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Community Cohesion

Summary of the impact

Community cohesion emerged as a distinct policy agenda in the aftermath of the 2001 disturbances in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham and was subsequently shaped by events including the London bombings of 2005 and large-scale migration from the EU and beyond. Researchers in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) have delivered a programme of research and evaluation exploring cohesion and the effectiveness of service responses. Beneficiaries have included government departments, devolved administrations and other local, regional and national public agencies. Awareness and understanding have been sensitised, lessons learnt have informed strategy, and guidance has directed improvements in practice.

Submitting Institution

Sheffield Hallam University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography, Policy and Administration

Strengthening government policy on community cohesion in England and Wales

Summary of the impact

Increasing immigration, the rise of the British National Party, and the London bombings put social cohesion firmly on the policy agenda. James Laurence and Anthony Heath's research (2008) on the predictors of social cohesion provided the key empirical foundation for policies implemented by the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2008 onwards. These policies in turn impacted the practices of local authorities in a variety of domains, including the allocation of social housing and the funding of community projects. The research was also cited by a number of organizations beyond government in their policy documents, from the Equality and Human Rights Commission to consultancies such as Ipsos MORI.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

White working class views of neighbourhood, cohesion and change

Summary of the impact

This case study is underpinned by the first qualitative research study of national significance into the views of white working class communities on community cohesion. It builds on over 10 years of research into community cohesion at Coventry University. The case study includes impacts on:

  • Creativity, culture and society: by being cited in public debate amongst stakeholders through discussion in social media, national and international press and media;
  • Public policy: by leading parliamentary debate amongst MPs, influencing the development of political party policy and by citation in parliamentary proceedings;
  • Practitioners and professional services: by informing debate amongst policy-makers and housing professionals including at international practitioner-led events in Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

Beneficiaries include central and local government policy-makers, members of charities and funders, lobbying groups, think tanks and political parties, political commentators, housing professionals, journalists, social workers and the general public.

Submitting Institution

Coventry University

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

Critical Interventions in Public and Policy Debates on Race, Segregation and Diversity

Summary of the impact

Work undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) has provoked debate, and challenged established lines of thought, by `myth busting' current claims about racial diversity and segregation — such as `Britain is becoming a country of ghettos' — which have hitherto dominated public and policy debate. A sociologically-informed demographic approach, developed at UoM, has been adopted by local authorities for monitoring neighbourhood population change and ethnic diversity. Additionally, research findings have been used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), national policy-makers and local government to promote alternative, sociologically-informed understandings of race, segregation and diversity, challenging the current policy focus. Taken together, these twin interventions have resulted in increasingly critical and robust examinations of race, segregation and diversity, both nationally and locally.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography, Sociology

Applying ethnicity research to reduce inequality in Western Australia

Summary of the impact

One of the main impacts of Bradford's ethnicity research is its influence on how the Substantive Equality Unit (SEU) was set up and continues to operate within the Equal Opportunities Commission of Western Australia. The SEU was established to address the challenge of creating equal and inclusive services, and ensuring their delivery, by all the departments of the Western Australian government for a diverse population. Its central role in promoting equality in the region is on-going and long-term. The beneficiaries of this impact are the government and minorities in the region, particularly Aboriginals and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Submitting Institution

University of Bradford

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Sociology
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Refugee Integration Programme

Summary of the impact

Integration of refugees, asylum seekers and their host communities is a complex challenge but an important marker both of future health and psychosocial wellbeing and of social cohesion. The UK Home Office commissioned IIHD to undertake the Indicators of Integration (IOI) research programme (from 2001) to clarify the IOI concept and recommend IOI for refugee policy and practice. The Ager and Strang IOI Framework (Ager and Strang, 2004a; 2004b; 2008) has become a foundational framework for refugee integration policy, for the measurement of integration and for critiquing policy and practice. Strang was appointed to chair the Scottish Government Refugee Integration Strategy consultation process in 2012 and has contributed by invitation to a number of EU-commissioned policy consultations.

Submitting Institution

Queen Margaret University Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Impact of research on the implementation of EU Cohesion policy on the European Commission's legislative proposals for the reform of the policy

Summary of the impact

Research on the management and implementation of EU Cohesion policy has informed the legislative proposals made in 2011 by the European Commission for the reform of Cohesion policy. It has also influenced some organisational changes within the Commission introduced in early 2013. EU Cohesion policy is the second largest area of expenditure in the EU budget, currently worth c. €347bn for the 2007-13 period, and provides funding for regional socio-economic development programmes in all EU Member States. The legislative proposals influenced by the Strathclyde research affect every national, regional and local authority in the EU benefiting from EU Structural and Cohesion Funds.

Submitting Institution

University of Strathclyde

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Political Science

Social impact of enterprises and charities

Summary of the impact

There is a growing demand for evidence of the impact that non governmental and private businesses are having. Research findings have led to a range of practical and policy developments related to encouraging organisations to measure their impact and use it both for their own development and to access more resources. This research has resulted in social impact measurement being introduced to many organisations and an improvement in the tools used. Research insights into how social impact can best be measured have led to changes in the practices of charities such as Citizens Advice and the use of a measurement tool by over 200 smaller organisations.

Submitting Institution

Middlesex University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

Localising Migration: improving service provision and interaction between local authorities and migrant communities in London

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on the impact of ethnographic research on migration to the UK from South Asia and Eastern and Central Europe by a team of researchers in sociology at Roehampton. This research has enhanced knowledge of demographic change in British society and has had a significant impact on policy makers and providers in local, national and European policy communities. The research has contributed to changing attitudes, raising awareness, and shifts in policy and practice by local government in London with regards to migration and social inclusion to the capital. It has also contributed to capacity building activities and new policy tools to support social inclusion and labour market integration by new migrant communities in the UK and across the European Union.

Submitting Institution

Roehampton University

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography, Sociology

Reshaping the Global Policy Agenda on Environmental Change and Migration

Summary of the impact

Professor Andrew Geddes' research on international migration has directly impacted upon the thinking of officials and the subsequent reshaping of policy at national and international levels concerning connections between environmental change and migration. Impact has occurred in several countries and at different governance levels. The result is that a previously deterministic policy debate about environmental change triggering mass flight is now based on a changed and far more sophisticated understanding of the evidence with different assumptions now informing policy development. Geddes was appointed in 2009 by the UK Government's Chief Scientific Advisor to be a member of the 6-member Lead Expert Group overseeing the `Foresight' report Migration and Global Environmental Change: Future Challenges and Opportunities (MGEC) for the UK Government Office for Science, published in 2011. The report and associated work has had major international reach and has informed policies and practices in UK government departments (DFID, DEFRA) and the agendas and operations of the European Union (especially the Commission), World Bank and within the UN system.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography

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