The Knowledge Cities Summit, held in Melbourne last week, was an important opportunity for academics, government and business to talk with each other about the emerging features of economic and social development, and the ways in which different kinds of knowledge contribute. As the ‘new club of Paris’ would say, it is the challenge of developing with the unlimited resources which knowledge offers.

With over 300 participants, there were delegates from all parts of the world, from universities, large companies, third sector organisations and government. A mix of plenaries, workshops and paper sessions led to the ‘Melbourne Declaration’ which can be found on the website  -  www.melbourneknowledgesummit.com.

PASCAL was very well represented at the Summit. Professor James Powell, the lead on the PASCAL Universities for a Modern Renaissance (PUMR) was a keynote and involved in two other sessions. Chris Shepherd, the PASCAL Deputy Chair, travelled to Melbourne to lead a workshop, with David Campbell, PASCAL Associate, on the PASCAL Universities and Regional Engagement (PURE) project and the learning from the five city-regions Professor David Charles, co-author of the PURE benchmarking instrument presented the best paper of the Summit, while Professor Steve Garlick, PASCAL Board member, also presented a paper. Bruce Wilson, RMIT Co-Director, was a member of the Scientific Committee and chaired a session in addition to presenting a paper.  RMIT Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner, was also a prominent participant. PASCAL Associate Anne Badenhorst also presented a paper.

Alongside the Summit, PASCAL offered a Knowledge Week event to report on PURE Melbourne to local stakeholders. A number of key participants attended this event, which canvassed a number of key outcomes for follow up in 2011. Various reports from PURE Melbourne will be available on the website shortly.

A more general gathering was also conducted to report generally on PASCAL’s various activities to Australian friends. This meeting confirmed a number of opportunities for extending PASCAL opportunities in 2011.