Our current work
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Our current work
Our Research Programmes and Projects
Our approach is strongly end-user-focused, embedded in a community development and co-production philosophy.
We work with governments and practitioners in ensuring that our research impacts upon policy and practice worldwide: recently, we have worked in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Our research is conducted by key academics and within two core themes: Online Harms and Cybercrime and Community Health and Wellbeing.
Our research focuses
Ongoing research projects
Implementing a National Pilot of the Pre-arrival Academic Questionnaire
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Michelle Morgan
Start Date: 01 March 2025
End Date: 03 June 2027
This OfS EOO Innovation-funded project will develop and deliver a national pilot of a Pre-arrival Survey for Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students across selected higher education institutions in England. Building on surveys by Dr Michelle Morgan and supported by Advance HE and Jisc, the pilot will gather data to benchmark student expectations and experiences by demographics, qualification type, and region. The aim is to establish consistency in data collection, inform sector-wide policy, and drive local institutional action to close gaps between student expectations and actual experiences. Outputs include sector-wide reports, impact-based case studies, and showcase events. The survey will help students reflect on prior learning and concerns, while enabling schools, faculties, and support services to engage effectively from the start. Ultimately, it seeks to improve student retention, outcomes, and pre-arrival experience, and support evidence-informed decisions across the sector.
Partners: Ofs, JISC and AHE
Leveraging social prescribing evidence in policymaking: learning, application, and sustainability (LEAPS)
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Ainul Hanafiah
Start Date: 25 March 2025
End Date: 31 March 2026
LEAPS explores how evidence has shaped social prescribing (SP) policy development in the UK and other established SP systems, with the goal of adapting these insights for Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), a novel framework in policymaking analysis which draws upon a wider range of behavioural models, LEAPS analyses UK and other countries’ policy evolution (WP1), adapts this to the development of SEA (WP2), and fosters cross-sector collaborations through the Social Prescribing Action & Research Community (SPARC) (WP3). Methods include policy document analysis, key informant interviews, user focus groups, and a rapid ethnographic study. The key outcome of this project will be the creation of a sustainable evaluation infrastructure that will inform SP policy development in SEA, particularly through SPARC. LEAPS is a collaboration between Monash University Malaysia, SingHealth, (WHO) and the University of East London, ensuring regional relevance, policy influence, and research excellence.
Partners: British Academy: Evidence - informed policy making grants, Monash University (Malaysia), Sing Health, WHO
Economic evaluation of social prescribing in secondary care (AMI-SP)
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Marcello Bertotti
Start Date: 03 January 2024
End Date: 28 February 2026
A new project at Barts Heart Centre and Barts Health NHS Trust is evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the Atrio Myocardial Infarction Social Prescribing Pathway (AMI-SP), which supports vulnerable heart attack patients struggling with financial, mental health, and housing challenges. Patients referred to the programme work with social prescribers to develop tailored action plans, often including activities run by the Bromley by Bow Centre. Final results are expected in 2026; however, the first-year report showed that 84 per cent of men are supported by the service, out of a total of 228 eligible patients. AMI-SP participants from Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, and Newham have already benefited from this initiative, showing significantly lower healthcare utilisation compared to other AMI patients, despite being higher users to start with. Most of them require financial support, followed by mental health. Alongside this, a systematic review of secondary care social prescribing models is nearly completed.
Partners: Barts Charity via Barts Health
Hackney Council Anti-Racist Service Design Principles: Supporting Public Reforms for Local Opportunities, Economic Growth, Safer Communities
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start Date: September 2025
End Date: October 2026
Supporting Public Reforms for Local Opportunities, Economic Growth, Safer Communities. As part of Hackney council’s commitment to tackling inequality and fostering inclusive public services, the University of East London will partner with the London Borough of Hackney Equalities Equity Diversity Inclusion & Belonging (LBH EEDIB) Team to embed anti-racist practices across council services and functions. A programme of training, coaching, and action learning will support communities of practice rooted in anti-racist principles, co-designed with staff, residents, and system leaders to reflect local experiences and needs. This initiative supports the Council’s ongoing efforts to respond to the needs of racially minoritised communities and drive meaningful, structural change in public services.
Partners: Hackney Council
NEL Faculty Anti-Racist Principles Action Learning Sets
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start Date: January 2026
End Date: December 2026
The University of East London will deliver anti-racist service design training for the North-East London (NEL) Faculty Allied Health workforce to promote health equity. This training will focus on adapting the City and Hackney anti-racist principles to existing services, ensuring that the diverse group of allied health professionals—including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and dietitians—can better serve the communities in North-East London. Within this consultancy, ICC will support the NEL Faculty to deliver evidence-based and up-to-date training across North-East London.
