Goldsmiths - University of London

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CUCR Consulting

Academic rigour ● Innovative and creative methodologies ● Practical engagement

CUCR Consulting is the consultancy arm of the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths, University of London. We offer a range of services, delivered to tight deadlines, priced flexibly. We offer exceptionally high quality, academic rigour and best ethical practice. We draw on a large team of research associates, all highly trained in social research methods, with diverse skills, as well as on the core expertise held in the Centre for Urban and Community Research, as well as its parent department, Goldsmiths Sociology (one of the two highest rated sociology departments in the country for research excellence, scoring the highest possible 5* rating). Consequently, the CUCR brand offers a social scientific robustness lacking in many of our commercial competitors.

We work for a range of clients, including local authorities, community groups, charitable trusts, arts organisations and government departments. We will consider both small focused pieces of work, and longer-term large-scale projects, and are happy to work with clients on developing project briefs. We are known to be very engaged and practically focused and therefore responsive to clients’ needs, including understanding the political and economic constraints within which our clients operate. For example, one of our strengths is turning academic concepts into practical toolkits.

We have a particular capability in qualitative research. Our expertise includes:

  • Programme and project evaluation
  • Development of tailored evaluation and monitoring frameworks and toolkits
  • Participatory research, participatory planning
  • Local economic mapping, neighbourhood profiles, demographic research
  • Bespoke training courses in evaluation methods, ethical commissioning and participatory planning
  • Working with “hard to reach” groups, including young people and older people
  • Policy research
  • Visual methods, including film, video and photography
  • New media, emergent technologies as research tools
  • Focus groups, interview-based research, ethnography
  • Quantitative research, including surveys

Social policy areas in which we have worked include:

  • Regeneration
  • Arts, sports and culture as tools for social inclusion
  • Community development, youth work
  • Refugees and migration
  • Multiculturalism, anti-racism, community cohesion, interfaith dialogue
  • Housing, neighbourhoods, urban design
  • Local economic development, cultural economies
  • Poverty
  • Childcare

Examples of our previous projects and profiles of our core staff team can be found on the CUCR website. Contact us at cucr (@gold.ac.uk) or 020 7919 7390 for further details.