Strengthening Evaluation Practices for the GLA’s Civic Partnership Programme
Empowering Boroughs to Enhance Community Engagement and Providing Regeneration Project Evaluation Support within the GLA Initiative
Client
Greater London Authority
Date
2024-2027
London
Client
The Greater London Authority (GLA) launched the £12.85m Civic Partnership Programme supporting projects that expand the public realm, strengthen representation and authorship in physical regeneration, and address the climate and ecological emergencies. The GLA appointed AKOU as its evaluation partner to provide regeneration project evaluation support for borough teams to better report on the impact of their grant funded projects.
The Challenge
Five boroughs (Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham and Redbridge) were awarded grant funding from the GLA through the programme. A requirement is to undertake self-evaluation at the end of the project. Historically this has been something boroughs have struggled with on previous programmes. Meaning that the GLA often lacks compelling case studies and clearly articulated lessons learned from grant programmes, hindering their ability to fully demonstrate project success and inform future initiatives.
Akou’s Impact
Acting as evaluator and learning partner, Akou provided comprehensive support to the boroughs, strengthening their capacity to deliver and evaluate impactful projects. This involved providing expert guidance and embedding best practices for regeneration project evaluation, creating practical support materials and tools to aid officers in self-evaluation linked to GLA’s grant funding. Utilising over a decade of on the ground engagement and evaluation expertise, Akou created practical support materials Borough teams were guided in areas such as inclusive community engagement, co-creation, and robust impact measurement.
Tailored advice and support was delivered through 1-to-1 sessions and collaborative workshops, facilitated knowledge-sharing and struggle sharing sessions. Supporting boroughs in gathering baseline data related to the GLA’s Civic aims while establishing effective ongoing data collection practices.
Our work with project teams has allowed them to have time and space to undertake baseline data collection (representative feedback and insights from their local communities) and set in motion plans for ongoing evaluation that will be useful for the end of project self-evaluation reporting.
Key Outcomes
- 5 London borough teams empowered to design inclusive strategies for community engagement, data collection, and programme evaluation
- Place-based pen portraits created as a baseline for each area, providing a foundation to measure the impact of future improvements
- Learning materials and a collaborative learning document developed to support boroughs throughout their projects
- Project teams received practical support, advice, and ongoing guidance
- 100% of boroughs reported that they would benefit from this support on future programs, demonstrating the value and impact of AKOU’s involvement
End Result
Whilst delivering on-the-ground baseline data collection and evaluation support, Akou’s work has empowered borough teams to conduct more effective regeneration project evaluation, leading to better outcomes and more informed decision-making. The borough teams are now more prepared for their ongoing evaluation requirements and are actively embedding representative methods of engagement in their work.
