Policy projects
At Policy Leeds, we support policy projects across the University that promote good engagement between researchers and policy professionals.
Our policy-facing research projects respond to local, regional, national and, in some cases, international knowledge needs. They are specifically aimed at building relations, translating research evidence for use in policy, and building capacity.
We use internally managed research funding, such as the Research England Policy Support Fund and Participatory Research Fund and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Impact Acceleration Accounts, to support our policy engagement and ensure our research has impact.
On this page you’ll find our latest policy projects, followed by all our policy projects organised by theme. You’ll also find a selection of policy placements we’ve funded, supporting researchers to contribute to work within their host policy organisation.
The projects listed here represent a fraction of the research landscape at the University of Leeds. To discover the full breadth of research evidence across our institution, visit the Research and Innovation Hub.
If you’d like to find out more about any of the projects, you can either contact the researchers directly using the contact details on each project’s linked page, or email Policy Leeds at policyleeds@leeds.ac.uk for the team to connect you to the right people.
Latest projects
National research
- Enhancing parliamentary evaluation of democratic engagement programmes
- Expanding the evidence base for UK public service media and audiovisual policymaking
- Identifying the low-hanging fruit of agri-environment schemes to maximise England’s ability to meet its biodiversity targets
- National Scoping Exercise for Developing a Cultural Indicator Suite (CIS)
- Preventing and disrupting ‘cuckooing’ victimisation
- Probation staff training: Understanding the experiences of trainee and newly qualified officers
- Unlocking policy for nature-based solutions
Local and regional research
- Anchor institutions and economic resilience in the city of Leeds
- Evaluating the impact of the ‘One-Stop-Shop’ model for climate hubs in Leeds as an innovative public asset to implement a just climate transition
- Inclusive playscapes: Designing accessible and inclusive public play spaces in Leeds
- St James’ Wholesale market’s impact and potential in the West Yorkshire food economy
- Utilising open data to enhance park safety for women and girls in Bradford
All projects
Where projects fit against more than one category, they are included in both.
Business, work and trade
- A strategic framework for delivering West Yorkshire International Trade Strategy
- Anchor institutions and economic resilience in the city of Leeds
- Co-producing the Leeds Cycle Network
- From Word to World: Consumer Wellbeing Under Scarcity – Policy Insights from Online Word of Mouth
- Mapping advertising assets across Leeds
- Promoting inclusive growth via developing exporting
- Promoting inclusive human resource management practices for NHS ethnic minorities colleagues’ wellbeing
- St James’ Wholesale market’s impact and potential in the West Yorkshire food economy
- The system of childcare provision in West Yorkshire: multidisciplinary insights for strategy and policy
Children and education
- Children First Government
- Child Health Outcomes Research At Leeds (CHORAL)
- Watch video: ‘Child Health Outcomes Research at Leeds’ on YouTube
- The CHORAL partnership encompasses the My First 1000 Days project.
- Choice architecture: opportunities for better food choice in school settings
- Co-creating principles to reduce learner isolation with children and young people out of school for medical reasons
- Mapping cultural education: access, inclusion, and progression in Leeds
- Mapping cultural engagement with schools in Leeds to inform cultural strategy
- The system of childcare provision in West Yorkshire: multidisciplinary insights for strategy and policy
Communities and place
- Co-producing the legacy of My Leeds 2023
- Developing a pathway towards urban co-production for disused land in Leeds
- Enhancing parliamentary evaluation of democratic engagement programmes
- Include! Digital inclusion within community organisations
- Inclusive playscapes: Designing accessible and inclusive public play spaces in Leeds
- Integrating intercultural cities through belonging in green spaces
- Leeds’ model of community engagement
- Scaling out place-based, community-centred food initiatives
- Sustainable development and participatory placemaking: understanding city spaces
- The future of cultural devolution
- The Manchester Social Housing Commission: Community engagement in the planning system
- The Unfolding project: partnership building for participatory research
- Training park staff and volunteers to increase women’s safety in the UK’s parks and green spaces
- Utilising open data to enhance park safety for women and girls in Bradford
- Whose power? The power of the podcast as a youth participatory research method and output
- Wow park: Using creative engagement to make public parks more welcoming
Culture
- Centre for Cultural Value (CCV) – Building policy impact
- Read report: ‘Universities, Local Authorities and Culture-based Partnerships: Case studies, reflections and evidence from REF impact case studies’ edited by Evelyn Wilson (PDF download). If you have any difficulty accessing the PDF, please email Policy Leeds at policyleeds@leeds.ac.uk.
