WHOSE KNOWLEDGE MATTERS? COMPETING AND CONTESTING KNOWLEDGE CLAIMS IN 21ST CENTURY CITIES
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Economics
Abstract
Cities face multiple challenges in harnessing their knowledge assets to develop suitable strategies to guide their development. Urban problems are highly complex and interconnected, for instance, balancing housing, social services, environment and quality of life. Cities tend to be governed by professionals and 'experts' with high levels of technical or specialist knowledge and it is difficult for citizen knowledge to inform strategic development processes.
The Knowledge Matters project explores the functioning of citizen knowledge in urban decision-making and strategy development projects. We are particularly interested in revealing contestation and dissent within arenas where professional meets citizen knowledge. Our aim is to render visible and codify these controversial stories into policy-ready knowledge, thereby revealing potential mechanisms and barriers to cities better exploiting all their knowledge assets, specifically from their citizens.
The project develops an innovative methodology for disclosing citizen knowledges - telling controversial urban stories - where diverse professional and vernacular knowledges are brought to a common narrative level based around regulated moments of co-production. The work will take place in Greater Manchester, UK and Entschede, Netherlands.
The Knowledge Matters project explores the functioning of citizen knowledge in urban decision-making and strategy development projects. We are particularly interested in revealing contestation and dissent within arenas where professional meets citizen knowledge. Our aim is to render visible and codify these controversial stories into policy-ready knowledge, thereby revealing potential mechanisms and barriers to cities better exploiting all their knowledge assets, specifically from their citizens.
The project develops an innovative methodology for disclosing citizen knowledges - telling controversial urban stories - where diverse professional and vernacular knowledges are brought to a common narrative level based around regulated moments of co-production. The work will take place in Greater Manchester, UK and Entschede, Netherlands.
Planned Impact
Knowledge Matters is a piece of fundamental research. We use a structured mix of co-created and independent research to create knowledge of use to academics, practitioners and those communities. In a critical urban research tradition, this project is concerned with understanding and reconstructing marginal knowledges and dissensus, via the telling of controversial stories. This is intended, however, as the first necessary step of analysis prior to a follow up project to systematically develop practical actions and recommendations. At the same time, strong societal impact will be achieved in the life of the project, as outlined below.
Our societal impact is built through mobilising groups of societal partners to identify and participate in cases, as well as taking ownership of the findings (local stakeholder groups, community forums, knowledge exchange events). Knowledge exchange will take place throughout the project, rather than as an end activity, reflected in the governance structures and co-creative interactions. In addition, an exhibition will be co-curated for the UK 2018 ESRC Festival of Social Science. For each case study we will develop an infographic to demonstrate potentially innovative methods for visualising and exploiting marginal knowledges in urban sustainability governance processes. We will also write a series of shorter pieces for technical outlets for local authorities (policy briefing papers) which will be both locally-specific to each city/country and generic, looking at cross-cutting issues. Our societal impact comes via sensitive upscaling of project findings; we will work with the knowledge exchange forums to generate context specific findings, recommendations for practices, and representation tools to help incorporate marginal knowledges to improve urban sustainability governance processes.
The next step (following the project) is proof-of-concept by engaging local government platforms, citizen groups and third-sector groups in generalising and disseminating these general findings (e.g. UK's LGIU, Transition Towns network, the Netherlands' Platform 31); funding will be secured for this in a successor proposal to JPI Urban Europe or via a TKI. The knowledge exchange forums will be actively engaged in the discussions and planning for next steps.
Dissemination of the project will also take place through the use of internet and social media. Existing local platforms (such as http://www.ontheplatform.org.uk in Greater Manchester) will be used as well as open source, no-cost tools such as Wordpress to create a light-touch web presence for the project. The PIs are active twitter users and have a combined following of 1100. For this reason, no additional costs have been requested for website creation/social media management.
Our societal impact is built through mobilising groups of societal partners to identify and participate in cases, as well as taking ownership of the findings (local stakeholder groups, community forums, knowledge exchange events). Knowledge exchange will take place throughout the project, rather than as an end activity, reflected in the governance structures and co-creative interactions. In addition, an exhibition will be co-curated for the UK 2018 ESRC Festival of Social Science. For each case study we will develop an infographic to demonstrate potentially innovative methods for visualising and exploiting marginal knowledges in urban sustainability governance processes. We will also write a series of shorter pieces for technical outlets for local authorities (policy briefing papers) which will be both locally-specific to each city/country and generic, looking at cross-cutting issues. Our societal impact comes via sensitive upscaling of project findings; we will work with the knowledge exchange forums to generate context specific findings, recommendations for practices, and representation tools to help incorporate marginal knowledges to improve urban sustainability governance processes.
The next step (following the project) is proof-of-concept by engaging local government platforms, citizen groups and third-sector groups in generalising and disseminating these general findings (e.g. UK's LGIU, Transition Towns network, the Netherlands' Platform 31); funding will be secured for this in a successor proposal to JPI Urban Europe or via a TKI. The knowledge exchange forums will be actively engaged in the discussions and planning for next steps.
