Regional contexts for third mission policies and university institutional management: Key opportunities and challenges in the UK

Over the past two decades the so-called ‘third mission’ of universities and its regional dimension has been high on the national policy agenda, with a series of incentive mechanisms put in place at national, sub-national and institutional levels. This paper reviews the development of government policies, universities’ institutional strategies, and management practices over the last 20 years, as observed in UK regions. We capture the evolving third mission policies that affect the links between universities and their regional agendas on one hand (territorialisation of third mission), and the development of institutional strategies and management practices at the university level (managerialisation of third mission) on the other. Setting incentives for third mission activities encompasses complex processes at the policy, institutional, and individual levels. The current state of UK universities’ regional mission is in flux. The paper concludes by identifying three key challenges for university managers and leaders.