Collaborative Governance in Cities under Austerity: An Eight-case Comparative Study
Lead Research Organisation:
De Montfort University
Department Name: Politics and Public Policy
Abstract
Context
Austerity governance, defined as a sustained agenda for reducing public spending, poses new challenges for the organisation of relationships between government, business and citizens in many parts of the world. This project compares how these challenges are addressed in eight countries: Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, Spain, the UK and the USA. Governments have long sought effective ways of engaging citizen activists and business leaders in decision making, through many formal and informal mechanisms - what we term collaborative governance. The focus of our research is how collaboration contributes to the governance of austerity. Governments and public service leaders argue that collaboration with businesses, voluntary organisations and active citizens is essential for addressing the many challenges posed by austerity. The challenges include transforming public services to cope with cuts, changing citizen expectations and managing demand for services and enhancing the legitimacy of difficult policy decisions by involving people outside government in making them. But at the same time, collaboration can be exclusionary. For example, if there are high levels of protest, governmental and business elites may collaborate in ways that marginalise ordinary citizens to push through unpopular policies. Our challenge is to explore different ways in which collaboration works or fails in governing austerity and whether it is becoming more or less important in doing so.
Aims and objectives
We propose to compare the role of collaboration in governing austerity in eight cities of the aforementioned countries: Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Melbourne, Montreal and Nantes. It is in towns and cities that government has the most immediate and closest day-to-day engagement with citizens and it is for this reason that we chose to locate our research at the urban scale. Our primary objective is to understand whether, and if so how, collaboration among public officials, citizens, business leaders and other actors contributes to austerity governance. For example is there more collaboration, less or are we seeing different kinds of collaboration emerging? Who, if anyone, refuses to collaborate and with what implications for governing austerity? Might collaboration be a way to subvert or resist aspects of austerity? The research is comparative, meaning that it is looking for patterns and to see what lessons and insights countries in different parts of the world might draw from one another.
Applications and benefits
Finding ways to collaborate with citizens has always been important for central and local governments, although collaboration has been a higher political priority in the past 20 years than before. Our study will tell politicians and public officials much about how collaboration works as a way of governing austerity. However we are not trying to 'sell' collaboration, or suggest that those suffering from cuts and wanting to resist them should collaborate if they do not wish to. For citizen activists our research will highlight different strategies and options for speaking truth to power - by engaging with city government and local business elites, or refusing to do so and perhaps focusing on protest instead. We will discover when collaboration serves the ends of community groups and when it does not. Participants in our study, and others, will have the opportunity to discuss these issues at a series of local events, at which we will discuss our findings. The research will also engage with important academic debates about the changing nature of governance. In gathering and comparing a large body of data we will learn about the changing role of government under austerity and whether governing is becoming more elite-focused, remote and hierarchical, or perhaps even more inclusive despite the challenging times in which we live.
Austerity governance, defined as a sustained agenda for reducing public spending, poses new challenges for the organisation of relationships between government, business and citizens in many parts of the world. This project compares how these challenges are addressed in eight countries: Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, Spain, the UK and the USA. Governments have long sought effective ways of engaging citizen activists and business leaders in decision making, through many formal and informal mechanisms - what we term collaborative governance. The focus of our research is how collaboration contributes to the governance of austerity. Governments and public service leaders argue that collaboration with businesses, voluntary organisations and active citizens is essential for addressing the many challenges posed by austerity. The challenges include transforming public services to cope with cuts, changing citizen expectations and managing demand for services and enhancing the legitimacy of difficult policy decisions by involving people outside government in making them. But at the same time, collaboration can be exclusionary. For example, if there are high levels of protest, governmental and business elites may collaborate in ways that marginalise ordinary citizens to push through unpopular policies. Our challenge is to explore different ways in which collaboration works or fails in governing austerity and whether it is becoming more or less important in doing so.
Aims and objectives
We propose to compare the role of collaboration in governing austerity in eight cities of the aforementioned countries: Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Melbourne, Montreal and Nantes. It is in towns and cities that government has the most immediate and closest day-to-day engagement with citizens and it is for this reason that we chose to locate our research at the urban scale. Our primary objective is to understand whether, and if so how, collaboration among public officials, citizens, business leaders and other actors contributes to austerity governance. For example is there more collaboration, less or are we seeing different kinds of collaboration emerging? Who, if anyone, refuses to collaborate and with what implications for governing austerity? Might collaboration be a way to subvert or resist aspects of austerity? The research is comparative, meaning that it is looking for patterns and to see what lessons and insights countries in different parts of the world might draw from one another.
