Institute for Community Studies

Levelling Up White Paper pledges ‘huge shift of power’ from Whitehall

News 3 February 2022

Our Associate Director welcomes “real weight given to wellbeing and pride in place”.

Research digest: ‘None of us is as smart as all of us’

Blog 25 January 2022

We at the Institute for Community Studies are an ambitious bunch. In the summer of 2021, we embarked on a project to collect in one place everything we know about what’s working in communities across the UK and beyond. Six

Two thirds of UK public believe communities will be ‘left behind’ as we tackle the climate crisis

News 4 November 2021

A new poll exploring public understanding of issues around climate change finds that almost two thirds of UK residents (64%) are not confident the government will achieve its net zero 2050 target without ‘leaving behind’ any parts of the country or local communities. “We want to develop a deep and

New research to ensure ‘just’ transition to net zero for poorest families and communities

News 29 September 2021

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, this project seeks to level the playing field in a ‘carbon neutral’ society.

Continuity and Change: The role of volunteers in community businesses

Blog 23 September 2021

Community businesses help make places better in a real way. From saving local shops and creating leisure facilities to providing training opportunities for local people and helping to build affordable housing. Yet none of this would be possible without the

‘It is time to connect the “civic journey” for our resilient generation’

Blog 29 July 2021

Dr Andy Mycock says empowering young people to become life-long engaged, active citizens must be a key ambition for any democratic society.

Why don’t they ask us? The role of communities in levelling up

Publication 14 July 2021

How have policies and interventions for local economic development affected communities in England? As the government commits to ‘ensure no region is left behind’, our research explores what works for UK communities – and what doesn’t.

Embarking on a civic journey

Blog 21 June 2021

Today, we are announcing a transformational two-year research project, with generous support from the National Citizen Service CIC. Rooted in a powerful belief in community activism, entrepreneurial spirit and the civic potential of young people, we will be working with Huddersfield and

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part III

Blog 22 April 2021

Matthew Flinders explains how a journey-based approach to youth engagement can have transformative potential.

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part II

Blog 15 April 2021

Matthew Flinders calls for a ‘civic journey’ that’s focused on nurturing and understanding how and why people move in and out of civic spaces throughout their lives.

Meet our Inaugural Civic Scholars

Blog 8 April 2021

Meet the Scholars: Alice Lemkes Alice is a PhD student at the University of Leeds and is looking at the powerful role of narratives in regulating the lives and livelihoods of people experiencing ‘severe and multiple disadvantage’. Before starting the

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part I

Blog 8 April 2021

For all its sweeping prose and upbeat analysis, Robert Putnam’s ‘The Upswing’ left Matthew Flinders downbeat. What’s needed, he suggests, is an ambitious vision for a new ‘civic journey’.