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Civic Field Guide

Purpose

This section of the Civic Field Guide explores the purpose behind civic engagement.

We will explore how universities negotiate, describe, activate, and evaluate the value they create though their civic activities.

A black-and-white illustration of a winding road leading toward a bright yellow sun on the horizon, symbolizing a journey or pursuit of purpose. On the roadside are a backpack, a compass, and a folded map, representing preparation and navigation. A tree and rocks complete the scenic landscape, with yellow highlights drawing attention to key elements.

Where mission meet place

How do civic universities create pathways to public benefit through their core mission?

This section of the Field Guide asks: how do universities negotiate, describe, activate, and evaluate the value they create though their civic activity, and frame their purposes for civic work?

Here, we examine the the foundations that civic universities build to deliver for their places and communities.

What do we mean by Purpose?

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.

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.

Transformational universities position civic engagement as a fundamental, permanent mission that permeates all institutional activities rather than treating it as an optional supplementary activity.

This embedding approach requires strategic leadership that systematically weaves civic purpose throughout teaching, research, knowledge exchange, professional services, and estates management.

This collaborative delivery of civic spans all organisational departments whilst extending meaningfully beyond university boundaries to encompass external community partners.

Civic engagement should not be an isolated responsibility of an individual department or a small number of passionate staff members – it requires systematic institutionalisation through robust accountability mechanisms, clear internal policies, and coordinated strategic oversight.

Senior leaders should champion the institution's civic mission through deliberate design and strategic resource allocation, ensuring civic responsibility becomes deeply embedded within institutional culture and operational delivery.

Authentic civic transformation emerges when universities operate collaboratively both internally and with their broader place-based ecosystem, creating sustainable foundations for enduring community impact.

"The real lesson here is that civic engagement must become the intellectual heartbeat of the university, not its afterthought. When every decision, curriculum, and collaboration is animated by the lived complexity of our local relationships, we transcend traditional academic boundaries. This journey demands not only bold vision but sustained, reflective learning with and from our partners, transforming both the institution and the communities we serve"

Community-Engaged Researcher

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

Key Equipment

  • 1

    Discover a comprehensive approach guiding universities towards genuine civic transformation. This theory helps institutions understand not just civic goals, but the strategic pathways to achieve them, identifying stakeholders, navigating obstacles, and creating lasting positive impact within local communities.

  • 2

    This landmark 2019 report established the blueprint for modern civic universities, introducing the transformative concept of Civic University Agreements. Explore comprehensive recommendations for strategic leadership, institutional accountability, and systematic civic integration that governments and universities worldwide now follow.

  • 3

    Understand the urgent risks facing universities' civic work in today's financial climate. This ground breaking 2025 reveals how institutional precarity threatens civic partnerships and offers vital recommendations for protecting and strengthening this essential mission.

  • 4

    This interview with Hughie Brown shows how a single programme can hard-wire civic responsibility into everyday teaching, assessment and partnerships. It offers practical insights on aligning learning, client briefs and safeguarding so that student consultancy work delivers tangible value for local creative communities and organisations.

  • 5

    Access this step-by-step practical guidance for consultation, evidence-gathering, and partnership-building essential to embedding civic mission. Learn from universities across the UK who share successes, setbacks, and proven methods for avoiding tokenistic engagement whilst responding authentically to local needs.

  • 6

    Utilise this comprehensive assessment tool helping universities systematically evaluate civic activities across seven essential domains. Move beyond isolated initiatives towards strategic coordination by asking the right questions, establishing locally-appropriate metrics, and creating pathways for continuous improvement.

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

Purpose Place

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Place-based working complements and enhances global and national impact

Discover synergies between local engagement and international activities, recognising that deep community roots strengthen rather than limit broader influence.

Universities can achieve greater overall impact by recognising that place-based community engagement naturally complements and enhances their global and national activities rather than competing with them for attention and resources.

This recognition acknowledges that many local challenges directly reflect global phenomena, whilst innovative solutions developed through deep local engagement often provide valuable insights applicable in other contexts worldwide.

Universities can strategically leverage their international partnerships, extensive research networks, and diverse student populations to bring global perspectives and resources into local community challenges whilst simultaneously sharing locally-developed innovations, approaches, and insights with international audiences and networks.

This complementary relationship avoids false choices between local and global engagement, instead actively seeking productive synergies that strengthen both dimensions of university activity.

Success involves helping local communities connect their priorities and assets to broader movements and opportunities whilst ensuring that international engagement contributes meaningfully to place-based development. Universities function as crucial nodes connecting global knowledge networks with local community assets.

"Our civic work is most powerful when it's woven into the fabric of both local life and global conversations. By embracing the strengths of our community, like partnering with local groups on city regeneration projects that have gone on to inspire similar initiatives abroad, we open new doors for international influence and fresh perspectives"

University Senior 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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 should embed civic engagement as a core institutional mission that operates collaboratively both internally and with their broader place-based ecosystem, creating sustainable foundations for enduring community impact through systematic institutionalisation.

A line drawing of a compass.This transformational approach positions civic work as fundamental and permanent rather than optional, requiring strategic leadership that systematically weaves civic purpose throughout all university functions including teaching, research, knowledge exchange, professional services, and estates management.

This collaborative delivery approach for civic spans all organisational departments whilst extending meaningfully beyond university boundaries to encompass external community partners through robust accountability mechanisms and strategic oversight.

The Purpose terrain recognises that universities can discover productive synergies between local engagement and international activities by understanding how place-based community challenges connect to global movements and opportunities.

This complementary relationship avoids false choices between local and global engagement, instead actively seeking connections that strengthen both dimensions of university activity through strategic leverage of international partnerships and research networks.

Line drawing of a globe.

Universities function as crucial nodes connecting global knowledge networks with local community assets, helping local communities access broader opportunities whilst ensuring international engagement contributes meaningfully to place-based development priorities.

Civic purpose requires universities to develop sophisticated approaches to negotiating, describing, activating and evaluating the public value they create through their civic activities, moving beyond simple metrics toward comprehensive frameworks that capture authentic community transformation.

This involves building robust systems that document both quantitative progress and qualitative narratives about how civic initiatives strengthen community capacity, address local priorities, and contribute to broader societal wellbeing through university civic engagement.

Line drawing of a tape measure.Universities should develop evaluation methodologies that satisfy rigorous academic standards whilst remaining meaningful to community partners and diverse stakeholders.

Authentic civic credibility emerges when universities systematically frame their purposes for civic work through clear analysis of community needs, strategic resource allocation, and comprehensive accountability systems that demonstrate genuine commitment to public benefit.

This requires universities to articulate compelling narratives about why civic engagement serves both institutional mission and community priorities. Success involves creating institutional cultures where civic purpose drives strategic decision-making and resource allocation rather than being treated as peripheral activity dependent on individual enthusiasm or external funding.

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.

2025-12-10T14:57:00+00:00

Truly Civic

The UPP Foundation’s Truly Civic report explores how universities can move from ad hoc civic engagement to being strategically civic institutions, rooted in local needs and partnerships, and backed by appropriate funding, measurement and government support.

2025-12-03T15:21:49+00:00

University Economic Impact: Two Essential Reports

We present two new studies exploring universities' economic impact on local development, highlighting their role as anchor institutions and proposing innovative assessment methods to capture their full civic contributions.