Applications and benefits
Finding ways to collaborate with citizens has always been important for central and local governments, although collaboration has been a higher political priority in the past 20 years than before. Our study will tell politicians and public officials much about how collaboration works as a way of governing austerity. However we are not trying to 'sell' collaboration, or suggest that those suffering from cuts and wanting to resist them should collaborate if they do not wish to. For citizen activists our research will highlight different strategies and options for speaking truth to power - by engaging with city government and local business elites, or refusing to do so and perhaps focusing on protest instead. We will discover when collaboration serves the ends of community groups and when it does not. Participants in our study, and others, will have the opportunity to discuss these issues at a series of local events, at which we will discuss our findings. The research will also engage with important academic debates about the changing nature of governance. In gathering and comparing a large body of data we will learn about the changing role of government under austerity and whether governing is becoming more elite-focused, remote and hierarchical, or perhaps even more inclusive despite the challenging times in which we live.
Planned Impact
The principal non-academic beneficiaries will be participants in the research, students, policy makers at different levels of government, community activists, business activists and other civil society groups and educated publics interested in public governance issues. The primary categories of beneficiary are public sector and political leaders and third-sector organisations and campaign groups. We will deliver three main kinds of impact: Improving Social Welfare and Public Services, Influencing Public Policy and Legislation and Operational and Organisational Change.
Because public officials are preoccupied with austerity governance and collaboration in all the case study countries and cities, policy makers will find our research especially useful. Paul O'Brien, Chief Executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence will be our expert adviser and APSE will provide a vehicle for disseminating the research to UK stakeholders, locally and nationally. To enhance international impact and knowledge exchange we will produce a project stakeholder report, which will form the basis for dissemination events in each case study city. Key policy makers will be invited to attend along with local respondents and other stakeholders. Assisted by APSE, we will also target the public service press with articles in each country. APSE will also use the stakeholder/impact report as the basis for discussion among member authorities in the UK, and will further promote our work throughout the public sector. This strand of our impact strategy focuses on improving both social welfare and public services and operational and organisational change.
Community activists and third sector groups, particularly those directly involved in the research, will be invited to participate in local dissemination events, and webinars, to deliberate and validate findings. They face dilemmas about whether and how to collaborate in the governance of austerity. Our research will generate insights into how these dilemmas are handled in different places, what kinds of strategy are effective (collaborative or otherwise) and how changes in third-sector funding and organisation affect collaborative capacity. The investigators have excellent links with community and voluntary sector organisations operating at local and national levels and the stakeholder reports will inform deliberations about strategy and practice. This strand of our impact strategy focuses on influencing public policy and legislation as well as social welfare and organisational change.
We propose to contribute to public discourse by targeting media: e.g. an article for Public Magazine, a podcast on Youtube and the researchers' websites. We recognise that effective dissemination requires more than merely publishing outputs. Each of the researchers has strong networks through which the project and its outputs will be promoted. This strand of impact is about influencing the public sphere.
Students - especially those on graduate programmes - will learn from and apply the research. Many of the investigators are involved in teaching public service leaders and middle managers at masters level. The findings will be a particular source of learning and action for students concerned with assessing the utility of collaboration for austerity governance, such as through culture change and 'managing down demand'.
Academic colleagues beyond immediate professional circles will also benefit from the large body of data we propose to collect. They will also benefit from engaging with our academic outputs and theoretical conclusions about changing modes of governance. Most of the research team is well-known, or becoming well-known, in international scholarly circles and we will therefore achieve high levels of academic impact through publishing in highly regarded journals (such as Urban Studies or Public Administration), citations therein and seminar/conference dialogues with interlocutors.
