Dr Jack Nicholls from the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies was invited by Bristol City Council to lead the evaluation of a community asset fund that employed deliberative democracy.

The Community Resilience Fund (CRF) was a £4 million capital grant fund that was allocated to areas of the city most in need in 2023. The CRF was established to support the recovery of the community and voluntary sector in the wake of the COVID pandemic and build future resilience. Specific projects were selected by residents and councillors through employing a deliberative democratic approach.

This is continuing the experiment in local participation that follows on from Bristol's first citizens assembly in 2020.

With the reintroduction of the Bristol Council committee system, forms of participatory democracy will become of increasing importance as local representatives and communities grapple with neighbourhood concerns in ways that are equitable, transparent and fair.

This work supports the University’s civic objectives, working with key city partners.

The Evaluation Report and Executive Summary capture the learning from this innovative decision-making process, insights of which are intended to inform similar future deliberative decision processes.

Dr Nicholls led a team of five researchers to evaluate a 12-month decision-making process:

• Two third year undergraduate students, Josie Tate (BSc Social Policy with Criminology) and Rebecca Sykes (BSc Sociology), from the Faculty of Arts, Social Science and Law.
• Nora Pau from the Professional Liaison/Civic Engagement Team
• Di Robinson and Judith Taylor, community consultant partners from Vivid Regeneration Ltd.

Further details on the Community Resilience Fund can be found on the Bristol City Council website     

The project was supported financially by Bristol City Council. The two undergraduate researchers were funded via the Professional Liaison Network’s Civic Research Internships.