Publications
Capital Relations founder Coral Grainger is a practitioner-researcher whose work has contributed to the academic and policy understanding of inclusive innovation and FE's role in regional innovation ecosystems.
Reaching the Parts Others Cannot: Embedding Further Education in the English Innovation Ecosystem for Inclusive Growth and Place-Based Innovation
Springer Proceedings in Complexity | 2025
Grainger, C., Webb, K. and Parkinson, M. (2025). Published in: Visvizi, A., Troisi, O. and Serradell-Lopez, E. (eds) Research and Innovation Forum 2025, Volume 1. Springer, Cham.
doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-09066-9_19
This paper presents the radial innovation network model as a new framework for understanding the role of FE colleges as place-based innovation intermediaries within regional innovation ecosystems. Drawing on evidence from GMFEIP, it challenges dominant models that position universities as the primary academic anchor in innovation governance, and argues for the deliberate integration of FE colleges as civic and applied knowledge actors. The radial innovation network model was designed by Coral Grainger as the operational delivery framework for GMFEIP and is published here for the first time as a formal academic contribution.
Reaching Further: Integrating FE Colleges into Place-Based Ecosystems for Inclusive Innovation
iPlace / Key Cities | 2026
Abdulfatah, A., Grainger, C., Webb, K. and Parkinson, M. (2026).
A peer-reviewed paper applying Actor Network Theory as an interpretive lens to examine the intermediary role of FE colleges in mediating access to innovation for SMEs and marginalised communities. Drawing on qualitative evaluation data from GMFEIP across both years of delivery, including 88 semi-structured interviews, the paper advances empirical and theoretical understanding of how FE colleges widen participation in regional innovation ecosystems. The radial innovation network model is adopted here as a theoretical framework contributing to international place-based innovation scholarship.
Read about the Innovation Ecosystems compendium