Because public officials are preoccupied with austerity governance and collaboration in all the case study countries and cities, policy makers will find our research especially useful. Paul O'Brien, Chief Executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence will be our expert adviser and APSE will provide a vehicle for disseminating the research to UK stakeholders, locally and nationally. To enhance international impact and knowledge exchange we will produce a project stakeholder report, which will form the basis for dissemination events in each case study city. Key policy makers will be invited to attend along with local respondents and other stakeholders. Assisted by APSE, we will also target the public service press with articles in each country. APSE will also use the stakeholder/impact report as the basis for discussion among member authorities in the UK, and will further promote our work throughout the public sector. This strand of our impact strategy focuses on improving both social welfare and public services and operational and organisational change.
Community activists and third sector groups, particularly those directly involved in the research, will be invited to participate in local dissemination events, and webinars, to deliberate and validate findings. They face dilemmas about whether and how to collaborate in the governance of austerity. Our research will generate insights into how these dilemmas are handled in different places, what kinds of strategy are effective (collaborative or otherwise) and how changes in third-sector funding and organisation affect collaborative capacity. The investigators have excellent links with community and voluntary sector organisations operating at local and national levels and the stakeholder reports will inform deliberations about strategy and practice. This strand of our impact strategy focuses on influencing public policy and legislation as well as social welfare and organisational change.
We propose to contribute to public discourse by targeting media: e.g. an article for Public Magazine, a podcast on Youtube and the researchers' websites. We recognise that effective dissemination requires more than merely publishing outputs. Each of the researchers has strong networks through which the project and its outputs will be promoted. This strand of impact is about influencing the public sphere.
Students - especially those on graduate programmes - will learn from and apply the research. Many of the investigators are involved in teaching public service leaders and middle managers at masters level. The findings will be a particular source of learning and action for students concerned with assessing the utility of collaboration for austerity governance, such as through culture change and 'managing down demand'.
Academic colleagues beyond immediate professional circles will also benefit from the large body of data we propose to collect. They will also benefit from engaging with our academic outputs and theoretical conclusions about changing modes of governance. Most of the research team is well-known, or becoming well-known, in international scholarly circles and we will therefore achieve high levels of academic impact through publishing in highly regarded journals (such as Urban Studies or Public Administration), citations therein and seminar/conference dialogues with interlocutors.
Publications
Ansell C
(2020)
Understanding inclusion in collaborative governance: a mixed methods approach
in Policy and Society
Blanco I
(2019)
Urban governance and political change under a radical left government: The case of Barcelona
in Journal of Urban Affairs
Bua, A
(2018)
The Handbook of International Local Government
Bua, A
(2020)
Between governance-driven democratisation and democracy-driven governance: Explaining changes in participatory governance in the case of Barcelona
in European Journal of Political Research
Chorianopoulos I
(2020)
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Chorianopoulos I
(2017)
Austerity urbanism: Rescaling and collaborative governance policies in Athens
in European Urban and Regional Studies
Chorianopoulos I
(2018)
Austerity governance and bifurcated civil society: The changing matrices of urban politics in Athens
in Journal of Urban Affairs
| Description | Our key findings, also referenced in our published report, are as follows: 1. The 2008 crisis hit cities very unevenly, even those at the European epicentre. Not all recognise the language of "austerity" - e.g. in Baltimore retrenchment is so normalised that the post-2008 period appears unexceptional. Nantes, sees itself as employing "Keynesian" governance strategies and austerity as something outside. Moreover, there are important analytical distinctions to be drawn between the concepts of neoliberalisation, austerity (as a post-crisis intervention) and crisis, or crises, which are construed in very different ways across out dataset. 2. As might be expected, our respondents see austerity as hitting the worst-off hardest of all. In some instances, austerity has had significant impacts on the middle classes too. 3. What happens in cities matters. Cities affected by crisis and austerity respond in varied ways. Urban histories, economies, traditions, struggles, conflicts and geographies make a big difference to austerity governance and also to patterns of resistance. 4. Practices of collaborative governance vary widely on a continuum from those concerned with radicalising participatory democracy to those preoccupied mainly with managing austerity and maintaining state control. 5. For locally distinctive reasons (involving political centralisation, rescaling and re-territorialisation, social alienation/public disaffection, institutional instability and organised resistance), austerity weakens the prospect for strong, inclusive and equitable social partnerships between governments and citizens. In this specific sense, collaboration is weakened by austerity (our core research question), though public agencies remain keen to distribute responsibility and mobilise governing resources from within civil society. 