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
Beyond Boroughs: Universities Collaborating for a Thriving Capital
The capital, a vibrant and complex ecosystem, is home to over 100 universities, a diverse array of institutions ranging from specialist colleges to large, multi-faculty universities, private institutions and International outposts, spread across 33 local ...
Launching the Civic Impact Dashboard Prototype
After a User-Centred Design (UCD) process conducted over the last half of 2024, documented in previous blogs in this series, we are pleased to launch the first working prototype of the NCIA Civic Impact Dashboard.The ...
Resourcing Civic: Optimism in a Time of Crisis
Civic university teams are full of optimists. They're connectors, listeners, initiators. They're people who make things happen, often under the radar and unrewarded.Civic university teams need to be full of optimists because they're under intense ...
Emerging Findings from the Collaborative Value Initiative
Fertilising the soil for greater social impactOrganisations looking for ways to measure their contribution to social value are not short of alternatives. The industry around measuring social return on investment has generated proxies, measures and ...
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 ...