Policy Support Fund

Catherine Johnson, Chris Birchall

In the UK, public service broadcasters (PSBs ) - BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 - are required to offer a variety of programmes that inform, educate, and entertain the public while supporting democracy. A new law, the Media Act of May 2024, allows these broadcasters to meet their obligations through their TV channels and online video services (VOD) (like BBC iPlayer) for the first time.

This new law also removes specific requirements about what kinds of programmes need to be included, such as those related to arts, education, science, religion, and important international issues. Whilst broadcasters previously had to provide a suitable quality and range of such content, they now have more freedom in what they show. This change has raised concerns that the diversity of provision for UK citizens will decline.

This project collaborates with UK charities (the International Broadcasting Trust, the Sandford St Martin Trust, the Campaign for the Arts, and the PSM Forum) that work to ensure that citizens’ interests are represented in media policy. It will develop new methods to monitor the provision of public service genres on the VOD services of the UK’s PSBs and address changes in the distribution and consumption of audiovisual media. This will ensure that 21st century media policy is made and evaluated with 21st century metrics.

Matt Tidmarsh, Dr Matt Cracknell (Brunel University)

The Probation Service is experiencing a ‘retention crisis’ (Tidmarsh, 2023) as they face over 2000 probation officer vacancies. With fewer staff, the risk offenders on probation pose to the public increases. As such, recruitment is crucial to improving both public protection and rehabilitation.

Better understanding the needs of staff in training can help to build resilience and address retention issues. However, no research currently exists on trainees’ experiences of the current professional qualification route. Six focus groups will address this policy-related research gap, four with trainee probation officers at different stages of their training and two with the individuals by whom training is delivered. The findings will inform a forthcoming HMI Probation (the body responsible auditing the Probation Service) inspection on recruitment and retention, as well as a one-day conference at the University of Leeds which brings together probation stakeholders.

The project will generate societal impact by better understanding the learning needs of trainee probation officers; influence the future of probation practice and establish better links between academics, trainers and learners; professional associations; and policymakers. It will also create a sustainable repository of training materials which can influence the ongoing development of the profession, hosted by the Probation Institute.

Joseph Holden, Megan Klaar, Samuel Ramsden, Finn Barlow-Duncan, Farhana Naz, Cath Seal

Nature based solutions use lessons and features from the natural world to make environments more resilient to extremes. For example, by slowing water flow through revegetating bare areas in the hills we might reduce flood peaks in our towns and cities downstream. By creating more urban greenspace we might reduce pollution entering watercourses, including pollutants that enter by sewage overflow pipes.  The latter is because: a)  stormwater from urban areas can be held back and create less pressure on sewage infrastructure and b) greenspace designs can trap pollutants. Such features may also positively impact our mental health and wellbeing. 

However, billions of pounds are now being spent in the UK on hard engineering solutions (concrete, bigger pipes etc), rather than on nature based solutions and yet the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan requires step changes in land management to deliver landscape recovery (e.g. via mandatory Local Nature Recovery Strategies), biodiversity net gain, water quality benefits (which come from the wider landscape and not just storm sewage overflows), and net zero commitments. 

This project seeks to unlock policy barriers to more widespread use of evidence-based nature-based solutions that will, in turn, generate economic and societal benefits through reduced flood and drought risk, improved water quality, better habitats and reduced land-based carbon emissions.

Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Paula Clarke

This project aims to transform how the UK Parliament Education and Engagement service evaluates its democratic engagement programmes. It builds on Leston-Bandeira’s extensive work on the UK Parliament’s approach to democratic engagement. Faced with acute declining levels of trust, the UK Parliament has expanded considerably its democratic engagement programmes. However, Leston-Bandeira’s research has shown (2016, 2018, 2024) that, whilst prolific, these programmes are not as effective as officials would like and that better evaluation would help to enhance practice.

This empirical project will combine Leston-Bandeira’s research with Dr Clarke’s expertise in education assessment and evaluation methods to map the Education and Engagement’s current practice of evaluation. Clarke and Leston-Bandeira have conducted initial interviews with service staff and have discovered that currently the service has a superficial and fragmented approach to evaluating its democratic engagement programmes. This matters because it influences their ability to review their activities and to determine which aspects are effective and which are not, ultimately affecting the development and quality of their programmes. This project will therefore help the Education and Engagement service to develop a more sustainable and useful framework to evaluate their activities, which is evidence-based, and therefore to deliver more meaningful democratic engagement programmes.

Romain Crastes dit Sourd, David Williams, Neil Dundon (University of California, Santa Barbara)

English biodiversity is in extremely poor condition, with measures of biodiversity intactness amongst the lowest in the world. To address this and meet international biodiversity commitments, England now has legally binding targets for nature conservation. Meeting these will depend on widespread use of wildlife-friendly farming approaches, promoted through agri-environmental schemes (AES) which pay farmers for adopting specific management options. The options impose different costs on farmers and so are supported by different payment levels. Unfortunately, the overall success and efficiency of AES are low, partly because farmers rarely choose the most effective options, suggesting payment levels do not effectively compensate farmers.

