Blog

‘Change starts with people like me’

23 September 2022

Mark Pepper is driving climate action at Ambition Lawrence Weston, a housing estate on the outskirts of Bristol.

‘Communities can power a fair transition’

23 September 2022 | Authors: Helen Goulden OBE,

Helen Goulden and Tim Davies-Pugh, say a fairer, greener future is not only possible, but advantageous for UK plc.

Talking transitions: the road to net zero

22 September 2022 | Authors: Jessica Redmond, Emily Morrison,

This short film hears from members of the public, to gain a greater understanding of their concerns, and find out just how much – or how little – people understand about the challenge we face on the road to net zero.

Navigating the ‘postcode lottery’ of volunteering opportunities

15 September 2022

Lack of opportunity, patchy citizenship education, and an outdated view of why young people engage hinder volunteering, finds a new report.

Research Digest: What can quantitative approaches learn from The Beatles?

22 August 2022

I’ve written before about the growing use of more rigorous quantitative approaches to community and third sector research. A great example is the way the School for Social Entrepreneurs used control cohorts to evaluate its pioneering Match Trading programme. By doing

Building meaningful relationships between researchers and society

9 August 2022

Our evaluation of UKRI-funded research projects seeks to better understand the value and scope of ‘citizen science’.

‘If the research sector is to truly reflect our diverse communities, we need new forms of partnerships’

20 July 2022 | Authors: Emily Morrison,

Tom Saunders and Emily Morrison stress the need for more equitable and sustainable models of community engagement in research

Peer research: sharing what works

13 July 2022 | Authors: Zoe Dibb,

Our Head of Research, Zoe Dibb, shares insights and key learnings from our Peer Research Network with the Social Research Association (SRA).

Research Digest: ‘Knowledge is NOT power’

30 June 2022

Over coffee last month with Professor Rebecca Madgin, Director of the AHRC’s Place-Based Research Programme, I was introduced to the concept of ‘felt experience’. I had been talking about the mysterious way that successful community businesses taking over pubs, shops, libraries

Here comes the community!

13 June 2022

Today, local leaders from around the UK descend on Parliament to call for a Community Power Act. Our CEO Helen Goulden welcomes engagement with communities that increases both equality and equity.

Research Digest: Enough of the ‘grands projects’

24 May 2022

Hang around the ‘community development scene’ for more than a few years and you’ll probably develop a weary resignation about the endless cycling and recycling of well-meant policy interventions. I last saw this at the recent Local Trust levelling up conference

The rise and rise of participatory research