Working with Higher Education 
 
The 14 Higher Education Institutions in the South West of England play a major part in the region's economy. At the South West RDA, we work with individual institutions and through their regional association, HERDA-SW (Higher Education Regional Development Association - SW), to maximise their impact on the economy to improve the innovation, skills and enterprise in the region's businesses.  
We also work with other agencies in the sector, such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), to ensure that our investments are made strategically in tune with the major funder of higher education. Our work can be described in the context of the three Strategic Objectives of the Regional Economic Strategy. 
 
Higher Education contributes to the promotion of the region through its potential to support incoming businesses in their drive towards increased productivity through increased innovation and skills. Also, by recruiting students from elsewhere in the UK and abroad, further wealth is brought into the region and ambassadors for the South West are created.