Science City York hosts Russian fact-finding mission to York
Science City York and its partners were on show today as a delegation of 22 Russians, led by the UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership (CNCP) programme, arrived at York Science Park as part of a fact finding mission to the UK.
The mission aims to discover how cities are regenerating their economies and creating sustainable, high value job opportunities by attracting inward investors and supporting the development of knowledge-led companies.
Comprising representatives from The Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, leaders from the main nuclear research and production enterprises, mayors and senior staff in the City administration and business support agencies, the delegation arrived at the Innovation Centre at York Science Park on Friday morning.
The group were welcomed by Roger Ranson, Head of Economic Development, City of York Council, and Dr Mark Mortimer, Director of the Research and Enterprise Office, the University of York. Imogen Foster, Communications Manager, Science City York, then spoke to them about the origins and success of Science City York, established in 1998 as a partnership between the Council and the University of York to drive the economic regeneration of the City.
A brief introduction and tour of the facilities of York Science Park followed, led by General Manager Tracey Smith, which included a visit to tenants Tissue Regenix, a spin out of Leeds University. Tissue Regenix are dedicated to the development of clinical solutions to address the chronic shortfalls in donor tissue availability in areas such as vascular and orthopaedic medicine.
Denise Stuart, Chief Executive, york-england.com, concluded the visit with a presentation explaining how york-england.com is successfully attracting firms to the City.
The organiser of the mission, Charles Monck, is a member of the team engaged in the UK-Russia CNCP programme which forms part of the UK’s contribution to the Global Partnership. This was launched at the G8 summit in 2002 to combat the threat of nuclear proliferation. The key objective of the CNCP programme is to create sustainable job opportunities for former weapons scientists and technicians by supporting the development of technology based civil enterprises in the Closed Nuclear Cities of Russia.
Charles said “We selected York as a relevant and comparable model to the Closed Nuclear Cities the CNCP is working with in Russia. York’s success in building up its knowledge economy is a good example of what can be achieved when cities take the initiative and adopt a targeted approach to developing their economies.”
The delegates were keen to learn how Science City York and its partners had built up relevant programmes focusing on a number of key sectors, creating a positive, supportive approach to encourage start ups and attract new investment and developing York’s successful knowledge economy.
Imogen Foster, Communications Manager, Science City York said: “That York has been selected to host the Russian delegation is a testament to the influence and value of the strategic partnership between the City and the University of York.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome the CNCP delegation to York and an important opportunity to evidence our achievements over the last decade.”
Tracey Smith, General Manager, York Science Park commented: “We are keen to continue developing international links and were very pleased to show the Russian delegation how, through collaboration and a commitment to offering the very best service and facilities, we have become one of the key drivers for economic growth within the area. York Science Park is seen as a world-class facility which now has over 1400 people currently working on our 21 acre site, in 96 different technology and science-based companies.”