Research projects

While collaborative governance fosters inclusive decision-making and engagement, challenges remain in ensuring that insights from citizen and civil society involvement directly inform policy development. This project examines how existing governance structures, policy networks, and deliberative forums can be better designed and integrated to create a more responsive policy-making environment. The aim is to translate learning…

Cultural capital is a resource for local and place-based development and Culture Based Development (CBD) is a framework that has been designed to elaborate measurement and empirical exploration of cultural capital as a micro-economic powered endogenous resource for regional and place-based development. Within this context, this research will explore the sources of cultural capital accumulation…

Well-being is a core policy priority in Wales under the Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015). It established Public Services Boards (PSBs) in each local authority area with statutory responsibility to co-ordinate the assessment and improvement of social, cultural, environmental, and economic well-being. This research provides a new perspective on regional development by combining these…

This research will explore Welsh domiciled students’ decisions and transitions to higher education and their expectations and aspirations following undergraduate study. It will examine the extent to which considerations of employment opportunities in local and national contexts inform decisions and transitions to HE, and aspirations for work, study, and life upon graduation. It will also…

This project will provide an independent assessment of progress the Welsh Government has made towards making Wales a fair work nation and what more needs to be done in promoting this agenda. The research will undertake secondary analysis of existing data sets and collect new quantitative data on aspects of fair work via an online…

This research investigates the importance of place and space to communities, addressing key challenges around social exclusion and isolation, the effects and drivers of poverty, and community cohesion. The research will examine the development and evolution of warm hubs as places of social inclusion and community connectedness within Wales. Whilst prior exploratory research has suggested…

This project will undertake a case study of the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Urgent Appeals mechanism. An Urgent Appeal is a rapid response to a request for support from workers in the garment industry whose rights are being infringed. The project will examine the UA system’s impact in ensuring Freedom of Association (FoA) and other…

One of the core challenges for local economies is the transition to sustainable and green economies. Working with Environment Centre Wales, in partnership with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, we will conduct mapping and assessments of co-produced innovation in local economies linked to sustainable food and energy production, flooding prevention, responses to pollution, land…

This project will examine the effectiveness of social procurement policies in supporting fair work and initiatives that support vulnerable groups. The research will examine how procurement works in practice and explore the challenges and opportunities of the new social procurement legislation in Wales in supporting the delivery social value and fair work.  The research will…

Community-led mapping provides an important way of identifying local community assets and understanding their use by local people. This project will explore the use of open digital mapping platforms to help create living online labs where local knowledge is captured, curated and presented in interactive maps. The project will roll out these methods to undertake…

This project will examine the impact of digital and other surveillance activities upon GRT and migrant Roma communities and groups. The research will consider key state surveillance practices affecting these communities across Europe with a particular focus on England and Wales. The project aims to extend knowledge concerning police violence and anti-Roma hate to encompass…

This project will focus on the development of interactive dashboards and web-based tools that enable stakeholders to participate in the design and evaluation of transport services. The research will demonstrate how open source technologies can be used to plan public transport networks and investigate the spatial implications of access to medical, social and employment sites….

This project will examine the contemporary role of civil society organisations in rights advocacy and welfare provision for refugees and asylum seekers. Through a comparative case study analysis of Wales, Scotland and England, interviews with organisations concerned with supporting RAS communities will identify key issues, areas of progress and future challenges to identify transferable lessons…

This project will focus on the development of the Understanding Places strand of work as a distinct set of interactive dashboards providing a wide range of demographic, socio-economic and asset-based data for specific localities. The work with build on the Understanding Welsh Places and Understanding Cornish places platforms with the intention of exploring new collaborations…

Rural Wales faces governance challenges due to geographical dispersal, limited resources, and demographic shifts. By mapping governance resources and supporting innovation, this research, aligned with Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales, enhances policy interventions tailored to rural needs. Understanding how collaboration occurs – through formal partnerships, community-led initiatives, or hybrid models – is central to the…

This research focuses on advancing innovative citizen engagement methods – by drawing on insight and best practice globally, and by piloting innovative practice within Wales. This work explores how creative and visual methods, including creative participatory practices, such as collage-making and photography, can enhance collaborative governance by deepening dialogue and deliberation in policy-making. These methods…