A road map for big society research and impact
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Computing & Communications
Abstract
"Big Society Research"
(www.bigsocietyresearch.com) was a networking project that brought together academics from multiple disciplines as well as governmental, charity and private sector individuals to discuss existing research relevant to the 'big society', to identify research gaps, and to brainstorm future research directions.
The project ran four interdisciplinary workshops, each based around a central theme relevant to 'big society'. Key gaps identified were: (1) Lack of an evaluation framework for planning and measuring social innovation interventions. Despite hundreds of case studies in citizen-led societal change, there is no single repository for lessons learned and few guidelines for future initiatives; (2) Lack of research into institutional structures that support localism. Universities and organisations are often structured in a way that is in conflict with citizen-led initiatives (cf. the individuality of PhD study). Research should be undertaken to suggest new organisational structures; (3) More research into the concept of 'listening'. A big issue in any locally-oriented initiative is the ability to listen to a full cross section of community voices; (4) There is a need for a structural macroeconomic model to analyse the current faults in the system and to evaluate from an economic perspective the value of localism.
(www.bigsocietyresearch.com) was a networking project that brought together academics from multiple disciplines as well as governmental, charity and private sector individuals to discuss existing research relevant to the 'big society', to identify research gaps, and to brainstorm future research directions.
The project ran four interdisciplinary workshops, each based around a central theme relevant to 'big society'. Key gaps identified were: (1) Lack of an evaluation framework for planning and measuring social innovation interventions. Despite hundreds of case studies in citizen-led societal change, there is no single repository for lessons learned and few guidelines for future initiatives; (2) Lack of research into institutional structures that support localism. Universities and organisations are often structured in a way that is in conflict with citizen-led initiatives (cf. the individuality of PhD study). Research should be undertaken to suggest new organisational structures; (3) More research into the concept of 'listening'. A big issue in any locally-oriented initiative is the ability to listen to a full cross section of community voices; (4) There is a need for a structural macroeconomic model to analyse the current faults in the system and to evaluate from an economic perspective the value of localism.
Organisations
| Description | The project ran four interdisciplinary workshops, each based around a central theme relevant to 'big society'. Key gaps identified were: (1) Lack of an evaluation framework for planning and measuring social innovation interventions. Despite hundreds of case studies in citizen-led societal change, there is no single repository for lessons learned and few guidelines for future initiatives; (2) Lack of research into institutional structures that support localism. Universities and organisations are often structured in a way that is in conflict with citizen-led initiatives (cf. the individuality of PhD study). Research should be undertaken to suggest new organisational structures; (3) More research into the concept of 'listening'. A big issue in any locally-oriented initiative is the ability to listen to a full cross section of community voices; (4) There is a need for a structural macroeconomic model to analyse the current faults in the system and to evaluate from an economic perspective the value of localism. |
| Exploitation Route | The real value of a network like this one, of course, lies not just in the ideas it generates (and the workshops did this in spades), but also in the connections between people that are made. The eclectic mix of disciplines and backgrounds in this project has created new strands and challenged researchers' established way of thinking. The project has identified a number of research gaps, which are summarised below: 1. Although there have been many attempts at case studies for social innovation, these are not 'joined up', which makes learning lessons and replication very difficult. The first project recommendation is for a research programme that will make a detailed study of historical and current case studies and based on these, devise guidelines for successful social innovation projects. These guidelines could include both qualitative and quantitative elements. 2. The second project recommendation is a research programme to investigate whether we need new forms of institutional structures to better support connected communities. For example, PhD study emphasises the work of the individual, which seems to be opposed to the notions of collaboration and community. Research should be instigated that looks at the structures of universities and government and devises new forms of organisational working that better support and involve communities. 3. Finally, one interesting proposal that came out of the Inclusion workshop was a research programme based around the concept of 'listening'. A big issue in any locally-oriented initiative is the ability to listen to a full cross section of community voices. This problem is shared by research projects (who to sample?) as well as government. A proposal was made for a project that would examine the properties of listening and being listened to as a democratic human process. 4. On the financial side, there is a need for a structural macroeconomic model to analyse the current faults in the system. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | The project ran four interdisciplinary workshops, each based around a central theme relevant to 'big society'. Key gaps identified were: (1) Lack of an evaluation framework for planning and measuring social innovation interventions. Despite hundreds of case studies in citizen-led societal change, there is no single repository for lessons learned and few guidelines for future initiatives; (2) Lack of research into institutional structures that support localism. Universities and organisations are often structured in a way that is in conflict with citizen-led initiatives (cf. the individuality of PhD study). Research should be undertaken to suggest new organisational structures; (3) More research into the concept of 'listening'. A big issue in any locally-oriented initiative is the ability to listen to a full cross section of community voices; (4) There is a need for a structural macroeconomic model to analyse the current faults in the system and to evaluate from an economic perspective the value of localism. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | 4 Workshops with Industry, Academic and Government |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 4 workshops led to future collaborations among participants |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Research-funding/Connected-Communities/Scoping-studies-a... |