month to promote its activities in Social Enterprise. Come and say hello to us at the exhibition!

Five Glasgow Caledonian University staff are participating in an Understanding Social Enterprise course run by the Social Enterprise Academy this week.

The course is part of a Scottish Government initiative to foster stronger links between University’s and the burgeoning social enterprise sector in Scotland.

We will also be helping place students in social enterprises and showcasing our activity in this area at the S2S trade fair.

Follow us on Twitter #CaledonianAKE to find out more about our work in this area.

Glasgow Caledonian University will be attending the KTP Scotland Awards Ceremony on 2nd February at the Doubletree Dunblane Hydro in Perthshire.

Glasgow Caledonian Uni has had several successful KTP partnerships with businesses including Novograf.

Current KTPs include those with Fearsom UK and If Only Holidays Limited.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s leading programme helping business to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base.

At the Applied Knowledge Exchange, we welcome enquiries about funding and eligibility for Knowledge Transformation Partnerships from business and third sector organisations.

The main speaker at this year’s event will be Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland.

The  Scottish Government has published a report following a consultation with the public sector on its views on whether the UK Equality Bill should introduce new socio-economic duties to Scottish public bodies.

The consultation asked whether the provision in the Bill to place a duty on certain public bodies to have due regard to socio-economic inequalities in strategic decision making (which, as the Bill stands, applies to England and Wales only) should be extended to Scottish public bodies.

69 written responses were received by the close of the consultation. Overall, there was a majority of respondents in favour of the application of the socio-economic duty to public authorities in Scotland.

A common theme was the existence of poverty and socio-economic inequality and other forms of inequality in Scotland, the impact of this and the need to address such issues. Others suggested a duty would ensure consistency and continuity of work to address socio-economic inequality and have a positive impact upon resources for such work and increase scrutiny of strategic decisions.

However, there were some perceived problems with the application of a socio-economic duty to public authorities in Scotland. Amongst these, a common theme was the existence of current arrangements and frameworks. There are also fears it would increase bureaucracy and make public authorities vulnerable to legal challenge and judicial review.

What is your view? Join the debate here.

Glasgow Caledonian University is already gearing up for a busy year of new courses and seminars created especially for businesses.

First up is a new Top Up MSc programme in Human Resource Management, aimed at HR and business professionals who already hold the postgraduate Diploma in HRM and would like to advance to MSc level.

Launching on Thursday 4th February 2010, the course involves two taught modules comprising Consulting for Strategic Change, and Leadership and HR Management.

Launching this spring, Economics for Equality is a short course to help policy makers, community activists and businesses to understand how talking the language of economics can help in the promotion of gender equality.

Economics for Equality will provide your organisation with a supportive learning environment to explore the relevance of gender and the economy to public spending, policy making and your business.

Also on the cards for March 2010 is Glasgow Caledonian University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Social Enterprise is the only postgraduate degree in Scotland designed specifically for the growing Social Enterprise sector. It was developed through the collaboration of Glasgow Caledonian University and the Scottish Social Enterprise Academy to provide organisations with techniques to aid them in demonstrate greater entrepreneurial flair, innovation and self-reliance. The year-long part-time course has been designed to meet the needs of busy professionals and has been designed for flexibility around three weekends.

For more information on any of these courses, click here or contact the Applied Knowledge Exchange on 0141 331 3125.

Renewable and clean energy enjoys a ’significant comparative advantage’ in Scotland according to a Scottish Government report published this week.

The study highlights Scotland’s location, natural resources, research and development and manufacturing bases as key advantages for developing Scotland’s clean energy resource.

The report shows one additional gigawatt of onshore or offshore wind capacity could reduce Scotland’s current total carbon emissions by around 3%. Electricity grid infrastructure will be a fundamental influence on Scotland’s ability to accommodate growth in renewables.

Energy Minister Jim Mather said Scotland’s energy advantage lies in securing low carbon electricity from renewables and clean fossil fuels.

The Scottish Government has recruited the help of Scottish Water, John Lewis, BT and Scottish Power for a new 2020 Delivery Group to ensure that all sectors of Scotland’s economy and civic society contribute fully to achieving the Climate Change Delivery Plan which includes the target of a 42% reduction in emissions over the next decade.

Dr Alastair Sutherland of the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University says: ‘Here at GCU’s School of Life Sciences, we are looking at optimising microbial consortia in anaerobic digestion so that we can more efficiently generate biofuels including methane gas at micro- and macro-generation levels.

‘Inputs can be waste material or substrate such as seaweed or microalgae grown noncompetitively with food crops. We are particularly investigating anaerobic digestion of seaweed for use by small island communities and perhaps councils who need to remove cast seaweed from leisure beaches.
 
‘However, anaerobic digestion of grass and other horticultural waste and waste paper are being investigated. The benefits are developments in renewable biofuels, reduction in landfill waste and the release of associated methane (a greenhouse gas) from landfill.’

The School of Life Sciences works with local, national and international partners and is fully committed to promoting the economic vitality of Scotland and the UK . To find out more contact the Applied Knowledge Exchange.

Scotland’s Climate Change minister Stewart Stevenson is pushing the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Mission agenda at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen next week.

The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Act, passed earlier this year, has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2050.

At the weekend, Parliamentarians joined thousands of protestors as they took to the streets of Glasgow as part of Scotland’s biggest ever climate change demonstration. The Wave was organised by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition.

At Glasgow Caledonian University, vital renewable energy work is also high on the agenda.

Research is central to the School of the Built and Natural Environment’s activities, and it attained the top rating in Scotland in the category  “Architecture and the Built Environment” of The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for 2008.

The School of the Built and Natural Environment has a research partnership with Grameen Shakti , a not-for-profit company established to promote, develop and popularize renewable energy technologies in remote, rural areas of Bangladesh. The School of the Built and Natural Environment is collaborating with Grameen Shakti on the largest micro-generation renewable energy program in the world. A delegation of Grameen Shakti will also attend the Copenhagen Summit.   

Dr M. Asif, Lecturer in Sustainable and Renewable Energy Technologies at Glasgow Caledonian University, says: “In the backdrop of the environmental challenges Bangladesh faces , the work we are jointly undertaking is important and would be of interest to other developing and developed countries as well.”

Another important renewable energy initiative is being headed by Dr Alastair Sutherland, Dr Alan Williams and Susan Withers, of the Division of Biological/Biomedical Sciences. They have obtained £147,000 of funding from iTi Energy to study the anaerobic digestion of seaweed to produce methane. This is part of a new initiative to develop advanced biofuels for renewable energy.

Your business can benefit from the expertise available at Glasgow Caledonian University. Whether you are an SME, charity, multinational or public sector organisation, the Applied Knowledge Exchange can provide professional consultancy, specialist research facilities, and bespoke work-based education.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) are working together in a strategic partnership to explore potential for enhancing knowledge exchange in the arts and humanities in Scotland.

They are co-hosting an event that aims to bring arts and humanities researchers together with partners from related disciplines and organisations is taking place on 1 September, 9-5 pm, Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh. To attend this free event, please e-mail your details to knowledgetransfer@ahrc.ac.uk.

The idea behind the event is to explore how arts and humanities subjects can contribute to new perspectives on the experience of health and illness in Scotland and and new approaches to therapy and recovery in Scotland.