Scaling engagement and impact through the creation of spark: lessons from Cardiff University's Social Science Park

Rick Delbridge and Sally O’Connor

Chapter 24 in How to Scale Engagement and Impact in Universities, 2025, pp 264-273 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The chapter summarises developments in support of social science impact that have been undertaken at Cardiff University with a particular focus on the creation of sbarc|spark, the world's first social science park. The spark initiative emphasises collaboration with external partners in order to co-create and deliver impact that addresses societal challenges. It represents a major, £60 million investment in physical space to support such collaboration and co-locates social science-led interdisciplinary research groups with their external research partners and a range of public, private and third sector organisations. We present the story of the initial development of the spark initiative and some lessons learned. The chapter also includes a short discussion of the Cardiff Capital Region Challenge Fund as an example of collaboration for scaling impact. Cardiff Capital Region is a partner located in spark and the fund has been developed and delivered in collaboration with Cardiff University.

Keywords: Collaboration; Co-creation; Social science; Physical spaces; Local economic development; Challenge-oriented innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035337422
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