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Civic Field Guide

People

This section of the Civic Field Guide explores the importance of people and their relationships.

Universities and their staff and students are actors in society and in their wider community. This terrain focuses on the collaborations, partnerships and relationships between people.

An illustrated image shows a woman with curly hair working on a laptop, holding a pen and thinking. Around her are five sketched portraits of diverse people, each connected with blue lines symbolizing network or collaboration. There are additional symbols: a stack of layered maps, a lanyard with a name badge, a location pin, and folded maps, representing themes of identity, place, networking, and teamwork

Mobilising People for Change

Civic universities develop people-centred civic engagement approaches that position communities as equal partners, and promote lifelong active citizenship with their students and staff.

This section of the Field Guide asks: "what are the collaborations, partnerships and relationships between people, and how can these be optimised?"

What do we mean by People?

Field Notes at a Glance

Distilled wisdom to guide your path across the terrain.

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Foundational Waypoints

By stepping back and seeing evidence in the round, new insights emerge from the clouds.

Think of these waypoints as signposts, not instructions. They capture shared learning and practical insights to help you navigate your civic journey with confidence, at your own pace and from your own place.

People Purpose Partnership Place

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Partner with communities through co-design and lived experience

Forge collaborative pathways by positioning communities as equal partners, centring lived experience, and creating shared solutions for place.

Authentic civic engagement flourishes when universities deliberately position communities as equal partners throughout the entire process of identifying needs, designing solutions, and implementing sustainable change.

This collaborative approach explicitly centres lived experience as genuine expertise, acknowledging that individuals who navigate challenges daily possess invaluable insights essential for developing effective, contextually appropriate responses. Co-design processes enable local people to actively shape initiatives affecting their lives, systematically building trust whilst capturing diverse community perspectives and priorities.

Universities function as vital connectors in this collaborative ecosystem, linking people's deep passion for their place with concrete opportunities for meaningful local impact whilst simultaneously forging diverse partnerships that strategically combine unique organisational strengths to address complex, interconnected community challenges.

This way of working transcends traditional consultation approaches to create authentic collaboration where community members participate as genuine partners throughout entire project lifecycles rather than passive recipients of university-led interventions.

"In my experience, the most meaningful civic engagement begins when universities recognise community members as experts in their own right. When we intentionally invite lived experience into the heart of each decision, our work not only becomes richer but also far more relevant. By collaborating as equals from start to finish, we unlock real change that is grounded, trusted, and built to last."

University Civic Engagement Manager

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Key Equipment

  • 1

    Explore a dynamic visual resource designed to help you navigate your locality, understand key sectors, and identify partnership opportunities. The Place Navigator equips university professionals and academics with frameworks, evidence reviews, and toolkits to strengthen effective place-based collaboration and unlock the full civic potential of your institution.

  • 2

    This video episode offers a grounded example of how a university can organise itself around community priorities, with students acting as connectors between institutional structures and local safety systems. It is ideal for exploring how co-designed, partnership-based approaches move from street-level concerns to system-level change.

  • 3

    This short video captures how Wrexham University works alongside communities as equal partners, with Nina Ruddle showing what it looks like to listen first, share power and co-design responses. It offers a practical glimpse of lived experience shaping a university's civic mission in real time.

  • 4

    Discover how Lancaster University used creative co-design tools to listen genuinely to underrepresented communities. This case study reveals how building trusted relationships over time, valuing people's time and expertise, and embedding creativity into dialogue creates powerful connections that strengthen university-community partnerships for lasting impact.

  • 5

    Learn how Goldsmiths embeds co-production throughout community projects to create genuine shared ownership. This example reveals how foregrounding lived experience, putting relationships at the heart of work, and moving at collaborators' pace transforms university-community engagement into meaningful, equitable partnerships that respect community autonomy and expertise.

Take a moment to reflect on these resources, then see how the next waypoint builds on this learning

People Purpose Practice

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Cultivate belonging and active citizenship through civic experiences

Guide students and communities towards democratic participation by creating meaningful civic experiences that build skills, confidence, and community connection.

Universities foster democratic participation and community belonging by systematically creating meaningful civic experiences that enable students, staff, and community members to develop active citizenship skills whilst building deeper connections to place and democratic processes.