This project will map the potential of different AES options to contribute towards meeting biodiversity targets against the amount of money farmers say they would need to adopt an option. This will allow us to identify “low-hanging fruit”—options that provide relatively high biodiversity benefits for their cost. Our results can then be directly used by Defra to design specific policy mechanisms to encourage farmers to adopt these options, or to increase the acceptability of unpopular options. The project has potential for direct economic and societal impact by improving the cost-effectiveness of a programme which costs >£350m annually.

Stephen Dobson (Centre for Cultural Value), the Audience Agency

Culture has the power to significantly influence community identity and individual well-being. Launched by The Centre for Cultural Value at the University of Leeds, this project is developing an integrated approach for measuring how cultural vitality impacts our nation’s sense of place, well-being, and quality of life.    

The project will conduct a comprehensive review of existing approaches and data collection methods to propose a suite of indicators to help policymakers and community leaders capture how cultural vitality connects to place, well-being, and overall quality of life for all UK residents.

Laura Bainbridge, Amy Loughery Partners – Jen Griffiths (West Yorkshire Police), James Allen (Horton Housing), Heather Ashby (City of York Council), Emma Bloodworth (South Yorkshire Police), Ben Woods (South Yorkshire Police)

‘Cuckooing’ occurs when criminals take over a vulnerable person’s home and use it as a base for illegal activity.It is an inherently exploitative and predatory practice. Some victims may receive benefits for their cooperation (e.g. drugs or money), and are likely to be subjected to serious threats, coercion, intimidation and violence.

Cuckooing is a complex and evolving crime, and tackling it requires a multi-agency response that is designed to eliminate organised crime groups and target-harden potential victims. The research team, led by Dr Laura Bainbridge, will collaborate with members of the Cuckooing Research & Prevention Network to co-produce a cuckooing Virtual Reality Headset Training Module for front-line police offers and practitioners that work with vulnerable adults. In addition, the team will co-design a series of awareness-raising posters for professionals that engage with and/or have access to the homes of vulnerable people, and work to embed the Cuckooing Research & Prevention Network into the ‘Knowledge Hub’ as provided by the Police Digital Service to ensure its longevity.

Gehan Selim

Children play in streets, green and civic spaces. Yet, there is limited research  on  the extent to which play space design is inclusive and accessible for all children and different age groups. This project addresses this gap by working closely with Leeds City Council to develop policy guidelines and recommendations for play space design. The research supports the council’s ARI around ‘Zero Carbon - Developing inclusive public spaces.’

The investigation will look beyond existing guidelines, to consider how spaces can enable different generations to access the benefits of play. This is an essential strategy to enable inclusivity and accessibility, and complements the council’s  community development initiative 'Leeds Play Sufficiency' introduced in 2023.

This project aims to: 
•    Investigate the existing knowledge on play design to enhance inclusivity in play spaces, 
•    Obtain diverse insights from users regarding their experiences accessing and participating in play within play spaces, 
•    Co-produce a policy brief that includes recommendations for best practices in community provision through design. 

Our interdisciplinary team, consisting of experts in architecture, urban design, and co-production, is committed to collaborating with LCC to develop policy guidelines and physical activity needs. We aim to extend social inclusion by focusing on utilising play spaces across generations. Our social impact work is driven by a desire to enhance community well-being and overall quality of life in Leeds, and to promote societal connections that support a range of equality, diversity, and inclusion characteristics.

Francesca Pontin, Anna Barker, Vikki Houlden. Partners – Bradford Metropoliton District Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

This project will build on the Safer Parks work between the University of Leeds and West Yorkshire Mayor to utilise open-source spatial data to identify areas in parks that promote safety for women and girls, as well as highlight areas needing improvement. The findings will be displayed in an open web app accessible to local councils, ‘Friends of’ and community organisations. 

Initially focusing on Bradford parks, the project aims to provide valuable data for community plans, accessibility audits, and urban design improvements, with a methodology designed to be reproducible across the UK. Open spatial data capturing priorities for improving feelings of safety for women and girls as identified in the ‘What makes a park feel safe or unsafe?’ report will be captured, including measures of park layout and access, lighting, vegetation, crime rates and, where possible data, on the presence of other park users through information on organised groups and events. Combining these elements into interactive maps of parks which can be used to highlight areas that already promote feelings of safety, identify feasible ‘quick-win’ improvements, and suggest areas for future investment enhancing the overall safety and usability of parks.

Paul Chatterton, Rebecca Brunk, Marie Avril Berthet-Meylan, Sinead D’Silva

Responding to climate change is a strategic focus for Leeds City Council since the city declared a climate emergency in 2019. Several policies address the need for climate action, such as the ‘Zero Carbon’ pillar of the Leeds Best City Ambition plan and the Local Plan. Third sector organisations have been identified as key Leeds City Council partners to deliver these strategic goals, and we propose to investigate these enablers of climate response in local communities. We believe ‘one-stop-shop’ climate hubs are an emerging and yet unresearched example of public assets. Our goal is to evaluate their impact as spaces that contribute to inter-sector trust building and where a just transition has the potential to be co-produced.

Using the engagement model of ‘One Stop Shops’ as an innovative route for climate-driven public asset development, we examine the impact that Climate Action Leeds’ climate hubs have as spaces that enable a re-imagining of Leeds. We will use Imagine Leeds’ central hub and the development of a community hub in Otley as case studies to investigate the influence that physical spaces have on sustainable decision making and community power (aligning to Leeds City Council’s areas of research interest: ‘Zero Carbon - Personal Choice and Zero Carbon’, and ‘Team Leeds – Community Power and Social Assets’).

