ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
Following the launch of the Travelling Pantry, Social Spaces aims to study the effects of the workshops.
The objectives of the action research project are:
• To study citizen initiated collaborative community development through the examination of existing examples where this has been done in innovative and creative ways.
• To examine and analyse different visible characteristics of creative community development, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of which practices ensure that community projects remain entirely positive and inclusive.
• To use these understandings as we develop and test a range of alternative stimulation tools, including workshops and strategic planning tools, in order to study if these stimulations result in sufficient levels of beneficial, new, citizen initiated activity to warrant further public investment.
• To explore ways in which we can maximise the value of an online network, which will promote Social Spaces activities and inspiring case studies, and enable networking and idea-sharing amongst Social Spaces groups in different parts of the country.
Note that our emphasis on citizen initiated collaborative community development makes this project distinctive from many studies of this sort, which examine community development from the perspective of professional community developers, charities and other formal social organisations.
Who will benefit from this research?
Building an inclusive and cohesive community benefits many people, but ultimately may make the most difference to people living on the margins of the community. Some of these individuals may be on the margins for many reasons, including self-imposed isolation typical of lonely, depressed people or people who fall into social groups with perceived lower participatory social standing, including the elderly and young.
Asset-based community development and other innovative practices aim to unlock capacity for collective action from all members of a community and in this way aims to benefit from the many talents of people who may currently be overlooked. There is evidence that this inclusive and contribution-based approach, rather than a ‘needs’ or deficit approach, can benefit a whole community.
How will they benefit from this research?
Policy makers in particular will benefit from understanding the underlying mechanisms for public initiation and participation at local level. Current thinking and existing programmes on ‘empowering communities’ has proved to have a very limited impact overall with only some areas showing ‘a spill-over from individuals to the wider communities’ (Pratchett et al, 2009). Additionally the focus of these programmes has sought participation mostly in civic mechanisms, such as budgeting, governance and asset transfer, which often work well with particular skillsets and motivations.
The aptitudes that suit governance based activity, are often completely different to those required to build community widely and inclusively.
The results of this qualitative research project should help:
• Policy makers understand the deep processes, and human capital requirements involved in community involvement, in order that they may shape how they design initiatives that bring the desired social outcomes.
• Individuals and groups of citizens understand the complex relationships involved in developing successful and sustainable local projects.
• The potential for regional Social Spaces hubs to form a volunteer network of experienced individuals to spread the emergent new skills and knowledge through mentoring, workshops and publications, to support projects from ideas stage onwards.
There is evidence to suggest that stronger, better-connected communities can benefit in many ways through actively increasing the quality and quantity of interpersonal relationships:
• Improved physical and mental health.
• Improved social and economic mobility
What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this research?
The research questions and overall design of the project incorporates the study of how community projects can be fostered and ideas spread. The diffusion of these ideas is central to the thinking and the research that led to the project’s development.
Excellent small community projects often lie unexplored or replicated, and it is through this exploration and analysis that this study intends to ensure that individuals, communities and policy makers benefit from its findings.
The project incorporates a ‘live learning’ component where a ‘community of practice’ will be developed to provide a rich environment for people who wish to start their own community projects will find peer support, expertise, ideas and resources. It is intended that this community of practice become self-managing in the long-term.
The objectives of the action research project are:
• To study citizen initiated collaborative community development through the examination of existing examples where this has been done in innovative and creative ways.
• To examine and analyse different visible characteristics of creative community development, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of which practices ensure that community projects remain entirely positive and inclusive.
• To use these understandings as we develop and test a range of alternative stimulation tools, including workshops and strategic planning tools, in order to study if these stimulations result in sufficient levels of beneficial, new, citizen initiated activity to warrant further public investment.
• To explore ways in which we can maximise the value of an online network, which will promote Social Spaces activities and inspiring case studies, and enable networking and idea-sharing amongst Social Spaces groups in different parts of the country.
Note that our emphasis on citizen initiated collaborative community development makes this project distinctive from many studies of this sort, which examine community development from the perspective of professional community developers, charities and other formal social organisations.
Who will benefit from this research?
Building an inclusive and cohesive community benefits many people, but ultimately may make the most difference to people living on the margins of the community. Some of these individuals may be on the margins for many reasons, including self-imposed isolation typical of lonely, depressed people or people who fall into social groups with perceived lower participatory social standing, including the elderly and young.
Asset-based community development and other innovative practices aim to unlock capacity for collective action from all members of a community and in this way aims to benefit from the many talents of people who may currently be overlooked. There is evidence that this inclusive and contribution-based approach, rather than a ‘needs’ or deficit approach, can benefit a whole community.
How will they benefit from this research?
Policy makers in particular will benefit from understanding the underlying mechanisms for public initiation and participation at local level. Current thinking and existing programmes on ‘empowering communities’ has proved to have a very limited impact overall with only some areas showing ‘a spill-over from individuals to the wider communities’ (Pratchett et al, 2009). Additionally the focus of these programmes has sought participation mostly in civic mechanisms, such as budgeting, governance and asset transfer, which often work well with particular skillsets and motivations.
The aptitudes that suit governance based activity, are often completely different to those required to build community widely and inclusively.
The results of this qualitative research project should help:
• Policy makers understand the deep processes, and human capital requirements involved in community involvement, in order that they may shape how they design initiatives that bring the desired social outcomes.
• Individuals and groups of citizens understand the complex relationships involved in developing successful and sustainable local projects.
• The potential for regional Social Spaces hubs to form a volunteer network of experienced individuals to spread the emergent new skills and knowledge through mentoring, workshops and publications, to support projects from ideas stage onwards.
There is evidence to suggest that stronger, better-connected communities can benefit in many ways through actively increasing the quality and quantity of interpersonal relationships:
• Improved physical and mental health.
• Improved social and economic mobility
What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this research?
The research questions and overall design of the project incorporates the study of how community projects can be fostered and ideas spread. The diffusion of these ideas is central to the thinking and the research that led to the project’s development.
Excellent small community projects often lie unexplored or replicated, and it is through this exploration and analysis that this study intends to ensure that individuals, communities and policy makers benefit from its findings.
The project incorporates a ‘live learning’ component where a ‘community of practice’ will be developed to provide a rich environment for people who wish to start their own community projects will find peer support, expertise, ideas and resources. It is intended that this community of practice become self-managing in the long-term.