This approach recognises that belonging and civic engagement develop through authentic participation in real-world challenges that matter to communities, rather than through abstract learning alone.

Effective civic experiences connect academic learning with community priorities, enabling participants to develop practical skills in collaboration, advocacy, and democratic participation whilst contributing to genuine community benefit. Universities can design civic experiences across multiple contexts – from formal service-learning courses to community organising partnerships, from local democracy initiatives to collaborative research projects.

These experiences simultaneously develop individual capacity whilst strengthening community assets and democratic infrastructure. Success requires creating accessible pathways that welcome diverse participants with varying backgrounds, ensuring that civic experiences build inclusive communities whilst respecting different forms of contribution and leadership. The ultimate goal is developing confident, capable citizens who feel genuine belonging in their communities.

 "Real change happens when academic theory, interpreted by our students, meets the lived realities of our neighbours and places. Every civic project is a chance to strengthen the roots of belonging and build a more confident, capable community."

Community-Engaged Researcher

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Key Equipment

Take a moment to reflect on these resources, then see how the next waypoint builds on this learning

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Supporting Waypoints

Complementary insights that extend your understanding across the interconnected terrains of civic engagement.

These waypoints offer fresh perspectives to deepen and broaden your civic practice. They're here to complement your journey, giving you the space to explore connections, draw parallels, and engage with ideas that fit your own context.

Practice People Place Process

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Measure civic impact through quantitative metrics and qualitative narratives

Navigate evaluation complexity by integrating numerical data with community stories to capture authentic place-based transformation and meaningful outcomes.

Partnership​ People​ Process

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Coordinate thematic partnerships for collective impact

Develop issue-focused collaborations that unite diverse civic partners around shared challenges, amplifying expertise and resources for greater community benefit.

Partnership​ People​ Process​

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Build authentic equitable place-based partnerships

Cultivate collaborative relationships that honour diverse expertise, share power genuinely, and create sustained mutual benefit across different community contexts.

Coming Soon Download

Take the Civic Field Guide with you!

A downloadable version of the guide is coming soon, designed for you to keep, refer to and share with colleagues.

Whether you're navigating new partnerships or refining existing ones, this portable edition will help you chart your civic journey with ease.

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Hidden Gems

Sometimes it helps to step off the beaten path and immerse yourself in a new experience or perspective.

These hidden gems might help you reflect, refine or spark something new. Click to explore!

Expedition Debrief

Universities committed to people-centred civic engagement should deliberately position communities as equal partners throughout collaborative processes, systematically building trust whilst capturing diverse community perspectives and priorities.

This approach transcends traditional consultation methods to create authentic partnerships where universities function as vital connectors, linking people's deep passion for their place with concrete opportunities for meaningful local impact.

Line drawing of an abstract community.Co-design enables local people to actively shape initiatives affecting their lives, ensuring that community members participate as genuine decision-makers rather than passive recipients of university-led interventions.

This terrain emphasises that authentic civic engagement flourishes through equitable partnership development that honours diverse forms of expertise, shares power genuinely, and creates sustained mutual benefit across different community contexts.

Universities should invest time and resources in understanding local partnership landscapes, building authentic relationships with diverse stakeholders, and learning how their contributions can enhance rather than duplicate existing community assets and initiatives. This requires positioning universities as important but not dominant players within local collaborative ecosystems.

People-centred civic work recognises that belonging and engagement develop through authentic participation in real-world challenges that matter to communities rather than through abstract learning alone.

Drawing of a loudspeaker with noise coming out of it.Universities should design civic experiences across multiple contexts: from service learning experiences to community partnerships – that connect academic learning with community priorities whilst enabling participants to develop practical skills in collaboration, advocacy, and democratic participation. These experiences simultaneously develop individual civic capacity whilst strengthening community assets and democratic infrastructure.

Effective community engagement requires universities to build on existing community strengths rather than focusing solely on deficits. This involves long-term commitment to relationship building, valuing communities as experts by experience, putting people first, building community capacity for independent action, and creating social processes that provide opportunities for new connections and collaborations to emerge organically.

Success emerges when universities champion community leadership whilst contributing their distinctive capabilities to collaborative solutions.

Essential Equipment

Like a compass and a map, you need the right tools to set you on the right path.

Our essential equipment will help you plan a route and weather any storms along the way.