6. Relatedly, austerity is damaging to grant dependent local voluntary and community groups. This finding reveals an austerity paradox. Governments demand greater levels of citizen activism under austerity, while austerity itself makes this harder to achieve in crucial arenas. At the same time, austerity concentrates government resources in larger third sector organisations, some with little connection to locality. These processes contribute to distancing and alienation. 7. Urban governance, especially in cities where austerity politics is not contested, tends to be either hierarchical and state-centred, or rooted in "elite" partnerships between governments, business leaders and NGOs. 8. Branding and place marketing is central to urban growth strategies for coping with and moving beyond austerity. Some cities (selectively) integrate cultural and ethnic diversity into their branding. 9. However, there is an ever-present tension between the hard logics of urban development and the pursuit of a socially just, inclusive and democratic city espoused in international agendas such as Habitat III, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and EU societal challenges - and through the new municipalist wave. 10. Cities cannot avoid fallout from international crises and national austerity measures, but some do adopt governing strategies that diverge from those of regional and national governments. 11. Crucially, there is evidence of emerging political alternatives to austerity, even in cities severely affected by spending cuts and fiscal or political centralisation. Some, but not all alternatives can be linked to the popular concept of the "new municipalism" understood as the radical alliance of local state and activists who reject the politics of austerity. 12. Resistance to austerity is very uneven and of variable impact. Given a felicitous alliance between electoral and grass-roots anti-austerity forces, the potential for alternatives comes into view. Yet, there remain formidable barriers to cities that seek to breach with austerian orthodoxy. 13. Linking opposition movements and building alliances between cities, social movements, workplace and community organisations able to challenge or influence higher tiers of government will be crucial if anti-austerity forces are to progress. 14. The potential in municipalist strategies for reviving and radicalising collaborative governance, thereby forging a new relationship between the local state and citizens, remains to be seen. The PI's new monograph, published by Bristol University Press this month (March 2021), is titled "Between Realism and Revolt: Governing Cities in the Crisis of Neoliberal Globalism. It develops a substantive comparative reading of the eight case studies funded through this project, in Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Greater Dandenong (Melbourne), Leicester, Montreal and Nantes. The book considers urban governance after the 2008 crisis from the perspective of governability. How did cities navigate the crisis and the aftermath of austerity, with what political ordering and disordering dynamics at the forefront? To answer these questions it engages with two influential theoretical currents, Urban Regime Theory and Gramscian state theory, with a view to understanding how governance enabled austerity, deflected or intensified localised expressions of crisis, and generated more-or-less successful political alternatives. It develops a comparative analysis of case studies undertaken in the eight and concludes by highlighting five prominent characteristics that cut across them, unevenly and in different configurations: economic rationalism, weak hegemony, retreat to dominance, weak counter-hegemony and radically contagious politicisations. The first three characteristics contribute to explaining the fate of "the collaborative moment" in the age of austerity, and to reviewing the concept of late entrepreneurialism. The fourth and fifth characteristics, weak counter-hegemony and contagious politicisations, capture both powerful resistance dynamics and impediments to more decisive transformations. Weak counter-hegemony suggests that anti-austerity forces continue to encounter barriers and limitations, while politicisation dynamics are signified by combustibility and tendencies towards generalisation and internationalisation in anti-austerity and related struggles. |
| Exploitation Route | 1. As a source of academic papers exploring austerity governance in the eight individual case studies. In early 2020, we published a case-based issue of Journal of Urban Affairs, issue 42(1) which granted an extended open access window for the collection, with an introductory essay by Professor Nik Theodore. 2. As a source of transversal, comparative outputs juxtaposing the findings across the eight case cities, and sub-sets thereof. In addition to the PI's monograph discussed above, which addresses prominent debates in urbanstudies, we will publish a second, collectively authored monograph in early 2022. This is entitled "New Developments in Urban Governance: Rethinking Collaboration in the Age of Austerity" (also Bristol University Press). This second volume will be stakeholder-facing and aim to develop reflections and lessons on the pros and cons of state-market-civil society collaborations in austere conditions. 3. Through lesson-drawing across cities among activists, policy-makers and concerned citizens, facilitated by the stakeholder report published last year. Stakeholders in most of the eight cities are very curious about experiences in other cities and show evidence of wanting to engage further with the research team and host institution (The Centre for Urban Research on Austerity at De Montfort University). 4. Our research has played an important role in the development of Labour Party policy for cities, councils and communities, as indicated in other sections of this report. The research is a rich source of information to political, policy and activist groups interested in developing "new municipalisms" and reconstituting the local state. We hosted a DMU-funded conference in June 2018 to explore these issues and produced a video animation as a resource to stimulate debate and ideas. The project has given rise to sustained stake-holder engagement in several cities. We held a further such conference on the future of the international new municipalist programme in April 2019. 