The University of Plymouth was awarded almost half a million pounds in 2020 to fund an innovative partnership project, enhancing support for students to develop and share valuable skills across the city’s business and community sectors. PMZ received £60,000 for its part in this groundbreaking cross-sectoral partnership.
Plymouth Music Zone has been a key community partner in the ‘Knowledge Exchange’ project. The charity has hosted a number of University students over the past two years (including throughout the pandemic) to help broaden their perspectives on working with a diverse range of individuals and communities.
This competitive funding was awarded by Research England and the Office for Students to only twenty universities across the country.
Plymouth Music Zone has worked on many different projects with Plymouth University over the past few years. This has evaluation and research projects with the University’s Institute of Education, supporting student skills development and sitting on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Health and Community to expand knowledge of the positive social impact of music and the arts.
You can read more on the University of Plymouth website.
Here are the stories directly from students who took part in Knowledge Exchange in this series of blogs.
The ‘Shaping the Future of Student Engagement in Knowledge Exchange Conference 2022’ took place on 12th of May 2022 where different projects were presented from across the city and beyond. PMZ’s Baton Beats group infused the day with their fabulous polyrhythms and drew in much interest from academics, students, and many more conference delegates.
Many thanks to Youth Music, The National Lottery Community Fund and Arts Council England for their support over the years making these partnerships possible.