Ever since life sciences were catapulted to the front pages of national newspapers, owing to the UK’s leading work on discovering a coronavirus vaccine, the sector has become something of a poster child.
The real estate sector is pouring huge amounts of capital into it and the UK government has got fully behind the sector, viewing it as key in enabling the UK to level up and to deliver great things for UK plc, but what about delivering for UK people and UK place.
Does the life sciences sector have a role to play in delivering social value as well as economic value? Can a sector that is often thought of as closed off, secretive and exclusive really be open and accessible to all?
Breaking down barriers
Jane Holt, business development director at Southampton University Science Park, a 75-acre scheme owned by the university, says the role of science in the wider community is an area that has been “traditionally neglected” and that more needs to be done to break down barriers.
“Part of my role in Southampton is to break down the boundaries between the science park, where we’re actually physically screened from the local environment by beautiful trees, and the community,” says Holt. “Because of that, people don’t know what we do here, which actually mitigates against us in terms of things like planning consents. On a practical level, it’s good that people know what we’re doing.”
Thomas Meany, chief financial officer and co-founder of OpenCell, a pop-up life sciences offering, agrees.
“Biotech has been isolated, and with the greatest respect to science parks, which are fabulous, it doesn’t assist in making it feel like something that people can engage with,” he says. “And what does engagement produce? Well, if someone understands what a drug can do for them, they will be far more likely to want that development to go on in their nation, in their area.”
Community outreach
For Ryan McKenzie, Savills’ associate director, economics and planning, there needs to be “real engagement with the community and real understanding of what some of the needs are” if the life sciences sector is to deliver for more than just the economy.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for outreach to the community from science parks,” adds McKenzie. “That’s one part of the equation. The other is what are the opportunities within the science park itself to build opportunities like this into the actual scheme itself?
“Some science parks need to be gated and closed off for obvious reasons, while others do have opportunities potentially for more placemaking initiatives that can actually interact with the community,” he says. “Things as simple as delivering open spaces accessible to the local community – that has social value, that improves the health and wellbeing of the community.
“There are opportunities to deliver science discovery centres that could run educational programmes. That’s a pretty common thing to see in a lot of your major city centres. These are the sorts of opportunities that could really be built into the fabric of the literal real estate of all of these spots.”
And they are starting to be. Holt points to a life sciences development in Boston, Massachusetts, which has opened in the heart of the city and, closer to home, the Campus for Ageing and Vitality, which Newcastle University is seeking to bring forward on a 29-acre site in the city centre.
“What those two developments have in common is access,” says Holt. “They are open at street level to the public to wander in, to explore, to grab a coffee, to sit down next to people who are discussing subjects from their work, and you might just overhear something that sparks interest…And that will in turn create opportunity.
“It will break down barriers and it will hopefully spark curiosity in people who might not have realised there’s a route into that world for them. But also, it creates the opportunity for the knowledge that’s contained within environments like innovation and science parks to be communicated out formally and informally to the local community. There’s so much knowledge and fantastic information that can be communicated out and give people a sense of pride that this is being developed on their doorstep.”
Increasing diversity
It is about more than just opening up life science parks to the wider community to create social value through place. It is also about opening up the sector to a wider and more diverse talent pool.
Science talent is highly skilled and is educated to a high level. The sector is not open to everyone, but it can be. It should be, says Steve Duffield, site director at the 75-acre Wilton Centre in Cleveland.
He says: “We’re trying to put together a strategy of how we, from employer level through to school level and up through higher education and further education, join the dots to make sure that kids are aware of what they can aspire to. I think that that is one of the key things. If you’re going to have an impact on the social and economic in an area, you’ve got to think that little bit long-term.”
And that means thinking not just about the jobs that science creates but the supply chain too. According to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, for every life science job, 2.5 more jobs are created. And it is that flow of employment where the sector could create worthwhile social value in communities.
“One of the things I’d say about life sciences,” concludes McKenzie, “is that the indirect impact of the jobs and investment in the sector is quite high. So, the supply chain and induced spending impacts are usually well above other, more traditional, commercial occupiers. And while the direct on-site jobs may be inaccessible to anyone but well-educated PhDs with relevant backgrounds, those supply chain jobs could actually be a part of the way that life sciences maximise and optimise the social value and make sure local people can get to participate in the economic opportunities.”
The panel
- Steve Duffield, site director, Wilton Centre
- Jane Holt, business development director, University of Southampton Science Park
- Ryan McKenzie, associate director, economics and planning, Savills
- Thomas Meany, chief financial officer, OpenCell
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