Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

2
Foreword
Welcome to the East of England, the UK’s leading innovation region and
home to world-beating companies, universities and research institutes.
Located within striking distance of London, our region plays a crucial role
as the UK’s gateway for international trade.
We have come a long way since the publication of the last regional
economic strategy (RES), A Shared Vision, in 2004. Our region has overtaken
the rest of the UK to become the country’s top location for private sector
research and development and is among Europe’s top three. We have
gained more than 10,000 extra businesses. New university campuses are
opening and major new investment is now earmarked to expand our
international ports.
To build on this success we cannot be complacent. The next few years are
likely to be a period of accelerating change. Our region faces challenges
on several fronts, from the immediate issue of the credit crunch, to the
long-term pressures of globalisation, demographic change, housing
affordability and climate change.
We know that for the East of England to flourish in the future, it will need
to continuously improve its performance across the board. To achieve this,
we will need to work together towards common goals and objectives.
The RES sets out a vision of a forward-looking and globally competitive
region and for the first time, bold targets for increasing productivity, skills
levels, employment and resource efficiency, while reducing inequalities
and greenhouse gas emissions.
This strategy has been launched with an unprecedented level of
stakeholder buy-in and the unqualified endorsement of the East of England
Regional Assembly (EERA). The RES is the culmination of around 18 months
of strategy development and extensive engagement with partners
throughout the region. The vision and targets are consistent with the
East of England Plan – the region’s spatial strategy – and this consistency
is the basis for a joint implementation plan for both strategies now being
developed by EEDA, EERA and our partners. This is another first for our
region and illustrative of the close partnership in which stakeholders are
working to drive forward economic development here.
Richard Ellis
chair, East of England
Development Agency
Autumn 2008
John Reynolds
chairman, East of England
Regional Assembly