How embedded researchers can support Council and community Areas of Research Interest (ARIs): Insights from Bradford

Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) have become a cornerstone of the UK’s academic-policy landscape, helping central government departments signal their priority knowledge gaps. Local authorities and regional combined authorities across England are increasingly developing their own ARIs to support evidence-informed, place-based decision-making.

In West Yorkshire, Bradford Council has developed ARIs to guide partnerships between local government, researchers, and communities. Alongside these sit Community ARIs, co-created with residents to ensure lived experiences and health equity are central to the research agenda.

As academic collaborators based at the University of York within the Bradford Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Evidence into Policy and Practice Hub (‘Policy Hub’), our ‘Healthy Livelihoods’ embedded research team works at the intersection of council priorities and community insights, connecting both sides and supporting local policy impact.

What is an embedded researcher?

An embedded researcher is a type of ‘knowledge broker’ – someone who gets involved in generating and supporting the use of evidence in policy or practice settings, to improve decision-making and bring benefits to society.

There is no ‘one size fit all’ description of an embedded researcher (eg academic, research-trained practitioner), how they are funded (eg university, government body) or where they work (eg local government, combined authority, community organisation).

They often get involved in different activities, including identifying knowledge needs and gaps, integrating evidence from different sources (academics, professionals, communities) and creating space for policymakers, residents and practitioners to think critically about how evidence can inform decision-making (see Dowling et al., 2026; Maag et al., 2018).

Bridging research, lived experience and policy action

Embedded University of York researchers in the Bradford HDRC Policy Hub have worked directly with Council teams to inform decision-making in relation to a number of key ARIs over the past 3 years.  

Our experiences in Bradford demonstrate how council ARIs can provide a strategic ‘pull’ for research, but community ARIs are important to ensure research addresses everyday realities.

1. Inclusive regeneration and climate action

What were the ARIs?

• Council ARIs: Supporting economic growth and improving life chances through inclusive, healthy urban regeneration.
• Community ARIs: Ensuring regeneration, transport, and climate policy reflects community priorities, resident-led action and supports young people to thrive.

What we did:

• A Policy Hub researcher was embedded into the Southern Gateway master-planning process, collating research using an approach that combined participatory evidence synthesis with insights from local residents and young people.
• We shared findings in real time with local stakeholders involved in regeneration, including via presentations to local government (MHGLG) and Council teams.
• We have also trained local residents as peer researchers, through our Co-producing Bradford’s Just Transition project, to ground climate policy in everyday realities; and supported resident-authored Climate Manifestos.

Policy Impact:

Our work has directly informed Bradford’s Department for Transport (DfT) funding submission for the Southern Gateway, and shaped Bradford’s Climate and Nature Action Plan. We are now piloting co-created climate animations with residents, delivering Climate Fresk and Biodiversity Collage workshops for council staff with With Many Roots, and supporting community engagement around identified community priorities (such as local food and nature growing in Tong and Bowling and Barkerend). 

2. Tackling child poverty and household costs

What were the ARIs?

• Council ARI: Understanding which local interventions have an impact on tackling child poverty.
• Community ARI: Exploring ways to ease everyday financial pressures facing families, including support provided by schools and understanding the impacts of benefit schemes locally.

What we did:

• We partnered with the Public Health team to deliver the district’s first systematic audit of school uniform requirements across Bradford primary and secondary schools.
• We shared findings with the School Resources Task & Finish Group and designed and delivered a strategic session on child poverty for senior council leadership, supported by an accessible policy brief.
• We have worked with Council staff to collate wider evidence to inform local anti‑poverty planning.

Policy Impact:

The audit provided a baseline that supported the business case for a new Living Well schools role, and the work has been noted nationally by the Child Poverty Action Group. The strategic session and policy brief equipped senior leaders with clear insights to shape anti‑poverty planning, and we continue to support the District’s anti-poverty coordination group.

3. Shifting toward early prevention in health and care

What were the ARIs?

• Council ARI: Identifying initiatives that have the biggest impact on preventing, reducing, and delaying the need for adult social care.
• Community ARI: Understanding how we can build healthier, supportive environments for communities that address drivers of harm.

What we did:

• We collaborated with the Public Health team to complete a rapid review of public health approaches to reducing alcohol and drug harms.
• We presented findings to the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Combating Alcohol and Drugs Partnership.

Policy Impact: The review has directly influenced policy development and local delivery plans, supporting a shift toward an early, community‑centred prevention framework.

Lessons for academic-policy engagement

For university-policy partnerships seeking to maximise impacts on evidence gaps, our experience in Bradford offers three key takeaways:

• Pair council ARIs with community ARIs: Experience in Bradford demonstrates how council ARIs can provide a strategic ‘pull’ for research, but community ARIs are important to ensure research addresses everyday realities. Combining both may help drive research that is both strategically aligned and community-informed.
• Embed knowledge brokers in local teams: By working directly with local government teams and Council staff who are building infrastructure to support evidence into policy, embedded researchers can support timely access to knowledge and research, translating it into accessible forms when decision-makers need it.
• Connect the local to regional: We are still in the process of doing this, but embedding local hubs within a supportive university policy infrastructure – such as The York Policy Engine at the University of York – ensures embedded researchers have the necessary support to connect academic- and community-led evidence into broader regional and national policy conversations.

Finally, embedded researchers can serve as vital connectors in an evolving academic-policy landscape locally.

It is not an easy role to carry out but, by bridging evidence needs, academic research and lived experience, embedded researchers can transform ARIs from a list of research questions into dynamic, trust-based relationships that can significantly deepen academic-policy engagement.

For more information, please contact Amy Barnes, Healthy Livelihoods team lead, academic lead of the Bradford Health Determinants Research Collaboration Evidence into Policy and Practice Hub, and Deputy Director of the Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change at University of York, at amy.barnes@york.ac.uk