Social cohesion has become a defining policy challenge globally.  Across many of the contexts in which the British Council operates, societies are experiencing rising polarisation, declining trust, inequality, displacement, and weakened relationships between communities and institutions. In this environment, the relational foundations of stable and inclusive societies are under strain.

This external evaluation by TfCC finds that the British Council’s arts and cultural heritage programmes make a credible and strategically significant contribution to social cohesion, particularly through strengthening participation, dialogue, belonging, inclusion, and connections across difference. While arts programmes and cultural relations do not directly “solve” structural drivers of fragmentation, they can play a distinctive enabling role in helping societies become more connected, resilient, and cohesive.

Overall, the available evidence suggests that contribution to social cohesion is strongest where programmes are participatory, sustained, and grounded in cultural relations principles such as co-creation, mutuality, and local ownership.

What Works Most Consistently

Across the diverse contexts and programmes included in this evaluation, four factors emerge as the strongest drivers of contribution:

• Safe and inclusive spaces for encounter where people who would not normally meet can interact constructively
• Participation and co-creation, where people shape activities rather than simply consume them
• Locally led and context-sensitive delivery, grounded in trusted partners and local realities
• Arts as lower-threat entry points for sensitive issues such as gender inequality, trauma, exclusion, identity, and polarisation

This evaluation finds that the British Council possesses a credible and differentiated offer at a time when social cohesion is becoming more urgent globally and that it is already doing work that matters deeply for addressing social cohesion challenges. Its arts and cultural heritage programmes and cultural relations approach help create the conditions under which trust can grow, dialogue can happen, identities can be recognised, and relationships can endure.