5. We validated a Masters in Urban Studies at De Montfort University, now to be launched in October 2021 (following COVID-19 postponement). This will draw directly from research conducted as part of this study. For example, the MA will include an Urban Practice module based partly on our research in Leicester. It will also entail a partnership and exchange between DMU and a new masters programme developed by our local investigator in Barcelona, Dr Ismael Blanco, at the Autonomous University. The Barcelona programme also draws on this study. The partnership initially will involve DMU students taking a module delivered (in English) in Barcelona, whilst UAB students will take a module on our programme at DMU. We expect other such educational outcomes in due course. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| URL | http://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/category/austerity-governance/ |
| Description | Jonathan Davies represented the Centre for Urban Research on Austerity as an advisor to the UK Labour Party's Community Wealth Building Unit. The CWBU was established in February 2018, and we participated in many activities. The proximate reason for Labour's interest in our work, was the report "Governing in and Against Austerity", published and disseminated in English, French, Greek and Spanish. As one party advisor put it in correspondence, "I think the role for Labour now is to try to rebuild the tools of social power and resistance - unions yes, but also co-ops, direct democracy and community organisation. Your research is interesting and powerful because it is trying to build up the discourse in that space". As such, our research became part of the UK and international "municipalist" milieu and concerned with both "increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy", and "enhancing the quality of life, health and creative output". At this moment, we cannot point to direct and tangible changes to policy and practice deriving directly from our research. Direct impacts could arise in future, particularly in light of emerging publications. At present, our impact is primarily in shaping and influencing opinion, through building and reinforcing a multi-stakeholder community of interest committed to developing new agendas for urban governance, involving leading national politicians, councillors think-tanks, academics, practitioners, activists and concerned citizens. As the result of political turmoil in France, "new municipalist" platforms emerged, echoing those seen in Spain in the past decade. Professor Steven Griggs was invited by the Nantes platform, Nante en Commun, to present international learning from this research at a conference on 28th November 2019 - for example strengths and weaknesses emerging from the Barcelona case - speaking alongside the Head of the Nantes List, Margot Medkour. Some of these platforms we able to form administrations after the 2020 French municipal elections. Professor Helen Sullivan, and the research team in Dandenong presented a draft of their own extensive research briefing at a stakeholder event on 27th June 2019. The brief was published later in the year, linked to coverage in the local press, an article in the Conversation and a Policy Forum podcast, both by Professor Sullivan. As a result of these interventions participants in the June 2019 workshop have reconvened to discuss the possibility of a Federally funded catalyst project through the City Deal Scheme. Put on hold by the COVID-19 disaster, it is hoped that this or another avenue will open up in 2021-2. Both specific cases, and the project as a whole, have received attention from a variety of prominent national and international media sources, as well as trade press, in relation to which investigators have been both cited and contributed articles. A number of sources have been identified and added to our 2021 report on engagement. Though causal impact is difficult to adduce at this stage, this project and the spin-off Centre for Urban Research on Austerity have played a significant role in framing the current mood of skepticism about austerity, itself much accelerated by COVID-19. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Appointed as Advisor to Labour Party Community Wealth Building Unit |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a advisory committee |
| URL | http://communitywealthbuilding.org.uk |
| Description | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions - Individual Fellowship: Dr Adam Standring |
| Amount | € 224,933 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 101031384 |
| Organisation | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 01/2024 |
| Description | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions - Individual Fellowship: Dr Begona Aramayona |
| Amount | € 224,933 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 101028867 |
| Organisation | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 08/2024 |
| Description | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship: Dr Jessica Parish |
| Amount | € 224,933 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 101033614 |
| Organisation | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 08/2021 |
| End | 08/2023 |
| Title | Collaborative governance in cities under austerity: An eight-case comparative study, Dublin case study 2015-2018 |
| Description | Data from Dublin Case Study - mainly respondent interviews. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As recorded in narrative impact. |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853248 |
| Title | Collaborative governance in cities under austerity: Barcelona case study 2015-2018 |
| Description | Barcelona data - mainly respondent interviews |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As described in narrative impact |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853464 |
