Communities. Evidence. Action.
At Nine Yards, we believe that the best solutions emerge when community knowledge, professional expertise and research come together.
We are a learning organisation at our core. We are committed to understanding what works, challenging assumptions, testing new ideas and using evidence to create positive environmental and social change.
For over 30 years, we have worked alongside communities, public services, businesses, charities and academic institutions to tackle complex challenges. We understand that no single organisation holds all the answers. Lasting change requires collaboration, curiosity and a willingness to learn.
Our role is often to connect people, ideas and experiences that would not otherwise come together. We help create the space where lived experience, academic research, policy development and practical action can inform one another.
We believe that communities should not simply be the subjects of research. They should help shape the questions, influence the solutions and share in the learning.
Research is most valuable when it leads to action. That is why we are committed to ensuring that learning is shared openly and used to improve outcomes for people, communities and places.
How We Work
Connect
We bring together communities, researchers, public services, businesses and decision makers around shared challenges and opportunities.
Co-Create
We believe that people with lived experience have valuable expertise. We work collaboratively with communities, partners and stakeholders to design projects, generate ideas and develop solutions together.
Test and Innovate
We support innovation by exploring new approaches, trialling ideas and evaluating what works. Whether addressing climate change, health inequalities, food insecurity or community resilience, we are interested in finding practical solutions to complex challenges.
Share and Influence
Learning should not stay on a shelf.
We actively share knowledge, evidence and insight to support better decision making, influence policy and improve practice across sectors. By making learning accessible, we help organisations and communities benefit from new knowledge and experience.
Why Evidence Matters
We are committed to evidence informed action. This means drawing on a combination of:
- Academic research.
- Professional expertise.
- Community knowledge.
- Lived experience.
- Local insight.
- Evaluation and learning.
We recognise that data alone cannot tell the whole story. Equally, experience without evidence can leave important questions unanswered. By bringing together different forms of knowledge, we can better understand the challenges facing communities and develop more effective responses.
Areas of Interest
Our research, learning and innovation work reflects our wider mission to create healthier, fairer and more sustainable communities.
We are particularly interested in:
Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability
Exploring practical approaches to reducing environmental impact, increasing resilience and supporting the transition to a low carbon future.
Food Systems and Food Security
Understanding how communities can access affordable, nutritious and sustainable food and strengthening local food systems.
Health and Wellbeing
Supporting research and innovation that addresses health inequalities and improves wellbeing across communities.
Community Resilience
Exploring how communities respond to change, build local capacity and create lasting social impact.
Nature and Green Infrastructure
Understanding how access to nature and high-quality environments can improve environmental, social and health outcomes.
Social Innovation
Developing and testing new approaches that address complex challenges and create positive change.
Participation and Co-Production
Promoting approaches that place communities, residents and people with lived experience at the heart of decision making.
Featured Research
Reducing Food Waste and Improving Nutrition Through Community Partnerships
Nine Yards (Middlesbrough Environment City Trust) recently partnered with Teesside University, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and other partners on an innovative research project exploring how surplus food can be used to create nutritious ready meals for people living with severe mental illness.
The project combined expertise from academia, healthcare and the voluntary sector and involved people with lived experience in the development and evaluation of the approach.
The resulting peer reviewed publication highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of collaborative, community-based research and demonstrated the value of bringing together different forms of knowledge to address complex social and environmental issues.
What We Learned
- Successful cross sector research requires strong collaboration between community organisations, health services and academic partners.
- Different organisational cultures, governance requirements and ways of working can create significant challenges for collaborative projects.
- Flexible governance arrangements are needed to support community-based and co-produced research.
- Clear communication processes and defined roles are essential for effective partnership working.
- Collaborative research projects require realistic timescales, effective workload management and sufficient capacity across all partners.
- Community-focused research is strengthened when academic expertise, professional practice and lived experience are brought together.
- Long-term, sustainable partnerships are built through trust, adaptability and shared learning.
Research Partners
- Teesside University
- Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
- FareShare North East
- Nine Yards (Middlesbrough Environment City Trust)
Link to publication: Square peg round hole: navigating operational and interdisciplinary challenges in a co-produced, community-based research partnership – Teesside University’s Research Portal
Our Commitment to Learning
Our commitment is not simply to generate knowledge, but to ensure that knowledge is useful, accessible and leads to positive change for people, communities and the environment.
We will:
- Champion community voice alongside academic and professional expertise.
- Use evidence to challenge assumptions and improve decision making.
- Share learning openly, including what has not worked as well as what has.
- Support innovation by creating space to test, learn and adapt.
- Connect research, policy and practice to increase real world impact.
- Ensure learning informs action and action generates new learning.
We believe that learning is not an activity separate from our work. It is embedded within everything we do.
Partner With Us
We welcome opportunities to collaborate with universities, researchers, students, public services, funders, businesses and community organisations.
Whether you are developing a research proposal, seeking community engagement support, designing an evaluation, testing a new idea or exploring opportunities for knowledge exchange, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Areas where we can support include:
- Community engagement and participation.
- Co-production and lived experience involvement.
- Research partnerships.
- Evaluation and impact measurement.
- Knowledge exchange activities.
- Innovation projects.
- Pilot and demonstration programmes.
- Dissemination and learning events.
Together, we can create knowledge that informs action and action that creates change.
For partnership enquiries, please contact: info@nineyards.org.uk
