Community, citizenship and participation

Our research focuses on understanding and strengthening the relationships between community, citizenship and participation. We explore how active engagement in civic life contributes not only to healthy, resilient communities but also to functioning democracies and effective, high-quality research.

Central to our work is a commitment to community empowerment and civic involvement as drivers of positive change. We investigate how local assets, capacities and resources can be mobilised to meet citizens’ needs, support social innovation, and enable people to live well and thrive.

Our research addresses both communities of place and communities of interest, with particular attention to the contextual significance of geography, policy and culture.

To co-create solutions to social challenges, we work collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders, including community groups, social enterprises and policymakers. By grounding our work in the lived experiences of communities, we seek to understand and respond to social vulnerabilities through practical and inclusive approaches.

Our research examines how the concept of citizenship is interpreted and enacted in different settings and at varying scales, from local neighbourhoods and workplaces to regional and national institutions. A strong emphasis is placed on co-production, with participants actively shaping research agendas, processes and outcomes.

We employ a range of participatory and mixed-method approaches to investigate and evaluate processes of community engagement and empowerment. These include action research, participatory evaluation, realist evaluation, implementation science, and outcome measurement.

Our methodological frameworks are designed to be responsive and inclusive, enabling us to test new ideas in real-world settings and generate both theoretical and applied knowledge.

The research methods we use aim to contribute to academic debate as well as to produce insights that inform community development practices and public policy on participation and co-production.