The National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA) launched in September 2022 to support universities to develop their civic leadership, to maximise their local social, economic and environmental impact, and the contributions they can make to addressing national and global challenges and responding to policy priorities. The NCIA is funded by Research England and led by Sheffield Hallam University.
The three-year programme will gather evidence and intelligence of what works, share civic innovations, and provide universities with the framework and tools to deliver meaningful, measurable civic strategies and activities.
The programme is split into 4 key workstreams:
- Evidence Capture: Building a living civic evidence base to understand what works, for whom and in what contexts.
- Learning & Innovating: A dynamic learning and innovation programme to pilot civic approaches and build capacity.
- Scaling Up: A sector engagement programme of support, tools, training, and communication to maximise reach
- Programme Management: Cross sector governance from an expert panel and robust project leadership and infrastructure.
The NCCPE is leading on the 'Leading & Innovating' workstream in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University and the Institute for Community Studies. We will lead a pilot with 12 universities in England to explore different ways of doing civic engagement, and to curate an evidence base of ‘what works’ in civic engagement.
Work begins in early 2023. We look forward to working with the public engagement and higher education sectors to raise our collective game in this vital area, by building the evidence base, and sharing and building on great examples of practice. Watch this space for opportunities to learn together and work together to effect change.
The NCIA is a partnership of organisations committed to civic engagement, and is also backed by the wider resources and partners of the Civic University Network.
Find out more about the NCIA in this introductory video.