Scaling Up Co-Design research and practice: building community-academic capacity and extending reach
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Engineering & Innovation
Abstract
Co-design, the direct engagement of all stakeholders in design activities for the purpose of addressing complex problems, is seen as a way for supporting and enhancing collective creativity and leading to better, more sustainable solutions. Co-design is also becoming an important theme in community research and within community-academic partnerships. The summit organized by the AHRC-led Connected Communities program in July 2012 highlighted the need to tackle the theme of 'community engagement in and with research'.
Within this context, the co-design and co-delivery of research and practice in community-academic partnerships is increasingly seen as a valuable paradigm for tackling complex social problems based on the principles of shared vision, equitable involvement, ownership and trust, capacity building and relevance. Despite their differences, those involved (community groups, community organisations and academics) recognize that through their partnership and interconnections they can create new opportunities for innovation and build their ability to identify and solve complex issues that would not have been possible to do alone. However this is not a trivial task. It requires the development of a shared vision, equitable involvement and trust, and overcoming limitations in resources, but also differences in culture, terminology/language used and methodology/practice. This challenge sets the scene for this project.
The project proposes and reflects on a process for co-designing research in community-academic partnerships based on set of co-creative techniques that we call 'Design by Consensus'. The process is based on 'role playing' and collaborative visioning techniques. The aim of the proposed process is to unleash and build upon the intrinsic capacities of communities, community organizations and academic institutions in order to form a common research vision, helping scale up their practice and extend their reach. This process will result to the following outputs:
- the development of a visionary code of practice/framework for community-academic co-creation and co-delivery of research using a set of shared principles;
- the specification of research agendas that can help community-academic partnerships build their capacity using their existing assets and extend their reach and practice;
- the production of a 'sketchbook/notebook of reflections' that aims to visually record reflections but also emotions for the proposed process, community-academic partnership and their outputs.
The above outputs set the foundation for the co-delivery of research in phase 2.
Within this context, the co-design and co-delivery of research and practice in community-academic partnerships is increasingly seen as a valuable paradigm for tackling complex social problems based on the principles of shared vision, equitable involvement, ownership and trust, capacity building and relevance. Despite their differences, those involved (community groups, community organisations and academics) recognize that through their partnership and interconnections they can create new opportunities for innovation and build their ability to identify and solve complex issues that would not have been possible to do alone. However this is not a trivial task. It requires the development of a shared vision, equitable involvement and trust, and overcoming limitations in resources, but also differences in culture, terminology/language used and methodology/practice. This challenge sets the scene for this project.
The project proposes and reflects on a process for co-designing research in community-academic partnerships based on set of co-creative techniques that we call 'Design by Consensus'. The process is based on 'role playing' and collaborative visioning techniques. The aim of the proposed process is to unleash and build upon the intrinsic capacities of communities, community organizations and academic institutions in order to form a common research vision, helping scale up their practice and extend their reach. This process will result to the following outputs:
- the development of a visionary code of practice/framework for community-academic co-creation and co-delivery of research using a set of shared principles;
- the specification of research agendas that can help community-academic partnerships build their capacity using their existing assets and extend their reach and practice;
- the production of a 'sketchbook/notebook of reflections' that aims to visually record reflections but also emotions for the proposed process, community-academic partnership and their outputs.
The above outputs set the foundation for the co-delivery of research in phase 2.
Planned Impact
The beneficiaries and the relevance of the proposed project is described as follows:
- Local communities such as communities that focus on neighbourhood planning, regeneration, activism etc. will be given the opportunity to engage in a process of identifying issues and ideas for research that will be useful and relevant to them. Phase 2 will also give them the opportunity to realize some of these ideas or address some of these issues. Local communities that are not participating in the co-design and co-delivery process can still benefit from the proposed techniques developed, the recorded reflections (i.e. our visual notebook of reflections) but also the underlying network of community-academic partnerships that this project will create. It is worth noting that people living in communities for which interventions will be designed in Phase 2 will be also indirect beneficiaries of the project.