| Title | Collaborative governance under austerity and 8 case comparison, qualitative data 2015-2018 |
| Description | Overview of project - I don't think there is any content in this one? |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As described in narrative impact - I cannot edit the description for some reason, but this dataset contains interview transcripts from the Leicester case study. |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853322 |
| Title | Collaborative governance under austerity in Athens: Interviews and focus groups transcripts with key policy makers, NGOs and informal social networks 2015-2017 |
| Description | Interviews and focus group transcripts |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As discussed in narrative impact statement |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853241 |
| Title | Collaborative governance under austerity in Montreal 2015-2017 |
| Description | Mainly respondent interviews |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As described in narrative impact |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853362 |
| Title | Collaborative governance under austerity: An eight-case comparison study, Baltimore 2015-2018 |
| Description | Mainly respondent interviews |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As in narrative impact statement |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/id/eprint/853391 |
| Title | Project dataset |
| Description | We have established a SharePoint database, as a repository for verbatim transcripts of interview and focus group data (including English summaries where they are not in English), and observation field notes (again, summarised in English where appropriate). The data remains confidential at present. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None so far. The materials will be cleaned and presented for archiving at the end of the study. |
| Description | Municipal Action, Research and Advocacy Network (MARAN) |
| Organisation | Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | CURA is a founding member of MARAN, established in January 2019. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Urban Institute (Sheffield), CLES and NEF are co-founding partners and fellow steering group members. |
| Impact | This is a new initiative to coordinate and develop municipalist thinking and action in the UK. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Municipal Action, Research and Advocacy Network (MARAN) |
| Organisation | New Economics Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | CURA is a founding member of MARAN, established in January 2019. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Urban Institute (Sheffield), CLES and NEF are co-founding partners and fellow steering group members. |
| Impact | This is a new initiative to coordinate and develop municipalist thinking and action in the UK. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Municipal Action, Research and Advocacy Network (MARAN) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | CURA is a founding member of MARAN, established in January 2019. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Urban Institute (Sheffield), CLES and NEF are co-founding partners and fellow steering group members. |
| Impact | This is a new initiative to coordinate and develop municipalist thinking and action in the UK. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Article by Jonathan Davies in Huffington Post |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Jonathan Davies published this piece in the Huffington Post in the aftermath of the June 2017 General election on the question of whether austerity in the UK could really be drawing to an end. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/professor-jonathan-davies-127/austerity_b_17095092.html |
| Description | Article by Jonathan Davies in Red Pepper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to contribute an article to Red Pepper exploring the relationship between austerity in the UK and the then government's commitments to devolution. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.redpepper.org.uk/localism-without-politics/ |
| Description | Blog post - project overview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We have established a Centre, website, blog and twitter account as vehicles for publicity, dissemination and impact of project research. The link below provides the basic description of the project and its goals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.dmu.ac.uk/research/research-faculties-and-institutes/business-and-law/centre-for-urban-re... |
| Description | Blog post on disability and the bedroom tax |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Blog post by the PI, Jonathan Davies, on Disability and the Bedroom Tax, drawing on exploratory research undertaken in Leicester. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/2016/01/27/disability-and-the-bedroom-tax-discretionary-payments-violate-s... |
| Description | CURA blog on the Barcelona case study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Blanco, I., Bianchi, I. and Salazar, Y. Transforming Barcelona's Urban Model? Limits and potentials for radical change under a radical left government. Blog Post. Centre for Urban Research on Austerity. h |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/2017/03/15/transforming-barcelonas-urban-model-limits-and-potentials-for-... |
| Description | Case study blogs - phase 1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Nine blog-postings on our research findings from phase 1: one overview piece and a piece each on Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Melbourne, Montreal and Nantes. Our blog stats indicate that the blogs were accessed by several hundred people and they received a degree of attention on twitter. We also reposted them all on the Urban Transformations website but have no data about engagement statistics from that. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/category/austerity-governance/ |
