Welcome to our new series of blogs amplifying the voices shaping the future of civic universities and the places they call home.
Our new NCIA Debate Stage is the platform for a range of opinions, views and commentary on the UK's civic university movement, designed to spark dialogues that illuminate the contribution that universities and other anchor institutions can make to the places they call home, and debate solutions to the challenges they face on their journey.
The NCIA Debate Stage features insights from a diverse range of thought leaders and change-makers at the forefront of the civic university movement. While the views expressed are those of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the official position of the Civic University Network or National Civic Impact Accelerator programme, they are intended to stimulate meaningful discussions and inspire fresh perspectives on how universities can deepen their civic impact.
Do you have a civic story to tell, or an idea to maximise the impact of place-based collaboration? Get in touch to contribute to this new series!
Adam Leach, NCIA Programme Director
Civic Universities: Powerhouses of Economic and Social Impact
Universities are more than educational institutions; they are economic engines and civic hubs. A recent scoping review, Civic Universities and Economic Impact, explores their role in regional development, job creation, and social innovation. But ...
Demonstrating the Economic Impacts of Civic Universities
Civic universities are universities which are embedded within their local area, they are rooted within a town, city and/or city-region. Their names, histories, specialisms, were often developed in line with the geographical location within ...
Building the Civic Impact Dashboard with Accessibility in Focus
Adira Andlay and Jess Redmond, Senior Researchers at the Institute for Community Studies at The Young Foundation, reflect on accessibility in user-centred design, collaborating to create truly inclusive experiences. In the world of data ...
Seizing the Current Policy Moment: Re-thinking the Geography of Higher Education
In a recent WONKHE article about the implications of the Budget for higher education (HE), Justine Andrew and Debbie McVitty explore how to move the conversation about strategic collaboration in HE from speculative to practical ...
Prototyping the Civic Impact Dashboard
Prototyping the Civic Impact Dashboard Adira Andlay and Jess Redmond, Senior Researchers at the Institute for Community Studies at The Young Foundation, share their insights about challenges higher education staff face in understanding their ...
NCIA reflections on The Geography of Higher Education in England and Wales
In October 2023, NCIA’s Policy & Partnership Manager John Fell accompanied the OECD team on a week of meetings with case-study university ‘clusters’, as research for the OECD’s report on The Geography of Higher Education ...
Challenging assumptions with user-centred design
Adira Andlay and Jess Redmond, Senior Researchers at the Institute for Community Studies at The Young Foundation, discuss their learnings about data needs for university civic impact and the dangers of assumption-based decision making ...
The Importance of Town and Gown Relations: Addressing Studentification and Promoting Hyper-Local Engagement for Civic Universities
The Importance of Town and Gown Relations: Addressing Studentification and Promoting Hyper-Local Engagement for Civic Universities: Within every city or town with a university, a complex relationship exists between the institution and its surrounding ...
How User-Centred Design Can Transform University Civic Activity with Data-Driven Dashboards
Blog Series: How User-Centred Design Can Transform University Civic Activity with Data-Driven Dashboards Action without insight will go quickly awry. Data-driven approaches are therefore essential for a civic university trying to make an impact in ...