We are delighted to have been selected as a partner in a complex and ambitious research programme funded by the elite Marie Curie research programme.

The LNETN establishes the first Europe-wide training network researching newness and legitimation across a range of disciplines and applications. The overall goal is to expand the understanding of these key notions amid a time of great change to enable institutions, networks, and systems within the EU to adapt better to new opportunities and respond better to new challenges through improved understanding of legitimation and the associated processes.

The consortium consists of four academic partners and together with SPx, the following non-academic partners: Softiron Ltd, Getinge Infection Control, Bittium Wireless, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Novi, Innovation New Factory, Scottish Edge CIC.

The core activity is based on the work of fifteen exceptional researchers operating at PhD level. The Shaftesbury Partnership will provide mentoring and training opportunities to five of those researchers and co-host two important training workshops alongside Glasgow University and the University of Oulu, Finland.

Our participation brings together our relationships across the EU and neighbouring countries such as Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Moldova; our deep experience in the application of innovation and system thinking within the British social economy; and the experience and credibility of our
directors across fields of energy, healthcare, investment, social policy, ageing and the faith sector.

SPx Partner Chris Mould says: “No-one who takes even a moment’s thought in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic can any longer deny the importance to the world of innovation and of legitimation. We are delighted to be so closely involved in the development of a new global currency with which to respond to the global challenges ahead.”