Megs-KT Steering Committee Meeting

1. A CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING
FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY CPD:
MEGS-KT (£71, 000)
Dr Andrea Wheeler, Dr Paul Rowley
An Innovative Knowledge Platform for Business and Community Engagement
A co-developed service model for online continuing professional development in
the energy sector

2. CONTEXT
Jisc Business Community Engagement
Programme AIMS
• Universities and colleges are expected to share knowledge for the benefit of
society; business & community engagement (BCE) is now recognised as their
„third mission‟ alongside teaching and research. The JISC Business and
Community Engagement (BCE) programme supports UK institutions in their
strategic management of relationships with partners and clients external to
the institution and of the associated services.
• This programme facilitates synergies between strategies, processes and systems
in institutions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of institutional
BCE and improve external access to institutional knowledge and expertise.
Briefing paper:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/briefingpaper/2012/BCEpartners
hips/bcepartnerships.pdf

3. Jisc Business Community Engagement
Open Innovation/ Access To Resources (OIA2R)
Programmes
…current debate seems to focus on the dissemination of research issues and does
not seem to include the active collaboration between institutions and the users of
knowledge – or indeed the bi-directional flow of knowledge – or much recognition of
the infrastructure, specific skills and cultural changes needed to underpin this.
Achieving the Government’s objective to make the UK ‘the best place in the
world for university-business collaboration’ will require these key
underpinnings. It is one thing making knowledge available, quite another
creating value and innovation opportunities – our OIA2R are at the vanguard of
work which focuses on the latter (without ignoring the larger access issues).
Simon Whittemore OIA2R Programme Manager Jisc

4. The OIA2R Projects
• A2R Aberystwyth University
• A2R Loughborough University: A CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY CPD
• A2R Manchester Metropolitan University
• A2R The University of Nottingham
• A2R University of Essex (and Glasgow)
• A2R York St. John
• OI Coventry University
• OI Liverpool John Moores University
• OI The University of Manchester
• OI University of Hull
• OI University of the Creative Arts

5. Our Problem
• The energy sector is lacking a relevant, up-to-date, well
delivered and desirable Continued Professional
Development opportunities.

6. Collaborators – working with an
existing community
Midlands Energy Graduate School (MEGS)
a collaboration of Loughborough University, The University of
Nottingham and the University of Birmingham, which includes the
energy community, local SME‟s and entrepreneurs .

7. Project aims
• To address a skills shortage in the renewable energy sector
– the energy education need and demand within the SME
community
• To exploit an active collaboration between institutions –
Loughborough University, The University of Nottingham and
Birmingham University (through the Midlands Energy
Graduate School) and users (in the form of the existing
MEGS SME community).
• Develop an exemplar for an e-learning environment as an
opportunity for innovative collaboration SMEs with the HEI
sector which includes a bi-directional flow of knowledge.
• To meet business development needs an support the growth
of low carbon communities. To contribute to the LEP strategy
building economically, environmental and socially
sustainable communities by providing business opportunities
for industry, local SMEs and entrepreneurs.

8. The right project team
• Through existing multi- agency partnerships the Midlands Energy
Graduate School (MEGS) and the Midlands Energy Consortium
(MEC) can leverage existing research, training expertise and the
target partner employer community in co-development of an online
service.
• Loughborough University as lead partners is committed to the
proposed project. The Strategic Plan supports business and
community engagement: ‘…working with industry to deliver flexible
educational provision meeting needs of employers and employees‟.
• Centre for Engineering and Design Education (CEDE) many years
expertise in the development of technical solutions for the delivery
and support of innovative teaching and learning.
• The School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and the CREST
group will provide the academic support and direction to the project.

9. The Bigger Team - Building the MEGS-KT
community – the Jisc, the fellows and SMEs
team
SME community (40 participants over 4 workshops)
Fellows: Robin Nicholson (Award Winning Architect, ex- Vice
President RIBA), Parity Projects (Award Winning SME), Institute for
Sustainability (Training Centre), John Davis (Green Deal
Assessor), Saucy Horse (Social Networking Business Champion). Next
semester: Further lectures.
PhD students/Researchers (Loughborough University, Nottingham
University)

10. Deliverables
• A leading-edge demonstrator service model and a collaborative
knowledge service for CPD for the energy sector target employer
community.
• Effectively meeting need and demand with user-driven, user-
developed and user-tested content harnessing web 2.0
technologies and socially driven content.
• Good practice guidelines for the delivery of such online educational
services in HE, contributing to JISC objectives.

