Building resilience in UK communities – final report from the British Academy and Nuffield Foundation

The British Academy and the Nuffield Foundation have today published the final report from their joint Understanding Communities programme, launched in 2022 to inform policy and practice on how communities can improve social wellbeing across the UK.

The collaboration has funded six multidisciplinary research projects out of the scheme’s unique sandpit model, which has encouraged collaboration between researchers, policymakers and practitioners across sectoral and disciplinary boundaries to co-develop new insights on communities. This has involved trialling innovative methodologies alongside traditional methods such as art-based approaches and social network mapping to address the gap between lived experience and evidence by involving community voices.

This final report brings together the findings from the research projects under four thematic areas: place, trust, connection, and community capacity.

• Place highlights the importance of locally relevant approaches to policy, and how hyperlocal services and organisations are often highly valued by the communities they serve.
• Trust explores how trust is a vital part of building and maintaining social connections, and delivering services, and considers factors that help to develop and sustain trust.
• Connection discusses what enables people to feel more connected with each other, and the contribution and limitations of digital technology.
• Community capacity shows how a lack of infrastructure and public sector capacity adversely affects communities and discusses how, with the right government support, communities can enhance individual and local capacity.

The six projects also developed policy messages for both local and national policymakers, which the report has brought together. Together, these messages from the research highlight ways in which local authorities and central government departments can work collaboratively with communities and civil society to develop a longer-term strategic vision for improving the condition of communities across the four thematic areas.

The project builds on the British Academy’s previous Cohesive Societies work and is part of the ongoing Social and Cultural Infrastructure programme which explores the critical role of spaces, services and structures that bring people together and strengthen the social and cultural fabric of our communities.

Alongside the main report, the Institute for Community Studies has today published an analysis of the Understanding Communities programme. The analysis provides insights into the programme and offers recommendations for undertaking community-oriented research.

Dr Molly Morgan Jones, Director of Policy at the British Academy, said:

“Social ties between people and their communities have long been a vital source of wellbeing and belonging. As socioeconomic inequalities deepen, it is more urgent than ever to understand how these ties are sustained and what policymakers can do to reinforce them. This programme, developed through an important collaboration with the Nuffield Foundation, shows that communities thrive when we are able to understand the conditions which enable them to connect, build trust and strengthen capacity within their local places. We have been delighted to work with the Nuffield Foundation on this important programme and are grateful to the Foundation for their support and collaboration which has made this programme possible.”

Alex Beer, Assistant Director of Strategy at Nuffield Foundation, said: “To develop and sustain thriving communities, policymakers must invest for the long term - not just in facilities, but in the people who bring them to life and make projects successful. Both local and central government should adjust their approach to funding, towards sustainable support for grassroots organisations. They should also ensure communities are actively involved in shaping services, drawing on their in-depth understanding of local population, geography, and history.”