Empowering Cities of Migration: new methods for citizen involvement and socio-spatial integration
Lead Research Organisation:
Keele University
Department Name: Faculty of Natural Sciences
Abstract
The Empowering Cities of Migration project will create and train a new group of Community-based researchers drawn from marginalised neighbourhoods across three European cities experiencing population change. The researchers will use gender-aware methods to work with local communities, organisations and actors to develop new approaches for involving local people in tackling housing and urban planning problems. Through bringing together existing work undertaken by the project team, the overall intention is to empower local residents to work with housing, migration and planning specialists on creating new housing responses which help to avoid segregation and exclusion in diverse urban places.
| Description | The EMPOWER project led to a number of significant achievements. In terms of methods, a 'Citizen Researcher' model was developed which engaged and empowered local communities and residents in the research process and which gave a voice and influence for those whose skills and experiences are often overlooked by mainstream research. EMPOWER also applied 'Digital Participatory Spatial Analysis' techniques to new contexts of diversity in order to link local residents' perceptions and experiences to policy interventions. Additionally, a new 'Theory of Change' framework was produced to identify how integration and empowerment may become a reality in diverse neighbourhood settings. In terms of new knowledge, the EMPOWER project highlighted how disadvantages experienced by many "hard to reach" communities are driven by structural inequalities. The research identified the discriminatory practices of housing landlords with reference to rents, housing conditions, insecure tenancies and housing access, and which reinforce and perpetuate socio-spatial segregation. Given that many residents did not feel able to challenge such injustices, the research argued for new participatory research approaches to address such issues and to directly involve individuals from different backgrounds in policy making. This will not be easy given current evidence of a lack of engagement in formal decision-making processes that shape the distribution of resources - also known as 'processual' spatial justice. EMPOWER identified important new research questions relating to the experiences of 'place-making'. Indeed, the research noted the importance of i) a sense of belonging to the local neighbourhood; ii) individuals' networks and relations with others; iii) the ability of individuals to develop and express their identity; and iv) feeling safe in the neighbourhood in shaping place-making and participation in decision-making. Furthermore, the research also provided new insights into gender and integration and the challenges faced by female residents seeking to participate. Such challenges included not knowing how to voice concerns, a lack of time to attend meetings, a lack of faith in the democratic process and a belief that their views will not have an impact on decision-making. Moreover, female residents noted how participation was shaped by the availability of childcare and family commitments and community language / cultural barriers, and which has significant implications for women isolated in abusive or vulnerable settings. Additionally, whilst on the whole women felt safe in their neighbourhoods, they spoke of the ways in which they psychologically zoned the neighbourhood into 'safe' and 'unsafe' spaces, and with the latter relating to less occupied 'dark spots'. Finally, EMPOWER provided new insights into the ways in which Civil Society Organisations help to secure integration and empowerment in more vulnerable areas. Such organisations have received less attention to date yet play a crucial role in i) providing 'trusted' meeting places for individuals from different backgrounds to meet and build connections between each other, as well as providing a range of welfare support services; ii) offering work experience opportunities which allow individuals to utilise existing skills or to develop new ones; and iii) acting as an 'anchor' and 'bridging' institution for engaging with residents. |
| Exploitation Route | The Theory of Change framework - focused on issues concerned with integration and empowerment in cities and neighbourhoods subject to migration-driven population change - can be taken forward by public bodies - as well as third sector organisations - to develop initiatives which attempt to secure the integration and empowerment of all individuals. The framework will also enable such organisations to monitor the effect of their initiatives given that the framework includes outputs and outcomes they can measure their work against. The Citizen Research training materials can be used by different public and third sector partners to engage and empower local people in new research / work that focuses on improving the delivery of local services. There is already some evidence of this happening in our case study neighbourhoods in relation to housing and education - this work needs to be developed further. Academics working on issues of super-diversity can utilise our research findings to develop new work on community engagement/empowerment structures in vulnerable and diverse neighbourhoods; tackling gender-based discrimination (especially in relation to housing); securing more effective processes of place-making and spatial justice and in relation to the importance of local mobilisation in shaping social and spatial inclusion. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.hs-gesundheit.de/en/research/the-empowering-cities-of-migration-project |
