Brighton leads £3.5m 'clean growth' network project

The university will be leading a £3.5m ‘Connecting Innovation for Clean Growth’ project which will link three ‘clean growth’ business networks including the university’s Green Growth Platform.

Funded by Research England (formerly the Higher Education Funding Council for England), the Green Growth Platform was launched in 2014 to drive growth in the environmental business sector in Sussex by providing business support, innovation and R&D support, events and skills development.

The university will now lead on the creation of Clean Growth UK which will extend across the country and Higher Education sector.

It will link small and medium-sized enterprise innovators to specialist university expertise and connect them to large public and private sector organisations through innovation events and demonstration projects.

The University of Brighton will be working with the universities of Portsmouth and Liverpool John Moores on the project.

Professor Debra Humphris, University of Brighton Vice-Chancellor, said: “We are delighted to be playing a part in driving clean growth and innovation in business – essential if we are to combat the pressing environmental challenges facing our planet.

Professor Debra Humphris

Zoe Osmond

“The university’s leadership of Clean Growth UK is a reflection of the hard work and commitment invested by colleagues throughout the University and, in particular, those involved with the Green Growth Platform and research and enterprise.”

Zoe Osmond, Director of the Green Growth Platform, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to join forces with some of the leading clean growth business networks in the UK, and to create enduring links between the University knowledge base and 4,000+ dynamic and innovative low carbon, environmental businesses.”

Brighton’s is one of a number of university-led projects which complete the Government’s £100m funding to support universities in helping deliver its Industrial Strategy.

Some 54 higher education institutions will be collaborating with each other and with businesses and investor networks. More than 12 different local enterprise partnerships will benefit.

The projects are attracting over £322 million of additional investment from universities, businesses, investors and other partners.

With five Catapults and several key Research Councils involved, the projects also build on partnership working across many of the organisations that make up the new UK Research and Innovation body.

David Sweeney, Executive Chair of Research England, said: “These projects demonstrate the commitment of universities to work together to strengthen the R&D and technological capabilities of the UK, building upon our successful Higher Education Innovation Fund.

“In the Industrial Strategy, the Government asked us to improve our ability to turn exciting ideas into commercial products and services. Universities have stepped forward in these projects to show that they can do world class commercialisation, alongside world class science.

“I believe these projects present important innovations that should inform our strategic approach to commercialisation in UK Research and Innovation for the future.”

For more information please contact the team at greengrowthplatform@brighton.ac.uk or telephone 01273  641 949.