The Marchmont Observatory conducts academic research in support of local government policy formation concerning skills, employment and education for adults through networking, the development of learning programmes and research.
Organizational history
Established by the
University of Exeter
, mottoeng = "We Follow the Light"
, established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter)
, type = Public
, ...
in 1998, following a £3m bid to the ADAPT Programme of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, the Observatory was established initially as a partnership between the University of Exeter, the Open University, the BBC, TUC, IBM, NETg and FT Management. The early focus of the Observatory centered around the field of ICT and a collaboration with the University.
Programmes
As part of its commitment to develop regional expertise, the Observatory has established the Skills and Learning Intelligence Module of the
Regional Observatory, on behalf of partners in the region. Through this, intelligence and statistics on the labour and skills markets are provided to stakeholders in the South West.
Because of its presence within the University the Observatory staff are able to work with other parts of the University and work closely with the similar Research Centres often developing joint projects.
Core activities
The aim of the Marchmont Observatory is to improve
evidence-based practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. While seemingly obviously desirable, the proposal has been controversial, with some arguing that results may not specialize to indiv ...
in the field of lifelong learning. This occurs through:
* Supporting communication of ideas and practice between practitioners, policy makers and researchers, through networking arrangements;
* Providing online knowledge management systems;
* Stimulating action-based research into key themes emerging from user networks, including production of toolkits and learning programmes;
* Collecting information on existing practice and research, analysing and processing it for users;
* Disseminating research and practice to practitioners and policy makers through media; and
* Educating practitioners about the benefits of new technologies for knowledge creation and management.
Skills and Learning Intelligence Module
The Skills and Learning Intelligence Module (SLIM) provides information on the skills and learning needs of individuals and businesses in the South West for policy decisions, funding programmes, organisational and partnership strategies and individual projects.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.marchmont.ac.uk/index.asp
South West Observatory Limitedtrainingzone
South West England
Educational research
Economic geography
Government research