Research and analysis
Local Civil Society Infrastructure (LCSI) R&D Programme: Final reports
These reports present findings from a multi-strand mixed-methods research project intended to develop the evidence base on local civil society infrastructure.
Documents
Details
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned a consortium of Ipsos UK, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (at Sheffield Hallam University), PBE, University of the West of Scotland between December 2023 - March 2025 to undertake this research in order to develop the evidence base on local civil society infrastructure as part of the department’s ongoing work to explore the factors and organisations that contribute to a strong civil society.
This research aimed to address 4 key research questions:
- Which organisations and functions fall within ‘local civil society infrastructure’?
- How can we measure whether sufficient (in terms of coverage and quality) local civil society infrastructure is present in a local area? How can we categorise ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ local civil society infrastructure?
- What are the impacts, benefits and costs associated with strong or weak local civil society infrastructure, and to whom do they fall?
- What factors and models are effective in strengthening local infrastructure?
Updates to this page
Published 11 July 2025