Goldsmiths - University of London

Investors in Communities(liC) aimed to be a national accreditation scheme that encouraged and assisted local residents and organisations to create and maintain sustainable communities. liC gave two types of accreditation. First, local residents and others could become Investors in Communities by taking action to meet their local needs. Second, organisations could become Investors in Communities by developing their capacity to support residents and by working with them.

The approach was based on a national standard similar to other "quality models" such as Investors in People and the Business Excellence Model. liC provided advice and financial incentives to those seeking accreditation. The approach can be used in urban and rural areas, and residents had a major say in who got both types of awards.

The piloting was done with 12 registered social landlords and 2 rural local authorities and with up to 28 communities with which they worked.

Funding was provided by the social landlords involved, the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, the Housing Corporation and the Countryside Agency.

This project was to evaluate the pilot phase of the programme. The evaluation team visited each of the pilots and produced an Interim Report. In the summer/autumn of 2003 it revisited each of the pilots to assess the impact and usefulness of both liC for both social landlords/local authorities and communities. A final report was produced in early 2005.