Edinburgh Napier University

  This project involved research commissioned by Communities Scotland on approaches to evaluation in community regeneration. Policy makers in Scotland are committed to developing services promoting the regeneration of the most deprived neighbourhoods “so that people living there can take advantage of job opportunities and improve their quality of life.” Given this context, the ERI was asked to review current and previous approaches to evaluating community regeneration programmes in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, in order to identify good practice, and lessons and recommendations for future approaches to programme evaluation in Scotland. The research involved desk-based and web-based reviews of guidance and previous approaches to the evaluation of major regeneration and social inclusion programmes. Emerging issues were then followed up through further detailed analysis of evaluation practice, key stakeholder interviews and a ‘workshop forum,’ which brought together national stakeholders and representatives of a diverse sample of local Community Planning Partnerships.