| Description | Community Wealth Building Unit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Several meetings of the UK Labour Party's Community Wealth Building Unit since March 2018. I was invited to become an advisor on this group as a direct outcome of the research and the international lessons it provides. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| URL | http://communitywealthbuilding.org.uk |
| Description | Daily Politics - Sunday 21st January 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | On Sunday 21st January 2018, BBC1 East Midlands broadcast an episode of Daily Politics featuring a report of our research in the city of Leicester, followed by a studio debate involving the PI, Professor Jonathan Davies, Andrew Bridgen MP and Dame Glenis Willmott, former leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Dissemination Workshop - Melbourne |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Dandenong case study with local stakeholders. The event was held on 27th June 2019, supported by the draft of a policy brief subsequently added to our list of publications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | Dissemination workshop - Nantes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Nantes case study with Nantes stakeholders. The event was held on 19th September 2018, co-organised with GAELA, a local community association in Nantes. The workshop was a 2 hour public debate to discuss the final report, Governing in and against austerity. The format was a 15 minute presentation followed by roundtable discussion with representatives of GAELA and civil society in Nantes, followed by discussion with the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Founding meeting of the Municipal Action, Research and Advocacy Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The inaugural meeting of the Municipal Action, Research and Advocacy Network was held on 22nd January in Sheffield. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Inaugural Conference - Centre for Urban Research on Austerity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The inaugural conference of the Centre for Urban Research on Austerity involved a mix of academics, post-graduates and professional practitioners, including an interviewee in the exploratory phase of the current research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.dmu.ac.uk/CURA2015 |
| Description | Interview for New Statesman Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Jonathan Davies interviewed by Jake Blumgart, about arguments for and against austerity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.newstatesman.com/business/finance/2020/12/businesses-are-already-asking-governments-stop... |
| Description | Jonathan Davies article in Municipal Journal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Jonathan Davies was invited to write an article for Municipal Journal on the intersections of COVID-19, austerity and sweatshop labour in the city of Leicester, which drew from our research in the city. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.themj.co.uk/Leicesters-Politicised-Lockdown-A-warning-to-local-government/218209 |
| Description | Jonathan Davies interviewed by Peter Goodman for the Independent |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed by Peter Goodman, who published pieces citing me both in the New York Times (separate entry) and in the Independent, on the impact and prospects for austerity in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/britain-austerity-changing-everything-prescot-food-ban... |
| Description | Jonathan Davies interviewed by Peter Goodman for the New York Times |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I was approached for an interview by the journalist Peter Goodman, for an extended series of articles on UK austerity and its consequences in the New York Times. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/world/europe/uk-austerity-poverty.html |
| Description | Journal article by Jonathan Davies et al cited in Daily Telegraph |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The research was cited by Laura Onita in the Daily Telegraph on 14th July 2020 in relation to the continuing scandal of sweatshop labour in Leicester's garment industry. The article cites from: Davies J S, Bua A, Cortina-Oriol M and Thompson E. 2020. Why is Austerity Governable? A Gramscian Urban Regime Analysis of Leicester, UK. Journal of Urban Affairs. 42(1): 56-74. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/07/14/fast-fashions-sins-have-hiding-plain-sight/ |
| Description | Labour Party Community Wealth Building Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to speak at this conference on 8.2.18 and to present examples of international lessons on how cities cope with and resist austerity. The conference was held to launch Labour's new Community Wealth Building Unit, on which I have also been engaged as an advisor, as a direct result of research on this project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://events.labour.org.uk/event/105422 |
| Description | Media Review of publication drawing on project research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A Greek national media review of Chorianopoulos, I. & Pagonis, T. (2020) Tracing the Mediterranean city: Urbanism, planning and governance in metropolitan Athens. Athens: Kritiki. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.efsyn.gr/tehnes/ekdoseis-biblia/anoihto-biblio/271592_mia-neo-gkramsiani-ermineia-stin-a... |
| Description | National media interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview with the Times Higher on the goals of this ESRC study of austerity governance, and the Centre for Urban Research on Austerity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/impact-of-austerity-politics-charted-by-de-montfort-centre |
