UK-first as £960,000 project explores integration in Bristol

A unique new project led by the University of Bristol has received a £960,000 boost to improve integration across Bristol by exploring how its citizens and communities share spaces and move around the city. University researchers on the 'Everyday Integration' project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will work with Bristol City Council and 29 community partners to identify existing best-practice and better understand how to overcome the various barriers people currently face. Bristol - known as a city of villages - suffers from a variety of spatial, social, cultural, civic, and economic divisions which often lead to poor integration and inequality. Rather than just focusing on how immigrants and different ethnic minorities integrate, the project takes a much wider view and doesn't single out any one population. Researchers will look specifically at how people move around the city and share spaces; their experiences of precarious work and consequences for integration; where and how citizens engage with decision-making forums; and how Bristolians learn about and interact with people from different backgrounds, communities and lifestyles. Public transport links have already been identified as a barrier to integration, with journey times from Lawrence Weston to the city centre taking over an hour due to the bus route heading north to Avonmouth before circling back to the city centre. Part of the research will include flash focus groups with people on buses and collecting data via GPS logs to show how people move across the city.