Glasgow: our city, our partner

The Glasgow Riverside Innovation District (GRID) is a partnership between the University of Glasgow, Scottish Enterprise and Glasgow City Council, aiming to create an environment which will boost existing collaborations with industry and encourage the formation of new ones in some of the most dynamic sectors of the economy.

Encompassing both banks of the River Clyde, an area synonymous with the legacy of shipbuilding and Glaswegian leadership in industry, GRID offers the city the chance to reimagine our proud industrial heritage for the 21st century and to establish Glasgow’s leadership in the industries of the future.

Building on existing assets

With one of the top 100 universities in the world as the anchor institution, GRID benefits from a huge range of existing world-class infrastructure: which will be enhanced as the University’s main campus in the city’s West End undergoes a £1bn redevelopment programme, offering enhanced access to the University’s research assets and capabilities, as well as world-class skills and talent.

Alongside access to the outstanding academic expertise based around the University, GRID is home to the world-leading Clinical Innovation Zone based around the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, the largest hospital campus in Europe, as well as the emerging cultural quarter based around the Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery, the world-leading Scottish Events Campus and the vibrant media hub at Pacific Quay, which includes the headquarters of BBC Scotland.

By bringing together these diverse industries, skillsets and perspectives, GRID offers the chance to create a world-class innovation cluster which can see Glasgow retake its place at the forefront of international industry and innovation.

The opportunities for the city

GRID will empower the University and its partners to not only form new industrial relationships with dynamic and innovative companies: but to push Glasgow to the next level in industries where it has the genuine potential to lead the world.

Outreach, stakeholder and community engagement

GRID has at the heart of it the community of Govan. This is an area that has suffered large scale de-industrialisation but has mature and embedded community networks to realise its ambitions. The development of GRID and the new high-technology Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus will be carried out working alongside the over-arching structures that will help us navigate and forge meaningful relationships with the diverse range of community stakeholders present in the local area; the most relevant being Central Govan Action Plan (with others including the Govan Area Partnership and Govan Thriving Places.

A stakeholder and community engagement strategy will be being developed to underpin and inform the five-year strategy being developed for GRID. We will work with stakeholders across the community to agree a shared vision, identify and segment key stakeholders, agree methods of engagement, and agree deliverables and outcomes and a high-level engagement programme.

"The University of Glasgow’s plans for investment in Govan are an incredibly exciting new chapter for the University and the City. As Glasgow’s largest university, we are determined to play a full and active part in the public life of our City and our new campus on the south bank of the Clyde will see even more of Glasgow’s communities benefit from our activity, while creating a genuine cluster of excellence in several of the leading industries of the coming decades. We know that the University only thrives when the City thrives – and that the City only meets its full potential when the University works closely with partners in industry and the public sector, translating our world-leading research into jobs and inclusive economic growth, and ensuring the benefits are felt by people across Glasgow." Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Glasgow