Community Consultation for Quality of Life national reports

We are proud to publish four national reports sharing the findings from the UK-wide Community Consultation for Quality of Life (CCQOL) project.

 

This major research project was a collaboration with the universities of Reading, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Ulster. It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and aimed to develop a new, map-based model of community engagement that takes place both online and face-to-face across the UK.

The national reports from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales reflect on relevant policy and legislation in the four nations, assessing the state of play in community participation. They also draw out the findings from an urban room held in a city or town in each nation and make recommendations for improving community engagement across the built environment.


The key findings

Across the UK, community consultation and engagement in the planning process is inconsistent and often inadequate. Every nation in the UK is affected by poor consultation and engagement practices, making the planning process, at times, undemocratic.

But we are now equipped with knowledge about how to do consultation and engagement well and there is great enthusiasm for change.

We must now work collectively to bring about that change.


The national reports


A Code of Practice for Community Engagement:

To address the issues of inconsistent and often inadequate community engagement, alongside these reports we are launching a Code of Practice for effective community consultation and engagement in development, planning and design. 

Every project and team that measures up well against this Code of Practice will have developed a good understanding of the distinct needs and wants of the place and its communities. 

Find out more about the Code of Practice


Project partners

Front covers of 4 reports combined into one image