About us
The Heseltine Institute’s mission is to be an internationally-recognised public policy research institute, bringing together expertise from across research, policy, practice and community stakeholders, to co-create, impact and influence public policies for tomorrow’s cities.
The Heseltine Institute is distinctively positioned at the nexus of research, policy and practice. Anchored in the Liverpool City Region but with links to national and global stakeholders, the Institute is an integral part of the University of Liverpool’s contribution to urban debate.
Our aim is to support evidence-led urban policy, informed by high-quality research and underpinned by an acute understanding of place. We participate in civic activity and partnerships to address a range of urban challenges and deliver a diverse portfolio of research and consultancy, influencing and impacting place-based policy.
We have four key purposes:
- Lead: Lead debate on how to respond to contemporary urban challenges and opportunities, informed by critical, high-quality research
- Convene: Create spaces where research, policy, practice, and community stakeholders can come together, build relationships and foster collaboration in response to urban challenges and opportunities
- Broker: Identify opportunities to connect high-quality academic research at the University of Liverpool with urban policy actors and those with a stake in particular urban challenges and opportunities
- Inform: Act as a conduit for research and evidence to frame and inform urban policy-making.
Our work
Our researchers bring interdisciplinary expertise in public policy, local and regional economic development, devolution, urban governance and co-production.
Place-making offers a connective narrative for the policy and research contribution of the Heseltine Institute, recognising the need to foster local capacity and resourcefulness in place, and speaks to the importance and value of our expertise.
Our approach is characterised by a commitment to co-production with research, policy and community stakeholders allowing us to convene different forms of expertise in order to generate creative synergies to drive outcomes that could otherwise not be reached.
Our research and policy engagement is focused on three interconnected themes:
Future of cities and city regions
How can we understand and generate sustainable, democratic and inclusive responses to defining urban challenges and opportunities?
Our response to this question is reflected in our current work on: urban governance and transformation, institutional design, commoning, smart cities, and social and democratic innovation.
Regional inequalities
How can we understand and generate evidence-based responses to rebalancing the UK’s regional inequalities in productivity, incomes, employment, health and well-being, and net zero?
Our response to this question is reflected in our current work on: economic development and inclusive growth, skills and employability, precarity and the future of work, and devolution and local and sub-national government.
Public service reform
How can we design and deliver public services in a way that enhances public value?
Our response to this question is reflected in our current work on: evaluating locally-led solutions to improve social and economic outcomes of place, and facilitating real-time learning on how public service reform is practically achieved to inform local and national policy.
