Regional Development Agencies and the knowledge economy: harnessing the potential of universities

The authors explore the bases for regional engagement by universities in the light of structural change within higher education and ongoing debates about the nature of regional economic development. They focus on the implications for a university's relationship with its region of the New Labour policy environment within England as set out in a series of White Papers and consultation papers concerned with industrial competitiveness, lifelong learning and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), and assess how far these new policy proposals address Old Labour issues of uneven development within the knowledge economy. The authors conclude the paper by setting out new procedures on the part of government departments, RDAs, and universities themselves for linking universities and regions in order to create regional learning systems.