Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (or KTPs) are Europe’s leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic, competitive importance.

The UK-wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. For further information visit www.innovateuk.gov.uk

Our KTP engaged children in the development of creative approaches to manage their behaviour, giving them a voice in the dialogue around how youth justice services should operate and pioneering the application of a Youth Participatory Action Research (or YPAR) approach to youth justice service redevelopment. By reframing approaches to the development of policy and practice by including children as active contributors with valuable insights, there has been an impact on youth justice practice, on national and international youth justice policy and on children themselves. The KTP resulted in the co-creation of a transformative new framework: Participatory Youth Practice (PYP).

The impact of the KTP on children was recognised when it won the Times Higher award for ‘Knowledge Transfer Initiative of the Year’ in 2019. It was rated ‘Outstanding’ by Innovate UK, and GMYJP was shortlisted for ‘Organisation of the Year’ at the 2018 Criminal Justice Alliance Awards. The project was finalist in the 2020 KTP ‘Best of the Best Awards’ for societal impact.

Hannah Smithson, Professor in Criminology and Youth Justice at Manchester Met and the lead academic on the project, said:

“The KTP is the first of its kind in the field of youth justice, set up to facilitate the bi-directional transfer of information between academia and practice, the project has the potential to transform the youth justice landscape”

Paul Axon, Head of Targeted Services for Positive Steps, said

“The development of the KTP has been a crucial element of developing evidence based youth justice practice in Greater Manchester. This is a unique and rewarding opportunity to ensure that young people, practitioners, academics and policy makers are working in collaboration to improve the lives of those involved in the criminal justice system.”

Who were our funders?

Our KTP has been jointly funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Greater Manchester Youth Justice Services.