Universities for Cities and Regions: Lessons From the OECD Reviews

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) does a lot of interesting research, often focused narrowly on Europe. For example, with regard to higher education and local and regional development, it has found that:

Regions can, with the help of their colleges and universities, play a key role not only in the development of national but also local and regional innovation systems. But much more needs to be done to take full advantage of higher education in regional and city development. It is becoming clear, for instance, that imitation and adaptation are no longer sufficient strategies in this kind of work. Unique advantages have to be constructed, and they have to be built on innovation. Universities and colleges can and should play a proactive role in providing the ideas and strategies to fuel that innovation.

According to this report from Barbara Ischinger and Jaana Puukka, in Change magazine, the OECD Reviews that led to that understanding are being repeated in many more countries, including two parts of the United States. This is probably something to be watching for more information about.