Sherif Youssef, Louise Waite, Andy Brown

In the past few years, the United Kingdom faced tumultuous economic, political and social challenges.  The country emerged from a deadly pandemic straight into the cost-of-living crisis and high levels of inflation that impacted living standards and increased income inequality. A swath of evidence indicated that the UK economy is defined by stagnant economic growth, low productivity and persistent regional inequalities. These large and persistent challenges require comprehensive and place-based solutions. 

Among the key players who influence the character of the local economy are anchor institutions (e.g. local governments, NHS hospitals, universities, housing associations and large private sector organisations) as they play an important role in creating new job opportunities, invest in vital projects and services that impact the lives of local citizens. 

This project aims to explore how anchor institutions can play a role in co-creating economic resilience by utilising their supply chains to support communities in the city of Leeds to enable the local economy to withstand future economic shocks. This project will bring together local stakeholders to uncover urgent gaps in knowledge, share information and enable evidence-informed policy interventions to pave the way for a more resilient and thriving city.

This work will contribute to the Leeds City Council Area of Research Interest ‘Inclusive Growth - Business and regeneration’.

Sara Gonzalez, Effie Papargyropoulou. Partners – Bradford Council, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds Foodwise.

St James’ Wholesale market in Bradford is an important public infrastructure, supporting over 30 small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) that supply fresh fruit and vegetables to grocery shops and food outlets across West Yorkshire. However, there is little understanding of the role that it plays within the regional food system, what percentage of the food traded there is grown locally and what the challenges are to source more local food.

This project will investigate the impact and potential that the St James’ Wholesale market in Bradford has in strengthening the regional food system in West Yorkshire. It is is a new collaboration between the University of Leeds, Bradford Council, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds Foodwise to develop research and policy-led evidence that can support a more sustainable regional food system.

The project has three parts. Firstly, the collection of data from market tenants and manager to map the flow of food through the wholesale market. Next, conducting matchmaking workshops between regional growers, retailers and public authorities to explore challenges and opportunities to strengthen the regional food system. Lastly, a review of regional policy strategies, interviews with policy makers and wider literature.

From September 2024, Dr Sandro takes up a year-long appointment within parliament, supported by the Policy Support Fund and School of Law. He will contribute his expertise to parliamentary scrutiny and policy development, with a focus on constitutional law. 

Dr Sandro's role will include evaluating parliamentary practices and expanding academic networks, with the goal of informing and improving legislative processes.

Suraje Dessai has been appointed to a 3-month secondment with the Government Office for Science (GO-Science). In this role, Suraje will work with GO-Science and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to identify key research and innovation requirements needed to prepare the UK for a changing climate. This work contributes to the Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework (CARIF) undertaken by the Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Board (CARIB).

Mark Mon-Williams, Megan Wood, Chris Brown, N8 Child of the North, Centre for Young Lives

There are currently record numbers of children experiencing life-limiting challenges including poverty, hardship, poor academic attainment, slow social development and declining mental health.

The Children First Government programme, led by the N8 universities, sets out to address this crisis with a 12-report series. Produced jointly by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives, the ‘Child of the North’ campaign advocates for the interests of children and young people and demonstrates that improving their life chances is crucial to Britain’s future. It does so by calling on the government to prioritise children and families through practical, evidence-informed policy interventions that can better every aspect of childhood.

Backed by rigorous research, each of the reports focus on a different area of concern and are produced in collaboration with colleagues across the N8, including the University of Leeds.

Find out more about the campaign and read the reports on the Child of the North website.

Tom Haines-Doran, Y-PERN, WYCA

Conversations around West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s (WYCA) economic strategy highlighted a need to better understand the system of childcare provision in West Yorkshire. It is understood that a well-functioning childcare provision supports local families whilst also boosting the local economy.

This cross-disciplinary project investigates the current barriers to childcare in the West Yorkshire region and explore the extent of WYCA’s policy influence and its ability to improve childcare outcomes in the area.

The project aims to improve WYCA’s economic strategy and approach to childcare policy. Ultimately, improving childcare provision in West Yorkshire by optimising the University of Leeds’ vast research expertise and evidence-base.  
 
Stakeholders will co-produce a research report with, and for, WYCA. This will be supported with an engagement event, collaboratively hosted by the University of Leeds and WYCA.

Anna Barker, Ben Walmsley, Wieke Eringa, Emma Ratyal-Brooks

A recent study funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin and conducted by researchers in the School of Law found that most women and girls across West Yorkshire feel unsafe in parks and recreational spaces.   

To address this finding, the School of Law and Cultural Institute are exploring how creative solutions can help transform areas like Woodhouse Moor, the open space bordering the University. The research will measure how the introduction of community co-designed public art interventions and creative activations can quash feelings of vulnerability and create a safer and more inclusive environment for women, girls and local communities.

Wow Park will set a precedent for parks across the region by rethinking recreational spaces. The interventions trialled will combat poor design and anti-social behaviour to encourage access by marginalised groups.  

Wow Park is a collaborative project by the University of Leeds, Leeds City Council and the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin. 

