Civic Impact Dashboard2025-09-16T08:46:09+00:00

Prototype Civic Impact Dashboard

The Civic Impact Dashboard is a data visualisation tool which will support Higher Education Institution (HEI) staff to understand and explore the civic contribution of their university to their local area and communities.

Currently, this prototype focuses exclusively on the 'cultural' impact of universities. We aim to expand the dashboard to cover all domains of civic impact in the near future. Don't miss the chance give us feedback to help us develop it futher.

The Dashboard draws on official statistical data about universities and places to enable all universities to assess their civic impact, benchmark against peers, and understand local trends.

This tool was developed by The Institute for Community Studies as part of the National Civic Impact Accelerator programme.

About

The Dashboard on this page is still a prototype.

Our vision for the Civic Impact Dashboard is a data solution to support HEI staff better understand, evaluate and showcase their institution's civic contributions. Through the NCIA's work with HEI staff, we have identified that accessible data is a major challenge to advocating for and developing civic initiatives within the Higher Education sector.

To address this, the Civic Impact Dashboard prototype seeks to do the following:

  • Analyse Public Data: integrates HESA data with other place-based official statistics to improve access to public data useful for evaluating impact and identifying place priorities.
  • Enable Benchmarking: allows for institutions to 'benchmark' their activity against peers, making it easier to contextualise civic activity and open opportunities for collaboration.

User Guide

The prototype version of the dashboard currently only contains data to support assessment of the 'cultural' impact of universities. To use it, scroll down below and follow these steps:

  • Landing Page: click on the 'select geography' button to get started.
  • Select Your University: this page allows you to select your university and the geographic area your university is interested. Click the button to move to the next page.
  • Select Benchmarks: This page allows you to select universities against which to benchmark your institution (using either the map or the list). Click the button to move to the next page
  • Civic Impact Framework: At this stage you can only select 'cultural'.
  • Dashboard: The final page reflects your previous selections. You can select variables to display on the dashboard using the 'Variable' drop down menu.

A more comprehensive user guide can be downloaded below:

Prototype

As a prototype, we ask that you do not rely on this dashboard to make important decisions for your institution. This is still an early build and refinements are needed.

We have created a prototype to help us develop those refinements. With your help, we can further improve on this dashboard to help it realise its full potential in supporting HEIs conduct comprehensive civic impact assessments. Your insights will help us to:

  • Identify key areas for improvement
  • Ensure the tool meets real-world needs
  • Enhance usability and functionality.

You can provide feedback using the feedback form at the bottom of this page, emailing the Dashboard team at hi@icstudies.org.uk or attending one of our Summer 2025 workshops.

Feedback Form: Civic Impact Dashboard Prototype

About you

What sector do you work in? *
From the options below, which role do you identify with the most? *
From the options below, what level of experience do you have with that role? *

Your Feedback

This prototype dashboard is designed to support Higher Education Institute (HEI) staff to understand, evaluate and showcase their institution's civic contributions.

Based on your interaction with this dashboard, do you feel like it met its purpose? *
Is this dashboard easy to understand and use? *
Do you think this dashboard prototype met your data needs? *

Submit your feedback

Thank you so much for taking the time to fill in this feedback form. Your user experience and answers will help us further refine and build out this iteration of the dashboard.

If you have indicated interest in following the progression of the work closely, you will be contacted to participate in a user feedback workshop.

To continue learning with us, subscribe to our blog and follow @icstudiesuk.

All data captured through this form will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Your Personal Data will be shared across Partner Organisations involved in the Civic University Network and National Civic Impact Accelerator programmes for the purposes of processing your submission and contacting you about it. If you have any questions about this form, please email us at civicuniversity@shu.ac.uk.

Developing the Civic Impact Dashboard

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