| Description | The findings from the EMPOWER project are beginning to impact on non-academic and academic partners, although the award has only recently finished and it is relatively early in the impact cycle. Nevertheless, two specific impacts are already becoming evident. The first relates to the ways in which the recruitment and training of 'Citizen Researchers' as part of the EMPOWER project is leading to changes in the way in which public and third / voluntary sector organisations are engaging with local communities to access community specific knowledge. As such, a set of training materials has been produced for recruiting, supporting and utilising local Citizen Researchers , and which organisations are beginning to use to shape their own engagement and empowerment processes. This is helping to generate better knowledge on the needs of local residents in different - and increasingly diverse -European cities and neighbourhoods. In addition, it is contributing to a reconsideration of the ways in which local residents can be involved in different aspects of service design and delivery. The second tangible impact arising from the EMPOWER project - although still in its infancy - relates to the use of a new 'Theory of Change' framework to address issues concerned with the integration and empowerment of local residents. This is of value to non-academic and academic partners. In terms of non-academic partners, the framework - for the very first time - is helping public and third / voluntary sector partners to define and measure the activities, outputs and outcomes they need to make to support integration and empowerment in different cities and neighbourhoods that have experienced migration-driven population change. In this respect, the framework considers housing challenges, community relations, issues of safety and security, access to local services, community involvement in shaping housing / local services and access to citizenship and housing rights. Hence it sets out the types of activities that should be developed to address these issues and offers new ways for partners to be able to measure whether such activities are leading to positive changes in the local area. With reference to academia, the development of the framework operationalises a broader 'theory of change' set out within an 'Indicators of Integration' framework produced in 2019. Moreover, it considers its explanatory value with respect of the ability of different organisations to plan, monitor and evaluate the extent to which integration and empowerment interventions in areas subject to international migration (and the increasing diversity of local populations) are helping to create connected communities. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Citizen Research in socio-economically vulnerable and diverse areas |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Improved intelligence on the needs of local people in vulnerable areas and the empowering of individuals to identify such needs / address such needs in collaboration with other organisations. |
| Description | Citizen Researcher training materials |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The Citizen Researcher approach has been adopted by several organisations working in the EMPOWER case study areas - as well as the country leads for EMPOWER in Sweden and Germany - to engage and empower local communities in the research process and to identify and help to address their needs. |
| Description | Engaging parents in homework provision in socio-economically vulnerable and diverse areas |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Enhanced engagement with parents through the Citizen Researcher approach and support with children's homework. |
| Description | Pro-Unicenter |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | Theory of Change for migrant integration and empowerment |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | CITIZEN RESEARCHER KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROJECT: BIRMINGHAM to CAMBRIDGE |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2022 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Citizen Research "medborgarforskning" |
| Amount | 13,000 kr (SEK) |
| Organisation | City of Gothenburg |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Germany |
| Start | 06/2022 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Research England QR Policy Support Fund |
| Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Title | Citizen Researcher model |
| Description | This method engages and empowers local residents to participate in the research process, and helps such individuals to identify and address key issues affecting the areas in which they live / work. It is also a tool where local people can be trained up to undertake research with other people living in their respective neighbourhoods. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The tool has been used for the very first time in two of the three countries participating in the EMPOWER project (Germany and Sweden). It has helped to train local people in respect of research skills and it has helped to empower local people to take part in research and to work with other partners to address specific issues / needs identified through the research process. For example, in Sweden training took place with local residents over a period of one week and included i) ways of working in the local neighbourhood; ii) interviewing practice; iii) formulating interview questions and conducting interviews; iv) learning about ethical considerations and forms; v) transcribing and summarising interview material; vi) data collection for the digital household survey; and vii) interpretation of key findings. The design and techniques are novel in contexts of 'vulnerable' communities. |
| Title | Digital Participatory Spatial Analysis |