Pippa Chapman, Ruth Wade, Steve Banwart, Guy Ziv, Joseph Holden

There is an urgent need to minimise negative impacts of agriculture on the environment. For example, the application of fertiliser can release nitrogen to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide or ammonia, and to ground and surface waters as nitrate. This has detrimental impacts on global warming, contributes to degradation of bodies of water, and has negative effects on air and water quality that in turn affect human health.

We have studied the impact of sustainable farm practice – ‘Regenerative Agriculture’ – on crop yield, soil health, air and water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and farm economics. The research is now at a stage to provide policy makers with the urgent information they need to support development of post-Brexit national agricultural environment schemes, meet environmental targets set by the government and sustainable targets set by agribusinesses.

This project will allow us to i) deliver policy-relevant engagement underpinned by our existing and ongoing science and ii) showcase research in action via the university farm demonstrator, hosting workshops and engagement events to very powerfully deliver policy-targeted messages to influence policy change and facilitate rapid uptake.

Shaunna Burke and Suzanne Richards (co-leads), Joanne Greenhalgh, Jo Volpe and Hillary Wadsworth (Leeds Older People’s Forum), and Helen Laird, Lisa Hanson and David Peel (Leeds City Council)

Older people are vulnerable to feeling socially isolated and lonely, and this can have a negative impact on their mental and physical health. Leeds Neighbourhood Networks (NNs) are community based, locally-led schemes designed to support older people. Comprising of voluntary organisations working across Leeds, one of their main roles is to reduce social isolation and loneliness by providing people with opportunities to engage in group activities (e.g. lunch clubs, fitness classes, craft sessions). Each of the 37 Leeds NN offers different activities based on perceived local needs. 

This project will develop a framework for understanding how Neighbourhood Networks are designed and delivered.

The Leeds NNs model of community support is being adopted by other cities across the UK. Whilst we know the NNs are highly valued by attendees, we do not know who engages with the NNs, which activities offered by networks reduce loneliness and social isolation, and how this might vary for different groups of older adults. We will work with older adults and commissioners to describe what each NN delivers including the groups of older adults who do or do not use them (and their reasons why), and better understand what aspects of NNs reduce loneliness and social isolation. We will also conduct a feasibility study to inform the design of a large-scale evaluation study.

David Barns, Catherine Bale, Emma Bramham, Joseph Kelly, Fleur Loveridge, Arka Sarkar, Nick Shaw, James Van Alstine

The development of low carbon heat networks is key in enabling the UK to meet its legally-binding climate change targets. However, without clear ways to link heat users to economically and societally viable heat sources, upcoming UK Government’s Heat Network Zoning policies will be difficult to action. We will undertake a multi-layered analysis of energy demands and sources within an indicative heat network zone, using Leeds as a case study of a pioneer city for implementing zoning. We will bring interdisciplinary expertise on the geoscience of the subsurface together with social sciences of environmental policy and governance, and will work with local stakeholders to generate a framework and policy recommendations.

The project will include mapping and modelling to consider energy availability and storage opportunity in the subsurface, as well as energy from river or waste heat from commercial and industrial sites. We will explore the role of the spatial planning system through its ability to designate land for development and set development standards.

We will work with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and additional relevant stakeholders to explore perspectives on geothermal and heat network viability in the context of heat network zoning and the requirements for model business cases which demonstrate scheme viability.

Effie Papargyropoulou, Rachel Oldroyd, Michelle Morris, Leticija Petrovic (Food Foundation)

Food insecurity (i.e. not having access to enough, nutritious, affordable food, or not knowing where your next meal will come from) affects 1 in 5 households in the UK. Food insecurity has increased following the COVID-19 pandemic and has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. Moreover, global food production accounts for at least 30% of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions contributing to climate change.

Place-based, community-led food initiatives can increase food security and sustainability of the food system. They include food hubs, food banks, pantries, community cafes, community supported food growing schemes, social supermarkets etc, and they offer a range of activities such as food aid or surplus food redistribution, food skills training (e.g. food growing & cooking classes), community engagement and support (e.g. shared meals, signposting to other services). They support those affected by food insecurity, offer a local and more sustainable food supply chain, and deliver wider social, economic and environmental benefits.

This project will help us better understand how to scale up (i.e. increase the size) or out (i.e. replicate in more places) place-based, community-led food initiatives to increase their positive impact to communities, environment, and local economies across the UK.

This work builds a previous project with Foodwise Leeds titled Best practice in food hubs. Please see the section on Leeds City Council-facing projects 2022–23 for further details.

Laura Bainbridge, Amy Loughery, Jennifer Griffiths (West Yorkshire Police), James Allen (Turning Lives Around), Heather Ashby (Leeds City Council)

Cuckooing’ is a situation where heroin and crack cocaine dealers associated with County Lines take over the homes of vulnerable people to prepare, store and/or sell drugs. Cuckooing is an inherently exploitative and predatory practice. Some victims may receive benefits for their cooperation (e.g. drugs or money), yet are likely to be subjected to serious threats, coercion, intimidation and violence. Cuckooing is a complex and evolving crime, and tackling it requires a multi-agency response that is designed to eliminate organised crime groups and target-harden potential victims.

The establishment of the Cuckooing Research and Practice Network will facilitate the exchange of cuckooing knowledge and promising practice between members – members that will span the academic, practitioner and policy-making spheres and the local, regional and national levels. This network will come together on two occasions during 2024.