| Description | Podcast by Professor Helen Sullivan on the Asia & Pacific Policy Society Policy Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Despite the fact that more and more people are moving to cities globally, some places are increasingly struggling with slower population growth, lower incomes and higher unemployment rates. One example of such urban decline is Dandenong, a diverse multicultural suburb of Melbourne, that has been facing a number of social and economic challenges. On this episode, we talk to Crawford School Director Professor Helen Sullivan about her research into the revitalisation of Dandenong, and the story it tells about cultural pluralism and the importance of collaboration between different levels of government. Helen also discusses why policymakers must pause and listen first if they want to create successful revitalisation plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.policyforum.net/podcast-revitalising-urban-areas-with-helen-sullivan/ |
| Description | Professor Helen Sullivan discusses the "comeback city" of Dandenong in the Conversation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Drawing on their research for this project, Professor Helen Sullivan with Dr Hayley Henderson and Professor Brendan Gleeson explain the political economy of revitalisation in the city of Greater Dandenong. The objective is to spread knowledge of the project and its findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/comeback-city-lessons-from-revitalising-a-diverse-place-like-dandenong-1... |
| Description | Project Workshop - Athens |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, a defined project outcome, took place in December 2017. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Athens case study with Athens stakeholders. These included trade unions, elected local politicians and senior policy-makers, NGOs and philanthrocapitalist organisations, representatives of informal solidarity networks, activists and members of cooperative enterprises. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Project Workshop - Baltimore |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, a defined project outcome, took place in July 2017. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Baltimore case study with Baltimore stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Project Workshop - Barcelona |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, a defined project outcome, took place in June 2017. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Barcelona case study with Barcelona stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Project Workshop - Dublin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, a defined project outcome, took place in September 2017. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Dublin case study to local stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Project Workshop - Leicester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, held in January 2018 was a defined project outcome targeted mainly at project respondents. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Leicester case study with local stakeholders. In this instance, local stakeholders were most interested to hear about what was happening in international case studies and received presentations on the case studies in Barcelona and Nantes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Project Workshop - Montreal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, a defined project outcome, took place in October 2017. The objective was to present an overview of key international project findings and discuss details of the Montreal case study to local stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/rkeil/status/918575942875996161 |
| Description | Research quoted in article in Domain - local business media |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | An interview with project investigator Dr Hayley Henderson cited at length in this article about the way in which Dandenong became a revitalised city. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.domain.com.au/news/how-dandenong-became-a-revitalised-second-city-for-greater-melbourne-... |
| Description | Stakeholder workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The conference held on 27th June 2018 built on our report "Governing in and Against Austerity", creating an international academic/practitioner/activist exchange around the possibilities and potentialities for new forms of municipalism as alternatives to austerity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/2018/05/14/conference-registration-open-municipal-socialism-in-the-21st-ce... |
| Description | Steven Griggs presentation to Conference of Nantes en Commun on 28th November 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Conference organised for Professor Steven Griggs to present our research on the politics of eight cities governing in and against austerity. Margot Medkour, head of the Nantes en Commun list for the forthcoming municipal elections responded to Professor Griggs' presentation and its implications for the new electoral platform. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.nantesencommun.org/events/conference-la-ville-de-nantes-face-et-contre-lausterite/ |
| Description | Workshop presentation - Equality and Democracy in Local and City Government |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to present research from the project at this event, which brought together key stakeholders in the community wealth building and new municipalist milieu, including a number of colleagues in the Community Wealth Building Unit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/public-lectures/spring-2019/equality-democracy/ |
| Description | Workshop: Urban Governance and City Policies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture on "urban alternatives to austerity" at the Barcelona.Gov Winter School on "Urban Governance and City Policies", on 25th January 2019. The goal of this School was to create a space for exchanging experiences and debating the development of public policy in cities. The event was co-organised by our local investigator, Dr Ismael Blanco, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and hosted at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona from 23-25 January 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://barcelonagov.net/en/cursos/gobernanza-urbana-y-politicas-de-ciudad |