What works in community cohesion

The Commission on Integration and Cohesion (CIC) was established in August 2006 as a fixed-term body (reporting in June 2007), charged with deepening an understanding of community cohesion issues and relevant policy approaches, and developing practical approaches to support community cohesion in local areas.

This research study was commissioned to contribute to the ongoing work of Communities and Local Government and the Commission. It seeks to help understand ‘what works’ in terms of cohesion policy and initiatives by investigating policy and practice in six case-study areas.

In particular, the study focuses on identifying some best practice approaches in relation to:

• how cohesion-related work might be organised in a local authority area
• what types of initiatives are effective in supporting community cohesion

Research approach

The research is based on a case-study approach. Community cohesion issues are complex and operate very differently in specific local areas and likewise policies work differently depending on the nature of the population and the local area context. With this in mind, a case-study approach is particularly valuable in allowing an in-depth picture to be constructed of how policies and initiatives operate together within a particular local context. They can contribute to understanding not just ‘what works?’ but ‘in what circumstances?’ and identify key ‘success factors’.

The study is mainly a qualitative investigation of what works, based largely on accounts, commentaries and experiences of local stakeholders, but contextualised by local area context data and interpreted in light of existing knowledge and theories of community cohesion. To the limited extent that any quantitative data are available, these have also been used to supplement the qualitative data with the aim of providing more objective evidence for success of approaches in some cases.

It is important to bear in mind that there are limitations to the extent to which findings from a small number of mainly qualitative case studies can apply generally to the population as a whole, and some caution therefore needs to be used in applying learning to other areas with different contexts. Nevertheless, this report provides in-depth discussion of a wide range of policies and projects operating in practice, from which wider lessons can be drawn.