In addition, the project team, led by Dr Laura Bainbridge, will collaborate to co-produce and evaluate a cuckooing risk assessment tool to be utilised by housing providers, and co-deliver three cuckooing prevention sessions to practitioners operating across West Yorkshire.

Emma Liu, Frank McDonald, Yingqi Wei, Giles Blackburne, Han Jin, and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

This project continues collaboration with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) to deliver its International Trade Strategy 2022–2026. It aims to develop a policy framework to enhance the effectiveness of policy aimed at boosting exports thereby contributing to inclusive economic development across the region.

The complexity of the existing networks of agents hinders delivery of effective policy. Firms also find it difficult to navigate the system. By gathering and processing data from existing agents involved in export promotion, the project seeks to develop a policy framework that could deliver more effective policy and be more accessible to firms.  

The policy framework will be used to assess how policy might be better applied to tackle obstacles to exporting discovered in our previous research. These included increasing awareness about the benefits of exporting, improving help to overcome obstacles to exporting, better prepare firms to be successful exporters, and improve targeting of help according to firm size, international experience, sector/industry and especially by geographical location within the region. Issues connected to the challenges and opportunities arising from digital technologies will also be examined.

The ultimate objective is to improve the effectiveness of export promotions policy thereby helping to enhance economic wellbeing across all of the region.

This work builds on the Promoting inclusive growth via developing exporting project. Please see the section on Leeds City Council-facing projects 2022–23 for further details.

Alastair Ward, Anna Riach, British Deer Society

Wild deer are both an asset and a liability to the countryside. By browsing young trees and grazing ground vegetation, they threaten new woodlands planted for carbon capture, and hamper achievement of biodiversity targets in established conservation woodlands; both are national priorities within Defra’s 25-year plan for the environment. The Forestry Commission has drafted an England Deer Strategy to promote achievement of benefits and minimisation of the costs to society of the country’s deer populations via collaborative, landscape-scale deer impact management. However, as an evidence-based policy, it lacks information on the pattern of deer abundance across England and is not supported by knowledge of the size of deer populations. We propose to develop an online data-driven tool to map and quantify deer species abundance at a range of spatial scales, including the national scale.

The tool will be integrated with Forestry Services’ Data Dashboard for use by their Deer Officers, and will be made publicly available to support delivery of the Strategy.

Unlike previous attempts to quantify national deer populations, we will use cutting-edge predictive tools to analyse a new and extensive dataset that has been collected by state-of-the-art drone surveys over large areas of the country.

Gordon Clubb, Margherita Belgioioso, Ryan Scrivens (Michigan State University), Mary-Beth Altier (New York University)

Programmes that Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) across the world – including in the UK - have often engaged former extremists to support their work through mentoring and community outreach. However this can be seen as a controversial practice which comes with risks for the organisation, the ‘Former’ and the public.  In some cases, the engagement of ‘Formers’ in CVE work can risk retraumatisating ‘Formers’, it can be exploitative or it can provide unfair benefits, it can present a risk to the intervention, or it can be simply ineffective. Yet there are also many benefits and the solution is to develop a framework which can safely manage engagement with ‘Formers’ based on best practice identified by practitioners and researchers.

The project will bring global practitioners together to develop, discuss and adopt ‘Norms and Standards for Engaging Formers in CVE Work’. Over several months, an advisory board of experts will co-produce a document of best practices. Then, at a hybrid workshop hosted in London alongside our global partners, the leading organisations will work to adopt these best practices into their programmes. Partners in the UK can benefit from exposure to best practices elsewhere and adopting resources that can support their CVE programme design.

Leila Jancovich, Ben Walmsley, Culture Commons

This project supports the University of Leeds involvement in a high-profile investigation into the future of ‘devolution’ policy and the relationship of increased local decision-making on the creative and cultural life of different types of communities, something both Jancovich and Walmsely have researched.

Led by Culture Commons, the investigation brings together a consortium of senior policy representatives from local governments, arm's length bodies, grant giving organisations, workforce representatives and leading sector networks across the UK.  

There is now a broad policy consensus that ‘further’ and ‘deeper’ decision-making powers for local government and communities is needed. However, Jancovich’s research shows that the potential of such initiatives is reduced by long-term decline in local government funding. This is widening geographic disparities both within and between regions in terms of investment in cultural services and the creative industries.  

In light of these socio-political trends, being part of the Culture Commons initiative represents a timely opportunity for University of Leeds to inform research-informed policy positions for consideration by local, regional and national policymakers. In so doing we aim to promote better quality local decision making and maximise the potential of the UK’s creative and cultural sector in delivering social, economic and outcomes. 

Find out more about the initiative on the Culture Commons webpage on The future of local cultural decision making

The Climate Evidence Unit (CEU) provides independent, robust and timely evidence underpinned by University of Leeds research to support, challenge and guide decisionmakers on the pathway to a net zero future.  
 
The CEU builds on the Priestley Centre’s strong foundations, further developing networks with national policy makers and devolved administrations. It forms strong networks with think tanks, media outlets and other universities, to disseminate sound evidence and influence policy-based decision making. 

Discover more about the initiative on the Climate Evidence Unit webpage.

