INE is a demonstrator illustrating how anchor institutions can collaborate to maximise the potential for university research to inform place-based policy-making and practice, ensuring that future research agendas are demand-led and shaped by the needs of the North East.

With support and funding from Research England’s Development Fund, INE is in the process of starting its activities, scaling up to build the critical mass necessary so that it can build the bridge between the worlds of research and policy-making.

We need place-based approaches that more strongly match policy responses to the circumstances and contexts of diverse places – and, we need the insight, data and evidence to underpin these policy responses. Matching place-based policymaking requires input and ownership from a range of stakeholders and local decision-makers, aggregating their knowledge, capabilities and expertise so that key policy responses align with the circumstances and context of a specific place, in this instance the North East of England.

INE will show how, by working collaboratively with public and health sector partners, universities can create a new and porous policy research eco-system that maximises the benefits of our individual and shared capabilities. As an action research project INE will share its learning with the higher education, health and public sectors across the UK and internationally so they can design their own local solutions to close the gap between publicly funded research and policy design and action.