About the Essex Research Community of Practice

Overview

The Essex Research Community of Practice is hosted by Essex County Council in collaboration with our partners across Greater Essex. We have a range of expert teams including the following:

Research & Citizen Insight

• Deliver research and insight projects spanning quantitative and qualitative research, public health analysis, evaluation & public consultation.
• Develop ECC's capability e.g. Community of Practice (COP), learning sessions & resident’s panel, journal subscriptions.
• Provide expert advice & guidance e.g. research governance, ethics.

Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC)

• This is a partnership between Essex County Council, Southend and Thurrock Councils, University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University (hosted by ECC)
• Part of a network of nationally recognised centres of ‘research excellence, funded by NIHR (c.£1m per year, for 5 years) and based in and led by local authorities
• Our purpose is to build research capacity and capability across local government and the academic sector focused on exploring ‘what works’ in influencing the wider determinants of health - enabling local authorities to use research to inform decisions.

Employee Experience team

• Encourage and listen to employee voice, share insights with leaders and project leads.
• Use a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, including biennial census and pulse surveys.

User Research team

• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team to support services to understand their users through a variety of research methods.
• Provide advice and support across ECC and advocate for user centred design.