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History of the Midlands ARC
The initial scoping work undertaken by the Midlands ARC has identified existing examples of wide-ranging research, giving us a platform on which to build.
History
Summer 2020
Launch of Midlands ARC
We held an introductory meeting with participation from 19 Midlands universities in the summer of 2020.
At this kick-off meeting, Vernon Coaker introduced the vision of the Midlands ARC and offered his support as the initiative’s champion. Vernon was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gedling, Nottinghamshire, between 1997 and 2019, and was co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. In 2021 he entered the House of Lords as Baron Coaker of Gedling.
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You can read more about the launch meeting via our news blog.
December 2020
Stakeholder Workshops
The first action of the Midlands ARC after this initial meeting was to scope the research interests of participants in more details, then hold four follow-on working group meetings for sub-groups of researchers. These workshops took place in December 2020.
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Researchers chose which working group meetings to attend:
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Community Resilience and Survivor Support
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Criminal Justice and Organised Crime
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Legislation and Policy
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Business Supply Chains
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The discussions at these workshops reiterated the need for a Midlands ARC and there was considerable and widespread enthusiasm for the project to be taken forward.
March 2021
Steering Committee was formed
In March 2021 a new steering group, consisting of volunteering representatives from across Midlands ARC-affiliated Universities, met for the first time, discussing potential future plans and how to broaden still further the number of participating researchers and Universities.
These future events may include targeted stakeholder workshops and an event in the UK Parliament.