Partnering for Inclusive Employment: A Guide for Local Economies is a new resource developed to help local areas create fairer, more inclusive employment opportunities. The guide was created through a collaboration between the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP), Cardiff University, the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford. The project was supported by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) “Creating Opportunities through Local Innovation Fellowships” (COLIF) programme, which also involved the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Swansea. To launch the guide, OIEP hosted a workshop on 25 September 2025 at the Old Fire Station in Oxford, bringing together participants from the private, public and voluntary sectors. The event showcased the learning and principles developed through the project and explored how they could be applied within Oxfordshire and beyond.
Despite Oxfordshire’s economic success, access to fair, inclusive employment opportunities remains uneven. Deeply embedded inequalities mean that some communities continue to face barriers to meaningful work.
The COLIF project set out to explore how private, public and voluntary sector organisations can work together to co-create inclusive employment pathways. The challenge was to understand how inclusion can be embedded as an ongoing, collective practice rather than a one-off initiative.
As Jeremy Long, Co-Chair of OIEP, noted in his opening remarks at the workshop:
“Access to fair work is essential for sharing wealth across Oxfordshire and addressing inequalities collectively.”
Between April and September 2025, the project team - Emma Coles (OIEP), Elina Varoutsa and Penny Chaidali (Cardiff University), Shukru Esmene (University of Exeter), and Rebecca Launchbury (University of Oxford) - conducted an in-depth case study exploring partnership approaches to inclusive employment.
The research involved:
• Reviewing existing evidence and best practice
• Interviewing stakeholders across sectors
• Embedding researchers in OIEP’s partnership activities
The resulting Guide for Local Economies (illustrated by Nifty Fox) takes a principle-based approach rather than prescribing fixed actions.
It outlines six key principles for inclusive employment:
1. Person-centred, place-based adaptation of policies
2. Invested commitment from all stakeholders
3. Lived experience leadership, used to review and adapt actions
4. Stability for lived experience–led spaces and organisations
5. Acknowledgement of diversity within diversity
6. Awareness of trauma
During the workshop, participants engaged in discussions and interactive activities - including a collaborative Lego exercise - to explore what an “inclusive landscape” might look like in practice.
The workshop and project highlighted several key outcomes:
COLIF’s findings will inform OIEP’s ongoing work to advance inclusion in Oxfordshire.
This report outlines an in-depth case study into inclusive employment in Oxfordshire. Researchers from Cardiff University and University of Exeter worked with Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP) to understand how cross-sector collaborations can strengthen pathways to fair work.
This illustrated guide distils the learning from the COLIF project into an accessible, principle-based framework for organisations looking to strengthen inclusive employment in their local areas.
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