A northern collaboration of academic libraries, involving members of NoWAL, has been successful in securing a place in a national change programme offered annually by the Higher Education Academy and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

The innovative change project, called COLLABORATE, aims to facilitate complex change across university libraries at several higher education institutions in the north of England. Our starting point will be to build on current library consortial approaches, and to develop the capacity for collective leadership to inform possible new shared services, to stimulate staff engagement and to harness emergent techologies for 21st century student-centred services, using the Change Academy co-creative techniques. The resulting outcome will test the assumption that the challenging economic environment will inevitably mean a reduction in services, and will seek to develop new ways of working whereby collaboration opens up different possibilities and scenarios. The sustainability of higher education depends on involving students and stakeholders in the design of libraries of the future, which will also be a feature of the Action Plan linking to existing national projects. Using collaboration is both the means to achieve the Action Plan as well as a focus for the actions needed.

The Change Academy offers new opportunities for universities and colleges to consider ways to lead and manage change across organisational boundaries. Centred on a residential conference in September, the Change Academy members will formulate their plans and develop new approaches to self development and leadership.

The partners are:

University of Bradford – Grace Hudson

University of Cumbria (Lead Partner) - Margaret Weaver

Edge Hill University – Alison Mackenzie

University of Huddersfield – Sue White

Leeds Metropolitan University – Jo Norry

Liverpool John Moores University – Maxine Melling

University of Salford – Julie Berry

Teeside University – Liz Jolly

University of York – Liz Waller

For further information, please contact either Margaret Weaver or Peter Wynne (NoWAL Executive Secretary).