- Watch video: ‘Supporting Leeds City Council in the development of cultural investment, impact and inclusion policy’ on YouTube
- Co-producing the legacy of My Leeds 2023
- Expanding the evidence base for UK public service media and audiovisual policymaking
- Mapping cultural education: access, inclusion, and progression in Leeds
- Mapping cultural engagement with schools in Leeds to inform cultural strategy
- National Scoping Exercise for Developing a Cultural Indicator Suite (CIS)
- The future of cultural devolution
- Wow park: Using creative engagement to make public parks more welcoming
Energy and net zero
- A clean energy supply for Leeds PIPES: laying the pipeline to zero-carbon heat networks
- Evaluating the impact of the ‘One-Stop-Shop’ model for climate hubs in Leeds as an innovative public asset to implement a just climate transition
- Evaluating the impact of the Leeds ‘Retrofit Accelerator Hubs’
- Seeking ‘just transitions’: defining and implementing a just energy transition in South Africa
- Supporting UK-wide geothermal heat network deployment through a multilayered, place-based analysis
- The carbon footprint of traditional food markets
- The Priestley Centre for Climate Future’s Climate Evidence Unit
Environment and food
- Addressing inequalities in food and health experienced by those from African Caribbean backgrounds in Leeds
- A participatory approach to enhanced surface water flood forecasting
- Best practice in Food Hubs
- Choice architecture: opportunities for better food choice in school settings
- Evidence-based policy secondment delivering the Leeds Food Strategy
- Identifying the low-hanging fruit of agri-environment schemes to maximise England's ability to meet its biodiversity targets
- Quantifying abundance patterns and total population sizes of British deer using drone surveillance data
- Regenerative agriculture: evidence base for policy and practice
- Reuse to reduce food waste: understanding policy barriers preventing food upcycling
- St James’ Wholesale market’s impact and potential in the West Yorkshire food economy
- The carbon footprint of traditional food markets
- The Priestley Centre for Climate Future’s Climate Evidence Unit
- Unlocking policy for nature-based solutions
Health and social care
- Addressing inequalities in food and health experienced by those from African Caribbean backgrounds in Leeds
- Children First Government
- Child Health Outcomes Research At Leeds (CHORAL)
- Watch video: ‘Child Health Outcomes Research at Leeds’ on YouTube
- The CHORAL partnership encompasses the My First 1000 Days project.
- Inclusive co-production with people with a learning disability
- Promoting inclusive human resource management practices for NHS ethnic minorities colleagues’ wellbeing
- Tackling loneliness and social isolation among older people in Leeds
Policing, crime and safety
- Changing the Narrative of Domestic Abuse
- Establishing global norms for engaging ‘Formers’ in Counter Violent Extremism programmes
- Probation staff training: Understanding the experiences of trainee and newly qualified officers
- Preventing and disrupting ‘cuckooing’ victimisation
- Training park staff and volunteers to increase women’s safety in the UK’s parks and green spaces
- Utilising open data to enhance park safety for women and girls in Bradford
- Wow park: Using creative engagement to make public parks more welcoming
Policy placements
Paolo Sandro – Academic Parliamentary Fellow in Constitutional Law
From September 2024, Paolo Sandro took up a year-long appointment within parliament, supported by the Policy Support Fund and School of Law. He applied his expertise to parliamentary scrutiny and policy development, with a focus on constitutional law.
Paolo’s role included evaluating parliamentary practices and expanding academic networks, with the goal of informing and improving legislative processes.
For more information, email Paolo Sandro at p.sandro@leeds.ac.uk.
Suraje Dessai – Secondment to Government Office for Science
Towards the end of 2024, Suraje Dessai undertook a 3-month secondment with the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), funded by Research England Policy Support Fund and the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures.
In this role, Suraje worked with GO-Science and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to identify key research and innovation requirements needed to prepare the UK for a changing climate.
This work contributed to the Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework (CARIF) produced under the guidance of the Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Board (CARIB).
For more information, email Suraje Dessai at s.dessai@leeds.ac.uk.
Neil Boyle – Delivering the Leeds Food Strategy with Leeds City Council
Neil Boyle supported the Leeds City Council’s Support Climate, Energy and Green Space policy team in delivering the Leeds Food Strategy by providing insights for a proposed carbon-labelling system in Leeds City Council catering venues.
Neil conducted a 5-week pilot study at Temple Newsam Tea Rooms to understand food choice drivers and attitudes towards low carbon foods and carbon labelling, with the data informing future interventions and trials.
Watch Delivering the Leeds Food Strategy: evidence-based policy secondment on YouTube.
For more information, email Neil Boyle at n.b.boyle@leeds.ac.uk.