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Knowledge power. David Walker, head of policy, AcSS + contributing editor, Guardian Public. Exciting times -1 . ‘On the ground’ problematic: migration, transport, housing, spatial systems, productivity, capital and corporate power, fiscal and environmental sustainability etc, etc
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Knowledge power David Walker, head of policy, AcSS + contributing editor, Guardian Public
Exciting times -1 • ‘On the ground’ problematic: migration, transport, housing, spatial systems, productivity, capital and corporate power, fiscal and environmental sustainability etc, etc • ‘In the air’ problematic: remodelling after the crash, not just in economics – non-linearity, multiple/absent equilibria, path dependency, phase transitions
Exciting times - 2 • Ideological assault on the state, of which ‘localism’ a skirmish • Paradoxes in ‘evidence for policy’ • Size/shape of local government (and research) in question for years • Reassessment of assessment – weighting for ‘impact’, trends in university organisation, intellectual property rights
Case for ‘engagement’ • All agree on broad enlightenment aims: quantum and spread of knowledge…but • Who asks the questions? • Must it be universities that answer? • Knowledge in local government – distributed, concentrated or ‘strategic’ • Knowledge in central government – a strategy for data or social science?
Opportunities • A moment for reflection: pre-election/referendum prospects • Exploiting the ‘data moment’ • Change and renewal at the LGA? • Is intellectual collaboration possible amid political strife?