News and Expertise

From January 2023, Cliff Li (Lecturer in Entrepreneurship) has commenced the external role of Teaching and Learning Lead of the Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group (ENT SIG), British Academy of Management (BAM).

As a committee member of the ENT SIG, Cliff will participate and organise various events and activities to build knowledge on entrepreneurship education. He is experienced in embedding gamification elements in entrepreneurship education and keen to develop the field of simulation-based entrepreneurship modules. He will actively seek opportunities to bring simulation providers and the entrepreneurship education community together to build knowledge on experiential entrepreneurship learning. By engaging with this external role, Cliff hopes to raise the profile of Exeter’s entrepreneurship education community and facilitate exchange of good practice across all BAM members locally, nationally, and internationally.

Date: 15 May 2023

This thought leadership project was commissioned by the Innovation Caucus to better understand the barriers and challenges faced by organisations of a different type and size in the transition to a circular economy. It focusses on the fashion a textiles industry within a specific regional context, that of Cornwall in the Southwest of the UK.

The fashion and textile industry is an area of strategic national importance to the UK economy as a key input to multiple commercial sectors, value chains and products. It is a sector that presents an opportunity to transform and deliver substantially better economic, societal, and environmental outcomes. In recognition of this, the project worked closely with the TeX Innovation project to further understand the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to reduce textile and fashion consumption and waste. It also partnered with Cultivate Cornwall and Upcycle Kernow to explore an embedded grass-roots textile community serving nearly 4000 people a year and engaging with over 300 fashion and textile businesses in a key UK peripheral region of Cornwall.

To capture previously unheard voices of the fashion and textile community, three main stakeholder groups (Governance, Business & Communities) were explored and data was collected through workshops and interviews with 31 participants with varying levels of responsibility. The report concludes by contributing to the existing literature through theory development and suggests a new circular futures scenario for Cornwall.

Grassroots thinking and circular economy practices in regional communities 2023

Date: 10 February 2023

In August 2022, researchers from the University of Exeter Business School at Penryn and two local SMEs met with the Rt Hon George Eustice MP, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to present preliminary findings from a project evaluating innovation and challenges for Cornwall’s sustainable textile industry.

This initial report was developed through subsequent conversations with DEFRA and presented back to Government in September 2022. The current, ‘Cultivating Clean Growth in Cornwall’s Textile Industry’ report provides an overview of key circular economy principles as well as key textile legislation statutes governing the refurbishment and resale of items produced from textile waste. It suggests that sustainable textile innovation in Cornwall can support both Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly’s Vision 2030 and the Levelling Up white paper agenda.

Cultivating Clean Growth in Cornwall’s Textile Industry Report 2022‌

Date: 18 October 2022