Areas of Research Interest

Areas of Research Interest

Introduction and Purpose

Durham County Council is excited to launch our Areas of Research Interest (ARIs), a new initiative designed to strengthen collaboration between local government and the academic community. These ARIs highlight key policy and service challenges where research insights can help shape our decisions and improve outcomes for our residents.

We recognise the vital role that research and evidence play in shaping effective policies and services. By sharing our ARIs, we aim to connect with researchers whose expertise can enhance our understanding, inform decision-making, and support innovation in local government. This initiative is an open invitation to academics to work with us, ensuring that our strategies and services are grounded in the best available evidence.

How You Can Contribute & Get in Touch

The ARIs below outline key questions that teams across Durham County Council are actively exploring to inform policy decisions and improve council services. You don’t need to have all the answers or provide definitive policy recommendations to contribute—insights from ongoing or past research can help shape our understanding and decision-making.

We welcome input from researchers whose work aligns with these areas. If you have conducted, are currently undertaking, or are considering research relevant to our ARIs, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch with us at ari@durham.gov.uk.

Related: REACH

Council ambitions and related Areas of Research Interest

These our first set of ARIs are ordered according to the ambitions we have set for Our Economy, Our People, Our Communities, Our Environment and Our Council in the Council Plan which we encourage you to familiarize yourself with.

The ARIs set out current priority knowledge needs in relation to those ambitions, reflecting areas where we believe research can make a significant impact on improving services and outcomes for our communities. They do not represent the full spectrum of knowledge needs that Durham County Council has. As our priorities evolve in response to changing local, national, and global challenges, the ARIs will be reviewed and updated to reflect these shifts, and we are always interested in research that is of relevance to council services.

Our Economy

We want to create a sustainable, inclusive economy with a diverse range of jobs to meet all skill levels, with targeted learning programmes from school age, aligned to the needs of businesses and innovation opportunities.

Our key research interests are:

  1. Supporting Disadvantaged Groups in the Workforce
    • How can the council better support disadvantaged groups, including disabled individuals, in entering and sustaining employment?
    • What are the barriers faced by long-term unemployed disabled people, and what strategies can help overcome these?
    • What successful models exist elsewhere, both nationally and internationally, that Durham County Council can learn from?
  2. Anticipating Changes in the Job Market
    • How can the council anticipate medium- and long-term shifts in the job market?
    • Which industries are likely to thrive or decline in the coming years?
    • What will the impact of automation and AI be on employment, income levels, and government financial support requirements?
  3. City of Culture
    • Durham was unfortunately not successful in our bid to become City of Culture. We are interested in research from other places who have successfully moved on with cultural placemaking plans without the support of City of Culture grants.

Useful Links:

Our People

We want our residents to be healthy and to live independently for as long as possible. We want to reduce health inequality, improve mental health and create a sustainable high-quality care market.

Our Key Research Interests:

  1. Wider determinants of health
    • Through our Reach partnership Durham County Council has a particular focus on engaging with research relating to wider determinants of health. For more information on how to engage with Reach and the particular ARIs relating to this, visit the Reach website.
  2. Future Education Services Demand
      • How can the council prepare for changing education requirements, particularly in light of evolving job markets and economic needs?
      • What further research is needed to understand the causes, impact, and solutions for the increasing prevalence of special educational needs?
  3. Using Assistive Technology to Delay Care Needs
      • How can emerging assistive technologies be assessed and implemented to reduce risks and improve independence, delaying the need for social care services?
  4. Children’s Social Care Reform and Looked After Children
      • With national reforms on the horizon for children’s social care, how can the council interpret and implement these changes locally, ensuring evidence-based practice?
      • What strategies can research offer to identify children on the edge of care, enabling early intervention to prevent family breakdown?
      • What lessons can be learned from national and international examples to support children in care?
  5. Demand for Temporary/Supported Housing
      • What factors have led to the significant increase in demand for temporary and supported housing since the pandemic?
      • What are the social, economic, and health impacts of living in temporary housing?
      • How can the council better predict future demand and what measures can be taken to reduce it?
  6. Physical Activity initiatives/services
      • Through our leisure centres and other council initiatives we wish to support physical activity across all communities in County Durham. We are particularly interested in research that can inform what support we can provide communities and individuals who currently do no exercise at all.

Useful links

Our Communities

We want to develop our towns and villages to be places people want to be. With housing that meets need, highstreets that are vibrant and safe, and attractive social hubs, and with direct links between population.

Our key research interests are: 

  1. A new relationship with communities and growth in community action
    • How can public services balance increasing demand and reducing spending power whilst maintaining services in communities?
    • What successful models exist for supporting a transition of power, assets and services to communities?
    • What are the key ingredients for successfully supporting communities to be more cohesive, sustainable and self-reliant?
  2. Assessing Local Support Services and Welfare Offers
    • How well do existing support services and welfare programs meet the diverse needs of residents across different areas, wards, and parishes?
    • How can the council predict and tailor its approach to the distinct needs of these areas?
  3. Overcoming Barriers to Accessing Support Services
    • How can the council better overcome barriers for hard-to-reach groups in accessing support services, including statutory social care?
    • How can we ensure equity in the experiences and outcomes for all community groups?

Useful links:

 Our Environment

We want to protect our natural environment for future generations, create a built environment that supports good health, make the county carbon neutral by 2045 and restore and enhance our local wildlife and habitats.

Our key research interests are:

  1. Environmental Impacts
    • What are the most promising energy and environmental strategies that can help DCC reduce negative impacts, while providing economic growth and value for money for the public?
  2. Planning for Future Transport Needs
    • How can the council plan for future public and private transport requirements in light of growing populations and sustainability goals?
  3. Biodiversity ARI under development

Useful links:

 Our Council

We want a council which is efficient and effective, financially sound and forward looking. A council which is delivering high value local services that meet the wants and needs of our residents in a sustainable manner by a motivated workforce trained for the future.

Our key research interests are:

  1. Data Science & Predictive Analytics
    • How can the Council best utilise its data assets to model and predict demand
    • Is it possible to build effective demand modelling across complex partnership systems? What are the challenges and opportunities?
  2. Planning for Population and Demographic Change
    • How can the council anticipate and plan for the impact of demographic shifts on housing, social care, and transport needs?
    • Can data models can be successfully developed to accurately predict complex cause and effect demand models across systems?
  3. Digital Inclusion
    • What are the barriers to digital inclusion in County Durham, and how can we address issues such as perceptions, behaviours, and technology access to improve digital uptake?
  4. Digital Solutions in Council Operations
    • How can the council review its internal processes and maximise the potential of digital tools to improve service delivery and efficiency?
    • What are the opportunities for applying Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies in local government?
  5. Sustainable Local Government Funding Models
    • What innovative local government funding models are being implemented in other parts of the world, and how might Durham County Council benefit from these approaches?

Useful links

Supporting documents/ appendices: