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Observatory PASCAL
Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions PASCAL UNIVERSITIES REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT PROJECT (PURE) PURE Briefing Paper No. 17 Preparing for Consultative Development Group (CDG) Second Round Visits
December 2009 1.0 Scope and purpose of this note 1.1 Sixteen regions taking part in the Pascal PURE Project completed the first cycle of work in 2009. This included a first visit by the Consultative Development Group. RVR1s (Review Visit Reports) have been completed and agreed for all these Regions. These RVR1s are posted on the Pascal Website, together with the Profiles and Briefing Papers for each region that preceded the visits. A second CDG visit takes place approximately a year after the initial visit. Most of these have already been scheduled to occur in 2010. Regions are proceeding to work along lines set out in their Action Plans, drafted following the CDG visit. Special interest Clusters have begun work. All CDG 2 visits for the 1st Cohort will be completed in time to contribute to the two-day PURE Workshop in Sweden in June. Before the initial CDG visit, each Region was required to prepare the Regional Profile and a short Briefing Paper referred to above. In many cases, as a result of work meanwhile, Regions may have points to add, because other aspects have assumed importance, or because things have changed within the Region during the past year. Rather than revise those documents, it is proposed that each Region produces a Mid-project Review Note. This note will serve two purposes.  First it will require the Region, through its Regional Steering Group, to take stock of what has been achieved since the Project started, what progress has been achieved in terms of the Action Plan, what problems have prevented or delayed progress, and any new aspirations for regional engagement and development that they may have grown up meanwhile. Secondly it will assist the Region and the visiting CDG to make the visit as profitable as possible, by focusing attention on the key themes that the Region wishes the CDG to explore with it and to examine during the visit.
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The Review Note also provides the opportunity to vary and add to the background information about the Region that may be required since the Profile and Briefing paper were prepared.
2.0 Guideline Template for Mid-project Review Note (MRC) This is not a prescriptive template. It is a suggested outline of what the Region might prepare and share with the CDG. The MRC should be sent to the Glasgow PURE office, cc Chris Duke, three weeks before the CDG visit is due, in time to be discussed with the CDG leader, and between CDG members before they arrive.
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Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions Preparing this note may assist in the preparation of the schedule for the 2nd round visits – whom should the CDG meet this time, what should be the focus of discussion in each case? 3.0 Name of Region: Name, e-mail address, phone contacts etc of Region Link person responsible for arranging the visit. 3.1 Adding to the RP and the RBP What information do you wish to provide to the CDG additional to what is in the Profile and Briefing Paper prepared for the 2009 visit? 3.2 Altering the RP and the RBP Is there any information in those papers that you wish to alter or modify in the light of new experience? 3.3 Other changes affecting the Region Are there specific changes (political, economic, etc) that you need to call to the attention of the CDG? 3.4 Impact of the project Has the Region (ie the RSG) changed its understanding of what kinds of engagement and development are possible and desirable as a result of the PURE Project so far? If so, in what ways has it changed? 3.5 Implementing the Action Plan Please set out in turn and in numbered point form the particular Action Plan achievements that you want the CDG to concentrate on when they visit. In each case, can you say what advice and guidance you are looking for? How can this be achieved during the visit? What meetings are required to make this work? 3.6 PURE Clusters The PURE specialised Clusters are seen as an important part of the PURE methodology. Although it is early days, what are your comments so far on the potential of the Clusters for helping your Region to achieve its purposes? 3.7 Benchmarking Assessing and evaluating the contribution of higher education’s engagement in regional development has always been difficult and elusive. As you know, PURE is developing and using
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Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions Benchmarking Tools for both higher education institutions (HEIs) and Regions. In some cases these are central to the Action Plans themselves. What is your experience of the Benchmark tools so far? What aspects of this do you want to explore with the CDG when it visits? 3.8 Examples of Good Practice It is intended to collect examples of Good Practice (GP) from all Regions and to make these available within and beyond the PURE Network. Most Regions have begun to identify possible candidates for such a compendium, for example in the RVR1s. Please list GP examples that you would like considered. Please add any comments about how you would see these written up and collated to be of most practical use. 3.9 Looking beyond 2010 Questions have been asked about what continuing activity might be supported through PURE after the end of 2010. New Regions will join the widening Network of Regions during that year, but the contract period for Cohort 1 ends at the end of 2010. This will be a topic for discussion in Sweden in June 2010. Meanwhile, do you have views and ideas for ongoing activity that your region would welcome?
Chris Duke Pascal PURE
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