SETTING UP AN ESA_LAB

The Corporate Development Office in the Strategy Department joined the University of Central Lancashire in establishing an ESA_Lab focusing on the investigation of public value.

This ESA_Lab@UCLan is managed by Gianluigi Baldesi, Senior Corporate Development Coordinator at ESA. It has the prime purpose to jointly investigate, how "public value" can be understood and how it can be made a useful tool to explain the effects ESA has for Member States and society as a whole. The Agency can benefit from in-depth research in this field undertaken by UCLan and the University can draw from ESA as a case study for their approaches and models. The agreement is to be seen in the context of activities, DG-SD is conducting with other universities in the field of corporate development.

The ESA_Lab@UCLan was signed by the Vice Chancellor of UCLan Mike Thomas, alongside a conference, UCLan hosted in Carlisle on the public value of the nuclear sector for regional development in this area. Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Chief Strategy Officer, presented the agreement, already signed by the ESA Director General. Main counterpart in UCLan is Rick Wylie, Samuel Lindow Academic Director and Executive Director of the Applied Policy Science Unit.