Continuity and Change: The role of volunteers in community businesses

23 September 2021

Community businesses help make places better in a real way. From saving local shops and creating leisure facilities to providing training opportunities for local people and helping to build affordable housing. Yet none of this would be possible without the

Job interviews disadvantage those on the autism spectrum. Here’s how.

24 August 2021

Interviews are a standard process in recruitment – but are they a fair way of assessing potential candidates?

‘It is time to connect the “civic journey” for our resilient generation’

29 July 2021

Dr Andy Mycock says empowering young people to become life-long engaged, active citizens must be a key ambition for any democratic society.

The shift to remote working opened the door to my career in research

1 July 2021 | Authors: Amelia Clayton,

Studying Sociology at university opened my eyes to the world of social research and gave me a glimpse into how we can ethically use research to make a positive change. All of a sudden, I saw a career in the distance that I hadn’t even known existed.

Turning a critical gaze on the research profession

1 July 2021

Today, in partnership with the Social Research Association (SRA), we are publishing the largest scale study to date of equality and diversity in the social research profession.

Embarking on a civic journey

21 June 2021

Today, we are announcing a transformational two-year research project, with generous support from the National Citizen Service CIC. Rooted in a powerful belief in community activism, entrepreneurial spirit and the civic potential of young people, we will be working with Huddersfield and

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part III

22 April 2021

Matthew Flinders explains how a journey-based approach to youth engagement can have transformative potential.

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part II

15 April 2021

Matthew Flinders calls for a ‘civic journey’ that’s focused on nurturing and understanding how and why people move in and out of civic spaces throughout their lives.

Meet our Inaugural Civic Scholars

8 April 2021

Meet the Scholars: Alice Lemkes Alice is a PhD student at the University of Leeds and is looking at the powerful role of narratives in regulating the lives and livelihoods of people experiencing ‘severe and multiple disadvantage’. Before starting the

Levelling up and achieving an Upswing – Part I

8 April 2021

For all its sweeping prose and upbeat analysis, Robert Putnam’s ‘The Upswing’ left Matthew Flinders downbeat. What’s needed, he suggests, is an ambitious vision for a new ‘civic journey’.

Re-building trust for the COVID decade

26 March 2021

Public trust in national government has declined over the last year, amid a perceived mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic across the UK. Britons have instead looked to experts and local leaders for information and advice about the virus, with trust

The UpSwing: The Young Foundation in conversation with Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett

12 March 2021

You can now watch The Young Foundation and The Institute for Community Studies’s event with the ‘poet laureate of civil society’ Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett.

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