The Local Authorities Research Council Initiative (LARCI) established in 1997 to bring Local Authorities and the Research Councils into closer partnership has now reached the end of its funding. To replace LARCI the wide variety of research and knowledge exchange schemes that Research Councils run will be open to Local Authorities. This will provide new opportunities and encourage further and broader engagement between the Research Councils and Local Authorities.
There are a range of cross council programmes, such as Connected Communities and Lifelong Health and Wellbeing, as well as a suite of research and knowledge exchange schemes offered by individual Research Councils that have relevance to local government. Local Authorities are encouraged to apply to these schemes alongside academics as project partners. The latest research funding opportunities can be found on individual Council websites and knowledge exchange funding opportunities can be accessed via the RCUK Knowledge Transfer Portal.
Members of LARCI will continue to receive updates but these will now be from Research Councils UK (RCUK) and will cover a wider range of activities from across the Research Councils.
For academic researchers, LARCI offered access to Local Government and opportunities to work with policy makers and practitioners at the cutting edge of complex and often long term social, environmental and economic challenges. Academics are encouraged to continue engaging with Local Authorities at all stages of the research process, and in particular through ‘pathways to impact’.
LARCI was developed to help Local Authorities make sense of the complex changes taking place across the social, ecological and economic context, and to develop better informed strategies, services, local governance and local democracy. It did this in a number of ways:
-
Providing an accessible gateway for Local Authorities to findings from the £2.8 billion spent on academic research each year by the UK’s Research Councils.
- Provided opportunities for Local Authorities and academics to work alongside each other, sharing current knowledge and shaping the direction of major research programmes.
Accessing Research Findings
The LARCI website, now a legacy website, will still provide a gateway to the findings from projects funded by the Research Councils. This gateway is conveniently arranged by topics relevant to Local Authorities and can be accessed here. The findings from LARCI funded projects and schemes can also be found on the LARCI website in the funded schemes section. Each research council also has a searchable database through which research findings can be accessed.
Research Council searchable online databases:
Contact
For further information on how the Research Councils will continue to work with Local Authorities please contact the LARCI team via the contacts area.