Projects are the first to be supported by the Foundation’s Racial Diversity UK Fund
The Nuffield Foundation is delighted to announce new funding for four racial diversity research projects that will explore real-world challenges facing communities across England, Scotland and Wales.
The grants are the first from the Nuffield Foundation’s Racial Diversity UK (RDUK) Fund which will build a cohesive portfolio of impactful research on racial diversity, spanning policy, social experience, and systemic challenges.
A total of £1.4m has been awarded from the RDUK Fund to projects addressing the following topics:
- Decline to renewal: Race, deindustrialisation and working lives, led by Professor Keon West, Runnymede Trust.
Little is known about how industrial decline has impacted communities of colour, nor if experiences vary from those of white workers. This project seeks to expand the narrative beyond the “left-behind white working class” to reveal shared and diverse experiences, and to explore how labour markets can ensure good jobs for diverse communities in former industrial regions. It aims to influence policy debates and populist narratives, and contribute to inclusive regeneration strategies. - Voices for equity: Moving from evidence to action, led by Sunder Katwala, British Future.
The project will identify priorities for change based on the experiences, expectations, and concerns of all citizens, with a particular emphasis on ethnic minority respondents and young people across all ethnic groups. The research questions seek to understand systemic and structural factors underlying race inequity, and use evidence to influence a more ambitious race equality agenda. - Racial equality since devolution: Divergences, outcomes and frontiers, led by Professor Nasar Meer, University of Glasgow.
The project addresses the lack of systematic study on how devolution has impacted racial disparities and diversity in the UK. It will explore divergences in race equality policy in England, Scotland, and Wales, assessing variations in social outcomes, and identifying lessons for building race equality into policy responses to new societal challenges, such as climate adaptation and AI. - Better mixing: Supporting Scotland’s diverse future, led by Dr Sarah Kyambi, Migration Policy Scotland.
This project seeks to understand the impacts of increasing racial diversity in Scotland. It will undertake quantitative research into public attitudes, and qualitative research exploring how racial diversity is experienced in three contrasting locations; Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Fife. It will co-develop policies and interventions to build stronger local social infrastructure, thereby better supporting established populations and newer arrivals in managing the social changes that accompany rapid demographic shifts.
The RDUK-funded work reflects the Foundation’s long-term commitment to supporting research that centres inclusion, local perspectives, and practical relevance.
We look forward to working closely with our new grant-holders and supporting them to produce insights that improve peoples’ lives across UK communities.
RDUK will help find solutions to end racial injustice by generating better evidence of the actions needed to achieve this. While we have good evidence of racial inequalities, there is not much evidence of what works to end racial disparities, nor of when, how or if policy and programme interventions are effective in achieving this. We also want to enable examination of the wider benefits and opportunities that racial diversity brings.Liz Gilfillan, RDUK Programme Head
As part of its new strategy, the Nuffield Foundation is continuing to support projects that contribute to a racially just, fair, and inclusive society through both RDUK and our main grants fund, (the Research, Development and Analysis fund), focusing on themes such as racial inequalities, discrimination, and pathways to racial justice.
