Social Impact

This theme explores how universities and their partners can work together to create a shared vision of flourishing societies, how they can develop priorities for action using community and public engagement, and bridge social divides to improve the quality of life of communities.

Creating flourishing communities

This theme is focused on working in collaboration with local partners to secure a shared vision of a flourishing society. We are focused on how the actions we take as civic universities welcome the insights of excluded and marginalised groups, how we engage with the public, and develop tools to measure social impact with local communities.

Civic Impact Framework

The Civic University Network team has developed a Civic Impact Framework which aims to enable universities to engage in conversations with colleagues and partners about what a truly civic university might look like and what the journey might involve.

Social Impact is one of the seven domains and key questions are:

  • How do we what our university to bridge and reduce social divides and improve the quality of life of our communities, including the most disadvantaged?
  • How can our university help our places move from ‘functioning’ to ‘flourishing’? What part can our students play in this?

Previous events

Session recordings of previous events related to the Social Impact theme with related resources downloadable via the ‘download resources’ button.

18th May 2021 – The role of universities in boosting educational attainment for all ages

18th May 2021 – COVID, Communities & Change

Get involved

Is your institution developing innovative civic approaches?

We would love to hear from you and share best practice, learning, and case studies across the Network. You can submit a case study using the form below.

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