Partners: Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Communities keeping well evaluation
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start date: 1 January 2024
End date: 31 July 2026
This evaluation aims to understand the impact of the programme on reducing health inequalities and preventing long-term conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and COPD. We also want to learn about the effectiveness of new partnerships and methods introduced by the programme. The programme's main goals are to improve LTC prevention among Core20PLUS populations, strengthen the role of Primary Care Networks in community health, and enhance collaboration with these populations in designing and delivering health services.
Partners: Tower Hamlets Council, PCNs, Tower Hamlets CVS
The Tīpuna Project
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Rachel Liebert
Start date: 1 February 2023
End date: 31 January 2026
The Tipuna (‘Ancestor’) Project (TTP) is Māori and Pākehā (White settler) collaboration based in Aotearoa to innovate and evaluate research practices that include Indigenous and settler ancestors to counter (1) the denigration of Indigenous ways of knowing/being, (2) the historically traumatic nature of the research space for Indigenous peoples and (3) low settler accountability, before translating these counter-practices for local and international decolonising initiatives more broadly. Using participatory action research (PAR) as both a methodology and a case study, we are asking overall: What are the decolonial possibilities and complexities of including ancestors as co-researchers in PAR?
Partner: UK Arts & Humanities Research Council
Black Adoption Project Evaluation
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start date: September 2025
End date: September 2026
The Black Adoption Project (BAP) is a partnership initiative designed to improve adoption outcomes for Black children in London. It was established in response to the stark disparities experienced by Black children and families in the adoption system. The project seeks to move beyond short-term solutions by examining the complex factors influencing adoption for Black children. Its central objective is to explore whether there are viable models to support Black households considering adoption, helping them to overcome socio-economic barriers while safeguarding the long-term welfare of adopted children. This evaluation will examine both the implementation of the project and its impact. It will assess how effectively the project was delivered and the extent to which it influenced participants, particularly in encouraging exploration and sharing of experiences related to Black adoption and cultural identity.
Partners: Adopt London North
Newham People Powered Places Programme Evaluation Support
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start date: July 2025
End date: September 2026
The aim of this work is to strengthen the London Borough of Newham Council’s People Powered Places (PPP) Programme ability to measure social impact and making the application process smooth and accessible, with a particular focus on community empowerment, wellbeing, resilience, and local ownership. The PPP is Newham’s participatory budgeting programme, through which residents are empowered to decide how a share of local funding is allocated to community-led projects that aim to improve wellbeing and local services. ICC was commissioned by Newham Council to review and assess the evaluation tools currently in use within the PPP Programme and review existing validated evaluation frameworks and tools relevant to social impact, public health, and community development. ICC is designing and facilitating a structured series of co-creation workshops with key stakeholders, including residents, local organisations, and Council staff. The evaluation also aims to ensure alignment of the revised tools with Social Return on Investment (SROI) principles and methodologies, pilots and retrofits the revised tools within selected programme areas, and prepares the revised evaluation toolkit for full integration into the PPP Programme. The updated tools will improve the Programme’s capacity to evidence its effectiveness and support strategic decision-making. Moreover, ICC is providing an opportunity for UEL MRes in Social Justice students to take part in evaluation activities as part of their studies, and supporting the students during fieldwork, collecting information, analysing data, and reporting.
Partner: Newham Council
RenewALL Newham Evaluation Support
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Darren Sharpe
Start date: October 2025
End date: November 2029
ICC is supporting a new Big Lottery Funded project- RenewAll- that aims to strengthen social connections and reduce isolation, empower community leadership and new volunteering opportunities, enhance community health & wellbeing and improve food security and financial resilience for Newham residents, and improve environmental sustainability in the Borough. ICC is a Learning Partner in this project and will develop a comprehensive evaluation framework to assess the impact of the RenewALL project, deliver evaluation training to support the implementation of the evaluation framework, and co-produce the final report with the RenewALL project team.
Partner: Renewal Programme
Community Energy Newham Evaluation Support
Principal Investigator/Main Researcher: Dr Gloria Osei (SRI)
ICC Co-Investigator: Nora Morocza
Start date: September 2025
End date: April 2030
In collaboration colleagues from SRI and ICC are providing evaluation support for the Community Energy Newham (CEN) project run by Repowering London. This project is supported by the National Lottery ‘Climate Action Fund’ (NLCAF) which aims to bring community-owned solar energy to Newham. UEL (SRI and ICC) are carrying out a Learning Partner role and supporting the development of the evaluation framework and tools and providing training for the organisation to implement the evaluation. The UEL team will also co-produce the final evaluation report with the CEN project team.
Partner: Repowering London