- Community-based organizations - such as charities, social enterprises, and third sector organizations in general will directly benefit from the project, as they will acquire access to knowledge and innovative ways for building their capacity and extending the reach of their practice using existing assets. This will have an indirect economic benefit as it will allow them to 'achieve more for less', by finding ways to overcome existing limitations in resources through building on the power of the created network.
- Research institutions will benefit from the exploration of how they can extend their reach and impact on the ground. As is the case with community-based organisations, the code of practice will be directly usable in this as well as future projects and collaborations.
- Individuals working with or in communities. This may include co-design practitioners and community leaders that would benefit from the reflections and insights emerging from the process. In the course of the project, the 'Design by Consensus' process will be developed and evaluated for its effectiveness in helping create a shared vision, and bring different stakeholders and interests together. The process will therefore be a further asset that can be used by individuals facilitating co-design and co-production activities.
- Policy-makers within national and local government will benefit from gaining insight into strategies for building capacity by exploiting the interdependencies between communities, community based organizations and research institutions. Successful projects from phase 2 will be valuable case studies and can provide evidence to support policies that foster collaborations between academics, community organisations and local communities.
The project activities and insights are expected to have impact on the social, economic and cultural making of UK communities, on the innovation capacity of community-based organizations and on policy-making in UK. More specifically:
- The project will develop of a set of strategies that aim to help community organizations to build their capacity exploiting their existing assets. This will help foster economic competitiveness of local communities and community-based organizations and as a result contribute to the economic competitiveness of the UK.
- The proposed 'design by consensus process' aims to help uncover and build interconnections and cultural diversity within communities and community-academic partnerships. The project will therefore help mobilize interconnections and cultural diversity of local communities and therefore improve quality of life as people and communities will be better equipped to help each other.
- The project aims to identify a research agenda allowing community-academic partnerships to address social problems or pursue ideas for social change in ways that were not possible before. Through capacity building, the project will therefore support social innovation in community based organizations and policy-making.
- Local communities such as communities that focus on neighbourhood planning, regeneration, activism etc. will be given the opportunity to engage in a process of identifying issues and ideas for research that will be useful and relevant to them. Phase 2 will also give them the opportunity to realize some of these ideas or address some of these issues. Local communities that are not participating in the co-design and co-delivery process can still benefit from the proposed techniques developed, the recorded reflections (i.e. our visual notebook of reflections) but also the underlying network of community-academic partnerships that this project will create. It is worth noting that people living in communities for which interventions will be designed in Phase 2 will be also indirect beneficiaries of the project.
- Community-based organizations - such as charities, social enterprises, and third sector organizations in general will directly benefit from the project, as they will acquire access to knowledge and innovative ways for building their capacity and extending the reach of their practice using existing assets. This will have an indirect economic benefit as it will allow them to 'achieve more for less', by finding ways to overcome existing limitations in resources through building on the power of the created network.
- Research institutions will benefit from the exploration of how they can extend their reach and impact on the ground. As is the case with community-based organisations, the code of practice will be directly usable in this as well as future projects and collaborations.
- Individuals working with or in communities. This may include co-design practitioners and community leaders that would benefit from the reflections and insights emerging from the process. In the course of the project, the 'Design by Consensus' process will be developed and evaluated for its effectiveness in helping create a shared vision, and bring different stakeholders and interests together. The process will therefore be a further asset that can be used by individuals facilitating co-design and co-production activities.
- Policy-makers within national and local government will benefit from gaining insight into strategies for building capacity by exploiting the interdependencies between communities, community based organizations and research institutions. Successful projects from phase 2 will be valuable case studies and can provide evidence to support policies that foster collaborations between academics, community organisations and local communities.
The project activities and insights are expected to have impact on the social, economic and cultural making of UK communities, on the innovation capacity of community-based organizations and on policy-making in UK. More specifically:
- The project will develop of a set of strategies that aim to help community organizations to build their capacity exploiting their existing assets. This will help foster economic competitiveness of local communities and community-based organizations and as a result contribute to the economic competitiveness of the UK.
- The proposed 'design by consensus process' aims to help uncover and build interconnections and cultural diversity within communities and community-academic partnerships. The project will therefore help mobilize interconnections and cultural diversity of local communities and therefore improve quality of life as people and communities will be better equipped to help each other.
- The project aims to identify a research agenda allowing community-academic partnerships to address social problems or pursue ideas for social change in ways that were not possible before. Through capacity building, the project will therefore support social innovation in community based organizations and policy-making.
Organisations
- The Open University (Lead Research Organisation)
- One Westminster (Collaboration)
- SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Arts University Bournemouth (Collaboration)
- NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Silent Cities (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Flossie (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Glass-House Community Led Design (Collaboration)
- Blackwood Foundation (Collaboration)
- OpenSensors.io (Collaboration)
- Fossbox (Collaboration)
- Young Citizens (Collaboration)
- OpenStreetMap france (Collaboration)
- Brunel University London (Collaboration)
- Lend Lease Group (Collaboration)
- Blackwood (Project Partner)
- The Glass-House Community Led Design (Project Partner)
Publications
Alexiou, K.
(2015)
Learning from the use of media in community-led design projects
in Journal of Cultural Science
Dearden A
(2014)
Scaling up co-design
Dearden A
(2014)
Scaling Up Co-Design: Research Projects as Design Things
in Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference
Lam B
(2018)
Design and Creative Methods as a Practice of Liminality in Community-Academic Research Projects
in The Design Journal
The Open University And The Glass-House Community Led Design Editors
(2014)
Scaling up Co-Design: a journey of collaboration in research, practice and communities
Zamenopoulos T
(2020)
Collective design anticipation
in Futures
Zamenopoulos T
(2018)
Co-design as collaborative research
Zamenopoulos T
(2019)
Types, obstacles and sources of empowerment in co-design: the role of shared material objects and processes
in CoDesign
Zamenopoulos T
(2013)
Living document on 'scaling up co-design' principles of collaboration
| Title | Cascading box |
| Description | The cascading box can be described as a collaborative cultural probe - that is as a technique for inspiring/sharing ideas, connecting people and collaboratively generating data for supporting design thinking. More specifically, it is a participatory activity of visual and text based story creation based on a box that is passed from one person to another. The box is passed from one person to another with the objective to cascade a message and it involves the collaborative creation of pictures and |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Impact | The cascading box is a methodological contribution in creative research methods. The technique has gained some attention from researchers in conferences that was presented |
| Title | Scaling Up Co-Design Showcase Video |
| Description | The video describes the Scaling up project, its aims and principles and covers activities and discussions that took place at the project's final dissemination event. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Impact | The video was disseminated to a wider audience at the AHRC Cardiff Festival and the Creative Citizen Conference in 2014. |
| URL | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4_AGn_vLkY |
| Title | Visual notebook of reflections from Phase 1 of the Scaling Up project |
| Description | This is a video footage from the workshops during Phase 1 of the project edited together using spontaneous interviews with the academic and community partners of the project, carried out by Silent Cities and Hannah Goraya. The creation of the video was part of a methodology that aimed to generate and capture (visual) reflections about the concepts, methods and outputs of the project during phase 1. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | The videos helped to evaluate the impact of the project and reflect on its effect on the partners involved. It has been also used as a dissemination tool. |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/phase-1-reflections.html |
| Description | This project focussed on co-design practices within civil society organisations, and how these practices and their impact on people and society can be scaled up. This action research project experimented with various ways of 'scaling up co-design' in real situations. The term co-design was used to describe a process where people and civil society groups are sharing the conceptualization and development of ideas through collaborative action and making. The core learning outcomes of the project can be summarised as follows: 1) Four ways of scaling up: 'Scaling up' has been generally approached as a process of connecting people and organizations with the aim of producing outputs and impacts that couldn't be achieved by those people working alone (e.g. through sharing their skills, expertise or other resources). Against the typical view of scaling up as 'growing bigger', this project experimentally identified four alternative interpretations of scaling up that gave more emphasis on the generation of creative connections between people/organizations and the propagation of practices within this network. More specifically, the project identified the following four ways of scaling up co-design: - Scaling up by extending out: This type was exemplified by co-design practices that were developed to form a 'socio-technical infrastructure' that helps reach and connect more people in different geographical places or contexts and allows them to work collaboratively. - Scaling up by extending up: This type was exemplified by co-design practices that foster connections and collaborations with policy makers and gatekeepers. - Scaling up by spreading practice: This type was exemplified by co-design practices that generate 'champions' or 'ambassadors' that propagate practices within new contexts. - Scaling up by connecting: This type was exemplified by co-design practices that are developed by connecting practices, skills and expertise of people and organizations. 2) The cross-pollination mechanism for scaling up: The project team co-developed and evaluated a mechanism (referred to as cross-pollination) for scaling up co-design. The proposed mechanism was based on the principle of sharing resources and practices through a process of identifying commonalities but also complementarity of resources and skills. The proposed model of scaling up through cross-pollination resulted in: - A significant increase in the connectivity and size of the original network within a year - The generation of new projects or activities that went beyond the timescale of the project - The generation of champions that carry out similar practices beyond the confines of the specific research project An audit with all the original partners and other evaluation workshops revealed that this project had a positive impact for the involved organizations in terms of their capacity to secure new projects, diversification of their offering, visibility of their projects and reach to more communities. For more information see the project website: http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/project-activities-and-outputs.html |
| Exploitation Route | The project developed a model for scaling up co-design practice ('cross-pollination') and created a network of organisations that continue to collaborate with each other. The organisations and individuals involved were able to strengthen their expertise in co-design, develop their confidence and reputation, and put their skills and knowledge at work in new activities and projects (beyond the original project). Examples include the Sheffield Age Better initiative and toolkit, and new collaborative research projects (like the Evaluating Intangible Legacies, and Co-designing Asset Mapping projects). The practice and resources created (including the scaling up booklet, video, the cascading box and other resources on the project website) can be of use to a range of beneficiaries who are looking to scale up their practice: civil society organizations (e.g. charities, social enterprises); professionals and volunteers working with communities; as well as research institutions. The project also hopes to support further exploration of community-academic partnerships aiming to reshape the relation between university and society. One such partnership is currently explored between the Design Group at The Open University and The Glass-House Community Led Design. Finally, academic presentations and publications are hoped to contribute to knowledge of co-design practices within different domains (IT, design, media etc). |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/project-activities-and-outputs.html |
| Description | There is evidence of positive impact on all civil society organizations that took part in the project. The project used a variety of methods to capture the effects of the project activities and outputs on individuals, organisations and their practice. Methods included an audit, interviews, and other tools (like impact maps, questionnaires etc). - Changes on organizational practices and culture All partner organizations expressed the view that cross-pollination practices of the project helped them reflect, rethink and develop some of their practices. In certain cases this involved advancing current practice and in some others change of thinking about the use co-design and co-production within the organization. - Building an economy The majority of participating organizations claimed that they improved their capacity to secure new funding because of the created network and practices of this project. Often there was a direct link with a successful outcome (e.g. Sheffield Age Better initiative) or a new funded project. In certain cases this new stream of funding was critical for the viability and development of those of organizations. - Building capacity and new partnerships All partner organizations felt that they 'addressed issues that couldn't address before' or that they 'addressed issues in a more holistic way'. Moreover, some partners claimed that this project helped them built new connections with other civil society organizations but also built their partnership with research institutions. - Reaching (more) local communities Some project partners claimed that cross-pollination approaches helped them to have bigger impact by reaching or working with more diverse communities and by spreading their practices and outputs to wider audiences. Feedback and interviews carried out with local communities support the view that communities appreciated the quality and diversity of the creative support that was offered. Moreover, the propagation of successful practices in more communities has been developed through the generation of 'champions' or 'ambassadors'. An example is a Brunel PhD student who used the approaches of the project and applied them in her own context (designing technology for families), with some mentoring from the research project. - Reaching the private and public sector The project explored the development of connections between civil society organizations with private organizations and the public sector. In particular, there are some indications that the collaboration between local communities, community organizations and private developers could lead to a new collaborative project in the future. A private developer that collaborated in the project expressed the desire to rethink practise and continue working with similar approaches in the future. Summary: All the above results indicate that this project has a demonstrable contribution to civil society and in particular to civil society organizations in UK. Although the number of organizations who benefited (directly or indirectly) is still not very large, it has to be noted the overall economic/social and cultural impact is likely to spread beyond those organizations. That is because the above benefits are propagated to the communities that these organizations support (or are connected to) but also because the network itself is still in operation. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Collaboration with GLA (Great London Authority) to deliver cross-pollination workshop at the launch of a hub on community-led housing |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Providing insights and advice to the Cabinet Office and the Head of Civil Society Insights Team on policies for community mobilisation (and the role of third sector organisations) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | Providing insights to DCLG policy advisors and analysts on community mobilisation and the role of third sector organisations |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | Connected Communities Festival 2014: Second Call |
| Amount | £10,200 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2014 |
| End | 12/2014 |
| Description | Connected Communities Summit 2013 Development Awards (Legacy Projects) |
| Amount | £99,772 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/L013142/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2014 |
| End | 03/2015 |
| Description | Connected Communities and Design Highlight Notice |
| Amount | £1,495,892 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/M001709/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2014 |
| End | 10/2019 |
| Description | Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better |
| Amount | £5,920,107 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Big Lottery Fund |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Title | Cross-pollination |
| Description | Cross pollination is a method for understanding and creating a sharing economy of interests and assets (skills but also material resources) and build shared projects where other people can contribute or benefit from. The method often results in the creation of collaborations, partnerships as well as the development of internally or externally funded projects. The process is delivered through workshops or as a programme of interactions and it has been associated with various materials to facilitate the delivery of these events. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The cross-pollination approach has been used and it is still used by a number of organisations. Here we present some notable examples: A) Silent Cities, one of the CSOs that took part in the project proposed co-design concepts and practices that were part of the cross-pollination strategy to the South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) as tools for tackling isolation of elderly people. This collaboration grew independently from the project and led to the creation of a toolkit that was a core component in a successful Big Lottery bid. The cross-pollination concept and methods thus leveraged almost £6m to tackle isolation among the elderly in Sheffield. The toolkit was shared with organisations across Sheffield who support older people. Over 40 organisations have implemented the co-design based toolkit and 43,000 toolkits will be disseminated reaching an estimate of 12,000 elderly people. B) The Glass-House Community Led Design is using the cross-pollination approach as part of their practice and services offered to a variety of organisations, from the public, community and private sector. They have for example delivered two cross-pollination workshops with Housing Associations (29th Sept 2015 and 12 January 2016) as well as other events. C) The GLA (Great London Authority) invited the PI to support the development and delivery of a cross-pollination event for community-led housing. The event hosted 100 professionals and stakeholders that are key players in community led housing. |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/8/5/12856329/scaling-up_booklet_spreads.pdf |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Arts University Bournemouth |
| Department | Architecture |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Blackwood Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Brunel University London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Citizenship Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Flossie |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Flossie |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Fossbox |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Glass-House Community Led Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Lend Lease Group |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Northumbria University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Northumbria University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Northumbria University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | One Westminster |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | OpenSensors.io |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | OpenStreetMap france |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Sheffield Hallam University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Community-Academic partnerships |
| Organisation | Silent Cities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | All the academic institutions involved in the project, helped develop and deliver projects with the community partners to support their needs and aspirations. Academics brought their expertise in co-design processes in different domains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The community partners brought their individual expertise in the design of the research and co-production activities, helping connect with other organisations and the communities they serve and disseminate activities and findings. |
| Impact | 1. Cross-pollination projects: e.g. - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential - Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users - Trello tool for Collaborative Funding Applications in Voluntary Sector 2. New partnerships e.g. - Glass-House/OU partnership - Fossbox/Blackwood Foundation - Glass-House/Silent Cities 3. Publications 4. Dissemination events -Final Dissemination event -Showcase at AHRC Cardiff Festival |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Fossbox and Blackwood foundation partnership |
| Organisation | Blackwood Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Provide the space and approach for this collaboration to happen |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise and resources |
| Impact | - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Fossbox and Blackwood foundation partnership |
| Organisation | Fossbox |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Provide the space and approach for this collaboration to happen |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise and resources |
| Impact | - OSM Smart: crowdsourced mapping and navigation of accessible routes for wheelchair users |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Glass-House and Open University Partnership |
| Organisation | Glass-House Community Led Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Design Group/MCT Faculty at The Open University offered Research Fellowships to all members of staff of The Glass-House Community Led Design and supports Glass-House activities such as the Debate Series. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Glass-House contributed to the development of research proposals and resources and thinking about the creation of joint training resources in the future (open educational materials). |
| Impact | Research projects (Empowering Design Practices: historic places of worship as catalysts for connecting communities) Scaling up and Unearth Hidden Assets booklets Glass-House Debate Series 2014/2015 |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Silent Cities and Glass-House |
| Organisation | Glass-House Community Led Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Provide the space and approach for this collaboration to happen |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise, skills and resources |
| Impact | - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Silent Cities and Glass-House |
| Organisation | Silent Cities |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Provide the space and approach for this collaboration to happen |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise, skills and resources |
| Impact | - Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle - Community Journalism and Place Potential |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Title | Scaling Up Co-Design Online Platform |
| Description | Online interface and management system for collaborative working that included: - Forums - File sharing space - Integration of Google hangout facility - Project calendar |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | Facilitated the collaboration between project partners and created a digital archive of project activities |
| URL | http://cohere.fossbox.webfactional.com/ |
| Description | AHRC Connected Communities Festival (Cardiff) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Scaling up and Unearth Hidden Assets research projects had an exhibition stand at the Connected Communities Festival, to disseminate information about the projects and their findings, to stimulate thinking and to help connect with a variety of audiences. Around 50 people came to the exhibition stand, picked up the project publications and participated in the Cascading box activity. The Cascading box activity helped people connect to one other and share their views about co-design. The Cascading box raised interest in the processes used within the research projects and generated connections between people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Community Journalism and Place Potential |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Community Journalism programme run by Silent Cities offered aspiring journalists, many of them with first-hand experience of silent issues, to develop their digital skills to explore Sheffield's silent issues - from homelessness to mental health. Silent Cities and The Glass-House Community Led Design identified an opportunity to support the journalists to explore issues around how place can exclude and include, through a day-long workshop run by The Glass-House. The workshop also involved an interview with a member of Blackwood Foundation's Bespoken network, George Perfect, who gave the journalists his first-hand experience of navigating place with a disability. The journalists went out into the local area armed with various media tools to capture some of the opportunities and challenges of this neighbourhood, before producing and presenting outputs on their sensory and emotional interaction with place. The Community Journalism and place potential programme had a direct impact on participants confidence and professional development. Most notably, following The Glass-House workshop with the Community Journalists, two Community Journalists - El Veasey and Faiza Omar - worked with Silent Cities' founder Justine Gaubert and members of The Glass-House team to develop and deliver the media training day programme and contributed to the content of a Resource Book, produced by The Glass-House as part of the young people's programme in Elephant and Castle. While they contributed to the work of The Glass-House in London, El and Faiza gained valuable skills and confidence, valuable life and employment skills (El feels that this experience has brought a new level of awareness to her emerging work as an occupational therapist, while for Faiza the experience has shown her London in a new light and further inspired a desire to travel and to live in London), and they have continued to develop as Community Journalists delivering work for Silent Cities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/8/5/12856329/scaling-up_booklet_spreads.pdf |
| Description | Flossie 2013: Diversifying Design and Smart Assistive Environments |
| 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 two days workshop developed innovative concept designs for Smart Assistive Environments. The concept designs were developed in the intersection of product design, architecture and human-computer interaction (HCI). Invited architecture students from Arts University Bournemouth and students from Brunel University learned about co-design approaches but also about current technology trends. They worked with the Open University and other partners to explore ways in which emerging technologies could be integrated into the design of the built environment, with an emphasis on assisted living. The Flossie workshop was used by participants as a model for organising other co-design workshops and integrating research with design. Notably, a participant secured an impact acceleration grant from Brunel University to run similar workshops that focused on the use of technology in family cars. The scaling up research project team were invited in an advisory role |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.flossie.org/content/diversifying-internet-things |
| Description | Place-making workshops for young people in Elephant and Castle |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A three one day training workshop gave young people (aged 14-15) at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Elephant and Castle an opportunity to explore their immediate surroundings within the school, culminating in the production and presentation of photography, film and podcasts based on this exploration. The Glass-House in collaboration with project partners Silent Cities, the Open University, Blackwood Foundation and Northumbria University, and with other partners including Lend Lease and Sacred Heart Catholic School, delivered these workshops. A group of twenty Year 10 students were given the opportunity to develop their design and media skills to explore their place and think about the qualities they would like to see in a new open space to be developed in Elephant and Castle. Students not only developed design and media skills, but also improved their analytical, communication and team-working skills, and were empowered to contribute to the future development of their neighbourhood. Pupils reflected and provided feedback about their experience. The most notable results were: - A better understanding and interest on media production and place making (in particular through film and photography) - An increased confidence and understanding about the value of collaboration in design project - A better understanding of challenges related to place-making - An increased understanding of issues around accessibility in cities The private developer might use this experience for further engagement with other schools |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/8/5/12856329/scaling-up_booklet_spreads.pdf |
| Description | Scaling up Final Dissemination Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This one day event was organised in order to share the project outcomes, stimulate discussions and connect with wider audiences (academic, third sector organisations, policy makers, businesses). Around 50 attended and participated in workshop activities. The activities involved sharing experiences, generating ideas for projects and reflecting on co-design approaches. The event supported networking and helped spark new ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://scalingup-codesign.weebly.com/project-activities-and-outputs.html |
| Description | Scaling up video show at Creative Citizens conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | The video was shown as part of the Creative Citizens exhibition. The video helped open a discussion about scaling up co-design within civil society organisations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Workshop on Sparking Connections at AHRC Co-Creating Cities and Communities Summer Forum in Bristol |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A workshop entitled 'Sparking Connections: how cities co-design their future' was delivered at AHRC's Co-Creating Cities and Communities Summer Forum in Bristol by a team consisting Theodore Zamenopoulos, Katerina Alexiou and Sophia de Sousa and Louise Dredge from the Glass-House Community Led Design. This workshop invited participants to follow a process that we call cross-pollination, to collaboratively generate a wide range of ideas for citizen led place-making projects. These project ideas were grounded on existing assets and resources identified in the room and formed the basis for exploring what are the capacities that are required to initiate and lead such projects. This work draws on a number of different AHRC funded projects in which the convenors have worked together in, focussed on co-design, co-production and creative citizenship. Participants reported that the most valuable aspect of the workshop was learning about and experiencing the proposed method for discussing and sharing community challenges, assets and generating ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |