Expression of interest in joining the Measuring Social and Cultural Infrastructure Project

Building on their series of reports and this measurement framework, The British Academy has developed a three-part typology for how a social and cultural infrastructure lens can provide a way of understanding how these resources can be leveraged by stakeholders across the policy ecosystem and beyond, to achieve potentially powerful positive outcomes:

• Social and cultural infrastructure as a framing for policy challenges and problems  
• Social and cultural infrastructure as a vehicle for designing effective policy solutions  
• Social and cultural infrastructure as a tool for policy implementation and delivery

This phase of their work is to trial the framework in a particular context, gaining insight into the reality of using it. In this instance, that context is within the higher education sector. The core research questions during this phase of the project are:

• Does it help HEIs to articulate their civic role, social value, and contribution to place, in a way that goes beyond graduates, research outputs, and income generation?
• Does it help universities to make decisions about estates use, civic engagement priorities, cultural provision, partnerships, and how to deploy assets and capabilities in place?
• Can it be embedded in planning, evidence, and decision-making processes, and understood to add value to existing reporting approaches (e.g. KEF, HEIF, REF etc) without creating an unsustainable burden?

The final output will be a peer reviewed report which will be published by The Academy. It will include five in-depth case studies of UK universities who have trialled the framework, along with wider sector insight, policy context, and reflections from the project team.

There are two engagement pathways for universities to take during this project. 

Strand 1 will be working more in-depth, with support and check-ins, to produce a case study for the report. This in-depth work will take place over the summer months into the autumn. 

Strand 2 universities will trial the framework within their own capacity and provide optional feedback in a light-touch way via a survey and email communication. This feedback will be incorporated into the findings. 

Both Strands will be invited to a sense-making workshop in the autumn. This workshop will share findings, be discussed, and the outcomes will contribute to the report. We aim for this sense-making workshop to be in person. 

Towards the end of the year cross-case analysis, sense-making insights, and wider contexts will be drawn together in a draft report. The final report will be published towards the end of Q1 2027.

This expression of interest is for universities seeking to be part of Strand 1.

Five universities will be involved in Strand 1. We are assuming that each participating institution will convene an internal action team. This will help to ensure that there is capacity over the short timeframe of the project to continue work ‘back at base’. An internal team at the university will work with the NCCPE team and partners to operationalise the framework. We also assume that each participating institution or partnership will identify a project leader to act as a contact point for the NCCPE team. We anticipate working closely with the project leads over the course of the project to provide support and keep momentum to keep to The British Academy’s project timeline.  

Meeting online every 6-8 weeks between July and October, these groups will have the opportunity to share and reflect on common challenges and explore approaches to addressing them. 

Each participating university will have access to project coordination and research teams at the NCCPE. There is £1000 of funding for each institution which can be used for staff time and travel expenses. In addition, the universities will benefit from being part of a cohort with four others to share practice and findings from one another, alongside opportunities to share your work across the sector through events, blogs, and the report.

We are purposefully seeking to recruit universities working in different contexts, scales, and locations. This is so we can gain understanding into how the framework can be operationalised in a variety of higher education settings. We are not only considering universities with existing, expansive and long-lived social and cultural work. 

We are inviting you to submit a short expression of interest using the questions below to enable us to identify a complementary cohort to join the project.  We want to emphasise that Strand 1 is one of two ways to be involved with the project. Universities across the sector can take part in Strand 2 if not selected as part of Strand 1. We really look forward to working with you in the years ahead.

Criteria for selecting the universities.

• Demonstration of organisational capacity to commit to the project. This means being able to create a small internal action team and attend sessions with the NCCPE team. 
• Demonstration of senior buy-in or support for the work. This does not have to be shown through existing long-standing work. Your social and cultural work could be emergent but have senior level backing. 
• Demonstration of how you will use this opportunity to support your organisation.
• We are also seeking to create a cohort which balances the following:
  • Location
  • RE cluster
  • Civic university status
  • Type of community served (e.g. rural, urban, city)
  • Local context
  • Disciplinary focus

The deadline for submitting your expression of interest is Wednesday 24^th June, 5pm.

The EOIs will be reviewed by NCCPE project and research staff and members of the Senior Leadership Team. 

We aim to have made a selection by Monday 6^th July, 5pm, at which point we will be in touch with requests for more information and clarifications.

The first full cohort meeting of Strand 1 universities is planned to happen on Monday 20^th July, online, 11:30am – 1pm.