The growth of advanced industries in Northern Ireland—those based on knowledge-intensive activities and intellectual capital—has created opportunities for broader societal progress. However, as this knowledge economy expands, the most divided and disadvantaged of our communities have been pushed further to the margins.

Critics of the knowledge economy highlight the disproportionate risks to those already in areas of high deprivation in terms of skills gaps, poverty, political alienation, and poor social mobility. QCAP is collaborating with community stakeholders to address community-based disadvantage and the barriers that preclude their participation in a knowledge-based society and is platform for supporting our communities to participate within the knowledge economy. This work strand seeks to create a more inclusive knowledge economy and provides a platform for Queen’s University, as an anchor institution, to directly support the needs of our local communities and ensure that they can adapt and thrive in future economic realities. We leverage the resources and scholarship available within the University to co-create educational, research, and innovation opportunities that are necessary for the most marginal people and places to gain access to our knowledge-based society.