11. LinkedIn Community (50+ additional
members)

12. Original endorsements – Value to the
Community
.
“The interaction and learning from the cross-institutional consortium
will build on current work…” Jenny Cooper, National Grid
“The ability to access tailored knowledge and training from three
leading Universities in the field will be invaluable and represents a
unique opportunity…” Duncan Child, E.On.

14. Thanks again for another great evening. Can you direct me to the web
page where we can download the lectures.
Carl Benfield BEng (Hons) MSc CEng MIMechE MioD
Managing Director, Prescient Power Ltd

15. METHOD
Collaborative co-design and community of practice
• Building on existing JISC research which recommends tailored
relevant and mediated access to resources and networks of expertise.
• Co-development and collaborative design, critically adopting
Service Design to assess needs and utilising the MEGS and MEC
existing collaboration and partnerships: E.on, National Grid, Local
SMEs, entrepreneurs, local energy researchers and academics.
• Using existing links with KT organisations (KTNs, I-
Nets, BCC, Institutions...) to optimise dissemination.
• Community of practice: visiting MEC fellows (academic and
industrial), international fellows and interns to develop an academic
and industry community to contribute to and evaluate content and
delivery methods.

16. Participative platform for knowledge sharing including:
• a mosaic of technologies;
• a repository of Echo 360 seminars, laboratories, workshops and other
materials;
• a directory of expertise;
• A variety in modes of engagement;
• together with a public facing interface for future tailored CPD
opportunities and open access e-learning materials.

17. Vision
• A Leading-edge business opportunity helping inform, improve and sustain
local businesses and entrepreneurs
• New partnerships between Higher Education and industry, enhanced
institutional capability with wide interest and application, and a service
model which can be transferred to other institutions and sectors.
• Ongoing industry impact far beyond the duration of the JISC funding
component through the MEGS partnership

18. Barriers, limitations and the next stage
Current problem with programme
• Loss of IT developer 0.5 FTE over 12 months (only 3
months completed by Mandy King)
• Request for steering committee support to achieve project
objectives over the next 3 months, and to approve
proposed plan.

19. Where we are now? PROGRAMME
WORKPACKAGES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
1: Work Package 1 will deliver Done
an assessment of teaching
and learning needs across
the energy-sector
2: Work Package 2 will identify Done
the key knowledge domains
and any gaps within these
especially with regards to
PGTs and professional
CPD needs of the key
target groups
3: Work Package 3 will consist Wireframe
of the development of a outlines created
service demonstrator (the (3 months IT
framework): enhanced development)
utilisation of existing Review of
technology linked to new existing IT.
services provide a vision for Saucy Horse
the growth LinkedIn
community.
4: Work Package 4. This stage Planning for the
will test the self-regulatory co-development/
community of practices assessment
being established and will with the
comprise iterative community.
evaluation and impact
assessment.

20. What we need? Proposed solution
• Working service demonstrator, to pilot with the growing
community (January to March). Engagement on IT
support /temporary support full-time January to March
(one month project extension).
• There are some templates and ground work has been
done for the structure of the resource (although how much
work would be involved in turning this into a platform
could be as long as a piece of string) Simple is often
better, so it may not be as big a hurdle as might be
envisaged.
• Academic collaboration to aid assessment of the service
demonstrator: business, energy, informatics.

21. Where are we? Work Packages 1 and 2
completed
• √ Stakeholder analysis adopting Jisc tools (report).
• √ Bristol Online Survey, work shadowing, interviews of representative group of companies
(report)
• √ Review of networking and knowledge finding practices (report)
• √ Construct a visual representation that describes the social nature of the SME community
(see List of Lists and Diagram).
• √ Appropriate representative community (LinkedIn Group).
• √ Encourage active engagement of community (workshops carried out).
• √ Set up workshops, capture lectures (see flyer).
• √ Explore and evaluate the potential of specific social network-based facilities and the role of
networks in knowledge identification and transfer within the SME community. Building upon
the stakeholder analysis construct a structural diagram that describes the nature of the SME
community, their KT drivers and organisational/individual imperatives for KT/CPD (see report,
List of Lists and Diagram)
• √ Identify knowledge domains (see report)

22. Where are we? Work Packages 3 and 4
to be completed
• √ Using existing and newly developed MEGS KT
resources in a use-case scenario [user-profiles created –
see report], develop a meta-data descriptor set that maps
specific knowledge objects onto the SME taxonomy.Use
Case Senarios/ Profiles
• Meta-data description set maps specific knowledge
objects onto the SME taxonomy.
• Using existing plug-ins, create a prototype search protocol
and functional search engine.
• Evaluation

23. Primary research

24. Workshops/Lectures
• Robin Nicholson is an architect and has worked closely with Government
and policy makers heading Think Tanks about sustainable buildings and
urban infrastructure. He will be exploring the barriers to business growth from
an urban and policy perspective.
• Russell Smith will be telling his story about setting up his own award winning
company in this field and why he had to take the approach he did to meet the
needs of householders.
• Terry McGiven will be talking about innovative training opportunities he has
set up with European Commission funds for companies in London at the
Institute for Sustainability
• John Davis a highly inspirational speaker will be talking about the Green
Deal.

25. Each of the speakers represents a factor
identified in the research, which aims both to
uncover the barriers to the growth of these
companies and to provide a training solution.

26. Original CPD Materials - Video
Captures
•
• http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWheeler1/terry-mcgivern-
megskt-lecture-14th-november-2012
•
• http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWheeler1/robin-nicholson-
evening-lecture-for-the-megskt-project
•
• http://review.lboro.ac.uk:8080/ess/echo/presentation/d86ae94
0-c035-437e-bf97-bba155074f43
•
• http://review.lboro.ac.uk:8080/ess/echo/presentation/ee20f7c1
-7e77-47b3-af35-c9969a7bc6b6
•

27. Other Insights
SMEs do not have defined roles like larger companies.
SMEs have little time to research and improve their businesses
No-one understands the Green Deal (May 2012)?
SMEs cannot communicate well their needs, when asked.
In the current climate there is a lack of work/ of projects (architects lack
projects, construction companies lack projects).
Bureaucratic methods for getting accredited discourages
peoples/companies from accreditation (subsequent lack of jobs, loss of
tenders).
Many people are interested in the DIY section of the sector.
The construction industry is poor in terms of QA.
With the Green Deal approaching there is a need for up-skilling the retro-fit
industry.
Low carbon and renewable energy technologies need to be marketed to
the average client.

28. Summary Barriers and Limitations
• Hard to engage SMEs
• Professional bodies/networks limiting
access to SMEs by “outsiders”.
• Concerns about sharing commercial
information from SMEs – “I prefer not to
say”

30. List of lists (Taxonomies)
ROLES ACTIVITY* INFORMATIO BUSINESS
(self- (interviews and N SOURCES (cited in NEED (Knowledge
identification) questionnaire responses interview and transfer drivers)
demonstrated the questionnaire)
industry to be fluid in
roles and identifying
activities may reflect
better the characteristics
of the sectors)
Client advisor Research Green Deal Communicatio
-consultant Writing Government n skills
-low carbon Business statistics Finding
consultant strategy/strategic thinking DECC funding
-researcher Direct marketing People in Support for
-unpaid Administration Glazing business innovation
consultant Organisational Sustainable Finding
-lobby group tasks INet resources for R&D
-Fire consultant Innovation Derby County More business
-Health and Business Council opportunities
Safety engineer development Universities Technical
-Architect Building Derby Carbon knowledge
--Design manager relationships/networking Initiative Policy
--Project Interpersonal Fabricators/ knowledge
manager communication manufacturers QA training
Trainer Client advise Personal for installers
-facilitator (consultant) library Finding
Designer Technical Building work/new projects
- interface (architect) online Finding new
Fabricator/Manufacturer Integration of RIBA- projects abroad
Supplier client advice (architect) www.architecture.com Winning new
Wholesaler Training Google/Wikip business on the right
Client edia commercial terms
Homemaker Teaching Building Allotting
Contractor Researching magicians enough time to new
Tradesmen Grant writing/ NHBC business ventures
Electrican Tender foundation Don’t know
Apprentice preparation www.edjcdat what is needed
Installer abase.com Attracting
Manager International skilled workforce
Director energy agency Knowing how
-Entrepreneur EDUCATE to meet LEED and
Ashrae.org Breem compliance
CIBSE levels
Energy plus To have a
SAP textbooks variety of projects
How to
identify projects that
will bring the most and
those that will bring
the least financial
benefits
How to deal
with the recession
More
information on the
Green Deal
Jobs
Marketing to
clients

31. Significant achievements
• Positive support from
academics, professionals, other initiatives
(Institute for Sustainability) to work with
the project toward the long term
sustainability of MEGS-KT.
• Engagement with key figures working in
the field identified as “catalytic” individuals
for the community.

32. Technical developments
http://vleblog.lboro.ac.uk/megsblog/
http://vleblog.lboro.ac.uk/megs4/
http://vleblog.lboro.ac.uk/megs5/
http://vleblog.lboro.ac.uk/megs6/

33. Sustainability and Transferability
• Links to the Institute for Sustainability FLASH
programme and other new initiatives collaborating
in funding (with Loughborough University
Enterprise Office and Local Authorities) to develop
the long-term potential of MEGS-KT.