| Description | This is an innovative approach that uses mobile technologies and 'modules' focused on exploring specific issues (for example, housing, neighbourhood, engagement) to generate involvement by local communities in neighbourhood-based research and to identify resources available at a neighbourhood level. It can also be used to promote dialogue and participation in policy-making processes through linking community perceptions and experiences with policy interventions. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Through the use of this technique we have been able to identify the key housing and integration experiences of relevance to migrant and non-migrant communities in different (international) neighbourhood contexts and to consider the extent to which policy interventions are fit for purpose. As such, the research tool WAS NOT applicable to marginalised communities before the EMPOWER project (we have revised the approach). |
| Title | Implementation of a Theory of Change for migrant integration / empowerment based on the 2019 'Indicators of Integration' framework |
| Description | As part of the EMPOWER project a Theory of Change for migrant integration / empowerment has been developed. This - for the first time - operationalises the 2019 'Indicators of Integration' framework in order to identify the types of activities that could be developed (and monitored and measured by local stakeholders) to address identified local needs and to support the engagement and empowerment of migrants and other local residents in policy-making processes. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The Theory of Change has only just been published in the final EMPOWER report. Hence impact is yet to be defined. |
| Title | Citizen Researcher database (UK, Germany and Sweden) |
| Description | A list of Citizen Researchers who can be drawn upon in the three case study areas (Bochum - Germany, Gothenburg - Sweden and Birmingham - UK ) that can be drawn upon as and when new Citizen Researcher-based work arises. For example, in the UK, a list of Citizen Researchers has been added to the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) database at the University of Birmingham. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Improved resource of individuals that can be drawn upon in the EMPOWER case study areas / cities (Bochum, Gothenburg and Birmingham) to support future research with local communities. |
| Title | Citizen research-based data set |
| Description | 63 semi-structured in-depth interviews with female residents (predominantly those with a migration history) residing in three different super-diverse neighbourhoods across Europe and focusing on their housing, integration and empowerment experiences. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Too early as of yet to discuss impact but will be a useful resource as focuses on female residents predominantly with a migration background in super-diverse contexts. Such individuals have been less focused on to date. The plan is to make this dataset available in 2023 following the recent completion of the EMPOWER project. |
| Title | Digital Participatory Spatial Analysis (DiPS) |
| Description | DiPS dataset of 396 survey responses on integration and empowerment in three super-diverse communities in the cities of Bochum (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden) and Birmingham (United Kingdom). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The dataset will be available to others in due course now that the EMPOWER project has completed. It will provide the opportunity for others to explore challenges of engagement and empowerment (in quantifiable terms) in different neighbourhood contexts of super-diversity. |
| Title | Stakeholder interviews in super-diverse communities across Europe: Issues of housing, integration and empowerment |
| Description | 36 stakeholder interviews in total undertaken in three different super-diverse neighbourhoods across Europe and focused on the housing, integration and empowerment experiences of local residents, as well as the nature of responses. Stakeholders are local / regional and drawn from the public / private and voluntary and community sectors. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Too early to highlight as of yet but potentially a resource that can be drawn upon to explore stakeholder responses to housing, integration and empowerment challenges in differing contexts of neighbourhood super-diversity. |
| Description | Addressing the needs of young people in Bergsjon, Gothenburg (Sweden) |
| Organisation | Save the Children Denmark |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Identification of the needs of young people in Bergsjon, Sweden. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Addressing the needs of children / child poverty. |
| Impact | Report in Swedish provided on identified needs of young people in the Bergsjon neighbourhood based on resident survey and interviewees with migrant women. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Empowering Bergsjon, Gothenburg (Sweden) |
| Organisation | City of Gothenburg |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Writing reports in Swedish for the benefit of local users, civil society actors and the municipality on empowering local residents. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Meeting local residents and attempting to respond to their housing needs and concerns. |
| Impact | Short summary report of key findings emerging from interviews with migrant women and local residents conducted as part of the EMPOWER project. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Citizen Researcher training and dissemination events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | In each country, a series (2-3) meetings were held with a group of 'Citizen Researchers' drawn from the local community and who were provided with information in relation to the research and who were also trained by the research project team to undertake further research with the wider public community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |