Dr Rod Dacombe will join a panel of appointees on the London Civic Strength Index: Advisory Steering Group, set up by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The appointees include experts from the fields of economics, higher education, the arts, social enterprise and the civil service, and will build on work Dr Dacombe and others previously completed last year to develop the civic strength index.

The index seeks to identify the factors that contribute to civic strength and supports the GLA with understanding the factors that make up strong communities. It also offers a shared definition and a set of measurable attributes that impact on civic strength in London.

Dr Dacombe and the steering group will now work with communities to see how the index can impact efforts to improve communities at a local level.