Case Studies, Reports & Toolkits

This evidence-informed advice guides universities on how to maximise student community engagement to strengthen local places. It highlights conditions for meaningful collaboration, explores tensions such as resourcing and voluntarism, and showcases best practice models that benefit students, communities, and civic partners alike.

This NCIA research agenda sets out an emerging strategy for civic universities, highlighting evidence gaps and priority questions on place, climate, health, culture and inequality. It is designed to help universities, partners and policymakers sharpen civic practice and invest in research that truly serves local communities.

Discover how universities can grow as powerful civic institutions, building long-term partnerships, aligning strategy with place-based needs, and investing in the capacities required for meaningful civic impact. This report distils three years of National Civic Impact Accelerator learning for leaders and practitioners.

Discover how the Civic Capabilities Framework supports higher education professionals and civic partners in delivering collaborative, inclusive, and impactful civic strategies.

NCIA Programme Director Adam Ellis Leach’s contribution to the UK Parliament Education Select Committee, bringing civic university perspectives into a high-profile inquiry on higher education funding, sustainability and civic mission.

A series of reports capturing key findings from NCIA roundtables on civic universities’ roles in policy, devolution, and community partnerships, exploring how higher education institutions can drive local impact amidst major sector pressures.

This report explores how students and universities can create meaningful engagement with local communities, drawing on five detailed case studies from across England. It highlights what “good” looks like for students, local people and place, and offers practical lessons, tensions and recommendations for universities committed to civic impact.

Discover how universities are leading civic climate education. This asset showcases innovative, collaborative approaches that empower communities and young people, building knowledge and skills for the UK’s net zero transition, and offers actionable recommendations for impactful climate education initiatives.

Discover how universities can use data to achieve more effective, equitable civic impact and overcome structural barriers. Practical guidance for supporting staff, sharing insights, and collaborating with communities.

This report maps university-owned green spaces in Bristol, Sheffield, Tower Hamlets and Newcastle, showing how they contribute to mental health, social connection and physical activity for students, staff and local communities, and offering evidence-informed recommendations for civic universities and place-based partners.

Explore how today's civic universities are embedding partnership and place-based strategies at their core, addressing societal challenges, renewing their public purpose, and driving measurable impact in communities, as highlighted in the Civic Universities in Action report for the National Civic Impact Accelerator.

The ARU NCIA Refugee Medics Pilot supports international doctors, helping them overcome barriers and requalify for clinical practice in the UK by providing tailored guidance, peer support, and networking opportunities to ensure their skills benefit local communities.

This report explores ARU and NCIA’s pioneering reverse volunteering pilot, crafted in collaboration with Abbey People, to empower those experiencing long-term unemployment through confidence-building, skill recognition, and tailored work experience within the university.

This report, drawn from the NCIA Action Learning Programme, provides actionable recommendations to build institutional alignment and maximise civic impact within higher education.

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.

Discover how UK universities’ civic roles are under threat, the importance of sustaining civic capitals, and the recommendations for leaders and policymakers to secure a thriving civic future.

Explore the multifaceted contributions of civic universities in climate education, addressing skills gaps, fostering community partnerships, and enhancing wellbeing through green spaces.

This collection of four evidence reviews examines the multifaceted impact of universities on their local places, from improving public health to driving economic development. The reports provide a comprehensive overview of universities' civic role.

Femi Owolade's research examines factors driving race equality changes in UK universities, aiming to provide insights for developing the civic university mission and addressing broader societal disparities.

This report examines the multifaceted impacts of PhD funding, highlighting significant economic returns and personal growth opportunities, especially for women. It explores how doctoral studies contribute to civic missions and place-based strategies.

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.

This report advocates for universities to adopt a 'truly civic' approach, integrating civic engagement into formal learning, campus activities, and community involvement to cultivate lifelong active citizenship among students.

Discover how civic universities support the UK government's five missions for economic growth, clean energy, and opportunity.

This comprehensive report analyses how UK universities resource their civic engagement efforts, examining funding sources, organisational structures, and lessons from other sectors to inform future higher education policy.

This report examines how deeper collaboration between colleges and universities can transform lives and communities through integrated education and skills systems.

Universities play a leading role in mitigating and adapting to climate change, reversing biodiversity loss, educating students, and working with communities to build a sustainable future. This report captures some of the emerging trends and approaches of universities who are using their CUAs for this purpose.

Discover Queen Mary University of London's toolkit for equitable partnerships in civic engagement, fostering collaboration between universities, communities, and civic partners.

Explore key findings from the NCIA's Action Learning Programme, including resource management, leadership models, and civic engagement challenges faced by universities in their community impact efforts.