Siobhan Hugh-Jones, Eve Little, Humans Being, Leeds City Council (Public Mental Health team)

The Leeds volunteer workforce sits at the centre of many vital community initiatives. However, adversities imposed by COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis have made volunteer work more demanding and arduous. To address this problem, Leeds City Council and community-organisation ‘Humans Being’ jointly launched ‘The Unfolding Programme’ - an initiative that equips volunteers with strategies to stay well and enable them to continue supporting their communities.   
This project evaluates the ‘Unfolding Programme’, working with and for volunteers in the design and generation of research. Through filmmaking, creative workshops and peer interviews, the work investigates whether the programme is working and how it can go further in supporting volunteers.

Briony Thomas, Jamie Marsden, Gaby Paradis and Sarah Westaway (Leeds City Council), Giles Dring and Michelle Brook (Open Innovations)

Cultural engagement enriches the lives of individuals, communities, and nations. Schools provide a common environment for ensuring provision of high-value cultural education for children and young people from across different backgrounds. However, there is a lack of data available to understand the current cultural offering of schools, and how schools can build on their arts and cultural offering for young people.

By analysing and mapping cultural engagement data across schools in Leeds we aim to highlight the priorities for improving children’s access to culture. This research will help to identify the areas in need of support, and also highlight best practices and areas of excellence in the city. Therefore, this research will provide the evidence to inform the city’s vision, which is to be recognised as a national exemplar in the provision of creative and cultural opportunities for children and young people. By understanding how schools in Leeds are engaging with arts and culture, we will be able to provide a baseline of current cultural engagement that will help with measuring the impact that LEEDS 2023 Year of Culture has had on schools. This will be essential for informing Leeds City Council’s priorities for Culture, particularly LEEDS 2023 legacy and Children, Families and Young People.

This project builds off the back of work in “Mapping cultural engagement with schools in Leeds to inform cultural strategy”. Please see the section on Leeds City Council-facing projects 2022–23 for further details.

Emily Ennis, Sara Gonzalez, Polly Cook and Steven Mason (Leeds City Council)

This research will assess the carbon footprint of foods sold within Leeds City Markets and understand the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours around the sustainability of food held by traders within the Market. This will help us understand the role market space plays in beliefs around sustainability and what the perceived and actual barriers are for decreasing the carbon footprint size of the foods sold in Leeds markets.

This research has two components: 1) qualitative data collection, in the form of surveys and interviews; and 2) quantitative data collection, in the form of stock/procurement lists.

Through interviews and surveys we will assess how Leeds City Markets’ traders feel about sustainability and what they perceive are the barriers to achieving Net Zero or decreasing their carbon footprint size. It will also explore cultural differences in purchase habits and provision of foods, by speaking to traders who sell foods of diverse ethnic origins, to understand the potential implications of selecting lower carbon footprint foods for different cultural groups.

Focusing on the top 10 items sold by each tradesperson, we will analyse the carbon footprint of those items using CDRC’s carbon footprint calculator. The aim will be to: raise awareness of the footprint size of everyday items; identify if swaps to more sustainable options; and to assess whether stock list could be limited to the most popular items to minimise carbon footprint where substitutions would not be possible economically or culturally.

David Barns, Catherine Bale, Emma Bramham, Joseph Kelly, Fleur Loveridge, Arka Sarkar, Nick Shaw, James Van Alstine, George Munson (Leeds City Council).

The Leeds PIPES heat network provides low cost and lower carbon heat to thousands of council tenants, nondomestic customers and the council’s own buildings. However, the network’s heat is largely provided through combustion of non-recyclable waste at Leeds’ Renewable Energy Recovery Facility (RERF). With a limited lifetime for the RERF and the need for even lower carbon solutions going forward, it is essential that Leeds City Council (LCC) develop a strategy towards a zero-carbon trajectory in line with their climate commitments. Collaborating with LCC, Geosolutions Leeds will explore the potential for alternate low carbon energy resources in Leeds to help define policy on the use and provision energy within Leeds-based heat networks. These will include geothermal energy as well as other environmental energy sources including the River Aire and industrial waste heat and cooling needs.  

Geothermal energy may be particularly useful as a heat store as well as source of energy, helping with seasonal peaks in demand, whilst supporting the integration of other energy sources. We will combine our geoscience, engineering and social science expertise to explore how the Leeds PIPES network could evolve and provide pathways for LCC policy for development of future heat networks across Leeds and beyond.

Paul Chatterton, Rebecca Brunk, Marie Berthet-Meylan (independent researcher), Pete Tatham (Hyde Park Source), Mark Mills (Leeds City Council).

There is evidence from previous research that there is interest for communities to access disused land. Urban co-production projects are based on a collaboration between the local authority and community groups. Urban co-production has potential to improve residents’ lived environment, offers a more inclusive alternative to top-down urban management, as well as an alternative to the privatisation of public land. As such, there would be benefits for both Leeds City Council and Leeds residents to catalyse projects that allow community groups to develop disused pieces of land.

This project aims to explore the feasibility of Council/community partnerships for disused land. Involving partners with expertise in community gardening and alternative models of housing, we will explore already established models of urban co-production, map the benefits and barriers of such developments, and draft pathways to accelerate structural change for facilitating such projects in Leeds.  

The project aligns with ‘Place’ as a theme amongst Leeds City Council’s area of Research Interest, with an emphasis on three sub-themes, namely ‘Parks as a social asset’, ‘Unused spaces and regeneration’ and ‘Community engagement’.

It builds off two previous projects: ‘Integrating intercultural cities through belonging in green spaces’ and ‘Sustainable development and participatory placemaking: understanding city spaces’. Please see the section on Leeds City Council-facing projects 2022–23 for details of these projects.

Katy Roelich, Katy Wright, Helen Graham, Radhika Borde, Paul Chatterton, Martin Elliot (Leeds City Council)

This project directly addresses Leeds City Council’s Areas of Research Interest on Community Engagement to listen to and include communities more fully in their decision-making processes and to shift power to sit with citizens and communities. We consider there are four key challenges that must be addressed to achieve this aspiration:

• Exploring how Leeds City Council’s existing connections, such as through their work on Area Based Community Development (ABCD), can reach beyond those who usually engage in council consultation processes;
• Using creative methods to engage citizens and communities with complex issues;
• Balancing the aspirations of citizens and communities with the requirements of the Local Plan;
• Using engagement to stimulate change both in Leeds City Council’s decision making and in communities themselves.  

This project will address all four challenges to build towards a Leeds Model for Community Power and Engagement, which will build deliberative capacity in Leeds City Council, citizens and communities, improve the effectiveness of the Council’s decision-making processes and stimulate change across the democratic system in Leeds. It will also start development of a Yorkshire and Humber Community of Practice on Community Engagement to build deliberative capacity across the region. 

In addition to Leeds City Council it will seek to work with Climate Action Leeds, Leeds Civic Trust, and Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission.

Victoria Jenneson, Michelle Morris, Charlotte Evans

This research was the first investigation of exposure to outdoor advertising in Yorkshire. 

The data, explored through the Mapping Advertising Assets Project (MAAP) dashboard, has increased understanding of outdoor advertising exposure across the city of Leeds, and uncovers inequalities in the amount and types of advertising children and adults are exposed to according to where they live. 

This work has been extended with an award from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.

Alessandro Biraglia, Gulbanu Kaptan, Luca Sabini 

The project investigated existing policies around food production and waste management in the United Kingdom and how they can affect, positively or negatively, the reuse of discarded foodstuffs and by-products, also defined as “upcycled foods”. 

Two reviews were conducted. The first involved a comprehensive categorization of UK and unrepealed European Union policies that were then ordered along the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Food Waste Hierarchy to identify where intervention could be enacted to stimulate the upcycled food industry.  

The second review encompassed the identification and categorization of businesses that already operate some form of food upcycling in the UK, together with the creation of a database of the food businesses present in the Leeds Council Area. 

This led to a workshop on 20 June 2023 between academics, policy officials, businesses and third-sector organisations to actively discuss the challenges and opportunities of upcycled foods and generate a roadmap to pursue future implementations. 

The full report of the findings and the outcomes of the workshop will be also disseminated later in the year through both the University of Leeds and Leeds City Council channels. 

Watch Reuse to reduce food waste: understand policy barriers preventing food upcycling on YouTube.

Neil Boyle and Louise Dye

Neil worked within the Leeds City Council’s Support Climate, Energy and Green Space policy team on a placement to support evidence-based policy activities related to delivery of the aims and priorities identified in the Leeds Food Strategy (LFS).  

This entailed the provision of insights towards the proposed introduction of a carbon-labelling system to LCC catering venues, for example public buildings and schools, as identified in the Leeds Food Strategy action plan. 

A small 5-week pilot study at Temple Newsam Café was conducted to gain insight into the drivers of food choice, attitudes to low carbon foods and carbon labelling. The data will be used to inform the targeted behaviour change interventions and carbon labelling that will be trialled within the facility going forward. 

Watch Delivering the Leeds Food Strategy: evidence-based policy secondment on YouTube. 

Effie Papargyropoulou, Foodwise Leeds 

Effie’s research evaluated how Food Hubs benefit communities and the food system, working with FoodWise Leeds and 50 food hubs in the Leeds city region. These hubs included food banks, food pantries, community kitchens, community gardens and community care hubs. 

An initial survey developed an understanding of the impacts of food hubs and the challenges they face. Focus groups were conducted with a sample of food hubs across Leeds to co-design an evaluation tool. The evaluation tool was put into practice to develop ten case studies of the impact of food hubs in Leeds.  

You can watch Food hubs for food security, health, inclusive growth and sustainability on YouTube, you can also read a post about this project on the Policy Leeds Medium blog. You can also find the policy brief, case studies, and evaluation toolkit coming out of this project on the Best Practice in Food Hubs webpage. 

Sally Moore, Peter Ho, Tanefa Apekey (University of Sheffield), Ether Bissell (Feel Good Factor)

This project worked in partnership with staff at a community organisation in Leeds, to evaluate the feasibility and potential impact of a culturally-adapted healthy eating education and cooking intervention. 

The intervention featured co-developed healthy eating recipes and resources involving traditional African Caribbean food. 

Preliminary analysis found a positive response from participants and staff towards the intervention. Participants indicated they anticipated continuing to use the resource and reported increased awareness and familiarity of healthy eating guidance. Staff reported they are likely to continue to use of the resources, including when supporting people from diverse backgrounds with healthier eating. 

They presented their research at the Nutrition Society Conference in July 2023 and in a paper, titled ‘Feasibility of a Community Healthy Eating and Cooking Intervention Featuring Traditional African Caribbean Foods from Participant and Staff Perspectives.’

You can watch Addressing inequalities in food and health experienced by those from African Caribbean backgrounds on YouTube or read a summary of the project on the Faculty of Environment website.

Yingqi Wei, Frank McDonald, Emma Liu, Han Jin 

This project aims to co-develop an inclusive growth framework via developing exporting to significantly strengthen export performance and inclusive growth in West Yorkshire.  

Working with WYCA, the team co-designed a survey to understand enablers and barriers for export activities in West Yorkshire that was then circulated to local firms. This was followed by a workshop on 4 July with researchers, businesses and policy makers to discuss the survey findings and potential interventions. The team is finalising a report that will include both findings based on firm survey and roundtable discussions. 

You can watch Promoting inclusive growth via developing exporting on YouTube, and find more details on the Promoting inclusive growth via developing exporting project page. 

Joanne Armitage, Helen Thornham, Emma Treggedin (Space2) and Dawn Fuller (Space2) 

This project looked at how communities can feel greater ownership of place and culture through using digital technologies, and how this could be supported by the Digital Inclusion Practices and Policies of Leeds City Council. 

Working collaboratively with Space2 to develop participatory activities, Include! investigated what a community-centred, participatory, and creative version of digital inclusion would look like. With the Research England funding, the researchers explored this through a series of workshops with community participants, Space2 facilitators, and digital artists. 

This work was supported through the Research England Participatory Research Fund. 

Watch Include! Digital inclusion within community organisations on YouTube.

Anna Kime, Ben Walmsley 

Anna, Policy Officer at the Centre for Cultural Value, has been embedded in the LCC Culture Programmes team working across Investment, Impact and Inclusion policies. 

This has involved contributing to the re-design of the LCC Cultural Investment Programme, leading the revision of a data collection strategy to help LCC to capture and articulate the value of their work, and working with the Health and Wellbeing and Inclusive Growth teams to ensure cultural investment supports LCC's Best City Ambition. 

Anna will continue supporting the team until October 2023, focussing on communicating policy to the sector and the city and paving the way for the Cultural Strategy 2030 refresh due in 2024. 

Watch Supporting Leeds City Council in the development of cultural investment, impact and inclusion policy on YouTube.

Briony Thomas, Jamie Marsden, Gaby Paradis (Leeds City Council), Chris Ansell (Leeds 2023), Giles Dring and Michelle Brook (Open Innovations) 

This project sought to determine current levels of cultural engagement in schools, to help inform Leeds City Council’s priority for culture. 

They specifically examined the future legacy of LEEDS 2023 and the current cultural investment priorities for children, families and young people. This project conducted a pilot survey and developed a prototype open data resource that maps cultural engagement in schools across the city, enabling correlation with other open data sets, such as from the Office of National Statistics. 

Watch Mapping cultural engagement with schools in Leeds to inform cultural strategy on YouTube.

 Findings are made available as open data on the project website.

Gehan Selim, Pam Birtill, Rebecca Brunk, Jill Dickinson 

Working with community partners and Leeds City Council, this project worked to build a guidance report supporting the use of green spaces to build intercultural spaces and belonging.  

To learn more about the collaboration and the research, visit the Integrating intercultural cities through belonging in green spaces project outputs page.

Joanne Hawkins 

This project explored what sustainable development means using placemaking. Placemaking engages with how connections are formed in relation to physical spaces, a sense of place, and the associated interventions for such places in local policy and development decisions.   

Engaging local residents and organisations across Leeds, Joanne gained insight into the spaces across Leeds that matter to residents. The findings will be used to produce a publicly accessible briefing, and an interactive map showcasing highlighted spaces and why they matter, helping Leeds City Council and others shape local cultural and spatial policy.   

Watch Sustainable development and participatory placemaking: understanding city spaces on YouTube.

Cathryn Birch, Ben Maybee, Emma Cowan, Joe Holden 

This project builds on research developing an enhanced surface water flood forecasting tool for Yorkshire, in collaboration with the local flood response community.  

The work aimed to scale up the regional forecast system to cover the entire of England and Wales, allowing the forecasts to be incorporated into a Met Office UK summer testbed in 2023.  

The researchers are also building on the networks built with Yorkshire flood responders to pull together a national forum, which will engage and unite the national surface water flooding community. 

This work was supported through the Research England Participatory Research Fund. 

Watch Participatory approach to enhanced surface water flood forecasting on YouTube.

Lynda Song, Ahmed Mostafa, Aleksandra Irnazarow 

Working with experts from NHS trusts, Leeds City Council, Healthwatch Leeds and beyond, this project looked how innovative Human Resource Management practice can improve inclusivity in the healthcare services to increase the wellbeing of its minority ethnic staff and service users.

This has led to the development of a training intervention on cultural competence for middle managers working in the NHS, social care, and public health organizations, developed in collaboration with third sector organisation Healthwatch.  

This project build on previous research exploring human resource management practices to improve the wellbeing of healthcare workers from BAME backgrounds in the context of COVID-19.  

Watch Culture intelligence training and Ethnic Minorities colleagues wellbeing in the NHS on YouTube.