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Civic Field Guide

Practice

This section of the Civic Field Guide explores the practice of civic engagement.

This perspective considers the practical ways in which universities can embed civic practices and behaviours into their academic activity, and how can they use their 'anchor' role to benefit people and place?

A black-and-white illustration featuring a large anchor with a rope in the center, radiating lines and yellow accents. Surrounding the anchor are icons representing practical activities: a shopping cart with a location pin, a tape measure, hands joined in collaboration, a checklist, speech bubbles, a CV with a magnifying glass, and a building with accessibility features. The overall theme evokes groundedness, support, and everyday practice.

Photography by Benno Media

From theory to action

This terrain focuses on civic as practical action.  Here we examine the practical ways universities can embed civic practices and behaviours.

This section of the Field Guide asks: how can we embed civic practices and behaviours into a university's academic activity and use their 'anchor role' to benefit people and place?

What do we mean by Practice?

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.

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.

Comprehensive civic evaluation requires universities to embrace measurement techniques that integrate quantitative metrics and qualitative narratives, creating a complete picture of authentic community impact.

This mixed-method approach acknowledges that meaningful civic transformation manifests through both measurable outcomes and powerful community stories that capture relationships, cultural change, and long-term social development.

Universities should build robust evaluation systems capable of documenting numerical progress whilst simultaneously gathering rich narratives that illustrate how civic initiatives affect real people's lives and strengthen community capacity.

Effective measurement embraces the complexity of place-based work, recognising that different communities and contexts require tailored approaches to capturing impact across diverse geographic scales and community priorities.

Success involves developing evaluation methodologies that satisfy rigorous academic standards whilst remaining accessible and meaningful to community partners, policymakers, and diverse stakeholders. This enables universities to demonstrate comprehensive accountability whilst providing essential evidence for continuous improvement and strategic development of civic engagement approaches.

"Numbers tell part of the story, but it's the real people behind them that show what we're truly achieving. When we blend data with lived experience, our impact becomes powerful: impossible to ignore."

Student Union Representative

Lost your bearings? Head to another terrain as your next step.

Key Equipment

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

Practice Purpose Process Policy

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Embed civic responsibility across university practice, reflecting real local needs

Align institutional operations with community priorities, ensuring university practices authentically model the positive changes promoted in wider society.

Authentic civic credibility emerges when universities systematically embed civic responsibility throughout all institutional practices, ensuring that internal operations genuinely reflect community commitments rather than operating as disconnected spheres of activity.

This alignment requires examining all university operations – including procurement policies, employment practices, student services, campus sustainability initiatives, and estates management – to build greater alignment with community priorities.

Universities should model the positive changes they advocate within their broader communities through their daily practices as employers, purchasers, service providers, and institutional neighbours.

This alignment builds essential trust with community partners whilst maximising the civic impact of university resources and operations beyond formal engagement programmes.

Implementation requires connecting internal policy development processes with ongoing external community engagement, ensuring that university practices actively contribute to local economic development, social justice, environmental sustainability, and community goals. Ongoing dialogue between internal stakeholders and community partners can identify opportunities for enhanced alignment and mutual benefit.

"Real civic leadership means guiding our universities to set a pace for positive local change, putting community values at the heart of every decision. When a university's actions reflect local priorities, the ripple effect strengthens every neighbourhood."

Regional Executive Leader

Lost your bearings? Head to another terrain as your next step.

Key Equipment

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

Line drawing of a wooden signpost in grass.

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.

Purpose Practice Partnership Process Policy

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Embed civic engagement as a core university mission

Chart institutional transformation by weaving civic purpose through strategic leadership, collaborative delivery, and comprehensive accountability systems.

Place​ Practice​ Purpose Policy​

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Universities can boost impact by sharing infrastructure: physical, social and cultural

Open institutional assets to maximise community benefit through shared access to facilities, networks, and cultural resources for collective flourishing

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.

Process​ Practice​

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Map and coordinate across a full range of civic themes and activities

Develop comprehensive institutional awareness of civic engagement breadth to coordinate resources effectively and maximise collective community impact.

Process​ Practice​

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Learn systematically from evidence and experience

Create feedback systems that capture insights from both successes and challenges, enabling continuous improvement and more effective civic strategies.

Policy​ Practice​

Contribute evidence to policy development

Transform research insights into policy influence by supporting evidence-based solutions that serve community priorities and enhance democratic governance.

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

Authentic civic practice emerges when universities systematically embed civic responsibility throughout all institutional practices, ensuring that internal operations genuinely reflect place-based priorities.

This alignment builds essential trust with community partners whilst maximising the civic impact of university resources, operations, procurement policies, employment practices and estates.

A line drawing of a vertical arrow going into a bullseye.Universities can maximise civic impact through practical application of their anchor institution role, strategically using procurement, employment, and facility management to support local economic development, social justice, environmental sustainability, and place-based or regional goals.

This approach positions universities as powerful economic actors whose daily operational decisions can significantly benefit local communities through deliberate alignment of institutional practices with community development priorities, creating authentic demonstration of civic commitment through institutional behaviour.

Line drawing of a tape measure.Universities should develop measurement frameworks that embrace quantitative metrics and qualitative narratives, capturing both numerical progress and powerful community stories that illustrate authentic transformation in people's lives and community capacity.

This mixed-methods approach enables universities to demonstrate their impact rigorously whilst remaining meaningful to community partners, policy makers, and diverse stakeholders. This approach to evaluation embraces the complexity of place-based work and recognises different community contexts.

The Practice terrain emphasises that effective civic working involves connecting internal policy development processes with ongoing external community engagement, ensuring university practices actively contribute to addressing community-identified priorities through systematic dialogue between internal stakeholders and community partners.

This ongoing alignment enables universities to identify opportunities for enhanced community benefit whilst demonstrating genuine civic commitment through daily institutional behaviour.

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.

2025-12-03T15:31:28+00:00

Civic Impact Dashboard

The Civic Impact Dashboard is a data visualisation tool that helps higher education institutions understand, evidence and benchmark their civic contribution to local places and communities, using integrated official statistics and university data to inform strategy, collaboration and advocacy.