Dissemination of the project will also take place through the use of internet and social media. Existing local platforms (such as http://www.ontheplatform.org.uk in Greater Manchester) will be used as well as open source, no-cost tools such as Wordpress to create a light-touch web presence for the project. The PIs are active twitter users and have a combined following of 1100. For this reason, no additional costs have been requested for website creation/social media management.
Organisations
- University of Sheffield (Lead Research Organisation)
- Manchester City Council (Collaboration)
- Mistra Urban Futures (Collaboration)
- Cardiff University (Collaboration)
- Church of England (Collaboration)
- Royal Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Whose Knowledge Matters (Collaboration)
- The Democratic Society Ltd (Collaboration)
- Manchester Histories (Collaboration)
Publications
Bauman
(2019)
Thinking Sociologically
Burton, M.
(2019)
Done Deals: Citizens and Urban Planning
Habermehl V
(2021)
Austerity co-production: spatial planning in Greater Manchester [Accepted for publication]
in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Habermehl V
(2021)
THE RISK OF AUSTERITY CO-PRODUCTION IN CITY-REGIONAL GOVERNANCE IN ENGLAND
in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Habermehl V
(2019)
Everyday antagonisms: Organising economic practices in Mercado Bonpland, Buenos Aires
in Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
Mason W
(2019)
SAGE Research Methods Foundations
May T
(2016)
Knowledge for just urban sustainability
in Local Environment
May T
(2017)
Urban crisis: Bonfire of vanities to find opportunities in the ashes
in Urban Studies
| Title | People's Map of Manchester |
| Description | An interactive map of Manchester, printed at large-scale and equipped with stickers to enable exhibition visitors to contribute their own examples of knowledge that matters for urban development. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Exhibition visitors demonstrated their understanding of "Whose Knowledge Matters" and the counter-mapping process by adding their own examples of knowledge relevant to urban development and planning decisions to a large-scale map. |
| URL | https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/sites/default/files/WKM_COMMUNITY-MAP_FULL-DISPLAY-BOARD-DIGITAL... |
| Title | Platting, Pigeons and PFI countermap |
| Description | A counter-map of Miles Platting, produced with and by local residents. This is a large format map of the Miles Platting neighbourhood, documenting themes arising from discussion of urban development and its impact on the local area, exhibited as part of the Manchester Histories festival and in other venues. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The production of the map provoked distinctive conversations about development and its impact within the community, with participants analysing their concerns and then expressing them to those in power (e.g. local councillors). In this respect, it increased confidence, expression and political participation among local residents. As an exhibition, it also introduced the methods of counter-mapping to a wider audience (including visitors to Manchester Central Library) and enabled engagement of politicians and policymakers (including planning practitioners) in a debate about how best to attend to and make use of local knowledge. |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/what-have-we-produced#Pigeon |
| Title | Platting, pigeons and PFI individual map |
| Description | A pocket-size version of the Miles Platting community map was produced for distribution at events where the exhibition itself was not available as well as a take-away for visitors to the exhibition, and a tool for local discussions in the Miles Platting neighbourhood. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | This small fold-out map was a valuable tool for demonstrating the research to different audiences and for community participants to share their collective knowledge with others. |
| URL | https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/sites/default/files/WKM_MAP-LEAFLET_DIGITAL-small.pdf |
| Title | Whose Knowledge Matters Photography |
| Description | As part of the counter-mapping activity in Miles Platting, co-researchers photographed examples of different kinds of development activity in the neighbourhood, supplementing this with information about its relevance to the question "Whose Knowledge Matters". |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | Information created through the photography and documentation is now being incorporated into a further exhibition to be displayed in Miles Platting, highlighting examples of community-organising happening in the neighbourhood. This shows how residents and local organisations are continuing to learn from the counter-mapping process. |
| Title | Whose Knowledge Matters digitally - accessing the knowledge online |
| Description | The People's Map of Manchester is now being digitised, along with the information shared by exhibition visitors, as a means to showcase information gathered through the exhibition and share this information and the relevance of counter-mapping techniques with a wider public (online). |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | By creating an accessible archive of public participation in mapping issues, stories and knowledge, we enable people to discover the specific knowledge contributed in relation to Manchester and appreciate the principles and possibilities of participatory planning. |
| Title | Whose Knowledge Matters exhibition |
| Description | Exhibition as part of Manchester Histories' Peterloo Festival in Central Library Manchester. (Featuring information from the Whose Knowledge Matters project.) |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The exhibition raised awareness of privatisation issues and community-organising initiatives among a wider public, as well as enabling visitors to directly create a people's map. (See separate activity entries for organised visits to the exhibition with local community organisers, and groups of international researchers and practitioners). At the end of the Peterloo Festival (August 2019), the exhibition was relocated to a local parish church in Miles Platting, and later to the University of Sheffield's Interdisciplinary Social Sciences hub to showcase methods and findings to different audiences. |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/what-have-we-produced#Pigeon |
| Title | Whose Knowledge Matters leaflet |
| Description | An A5 leaflet documenting the process and key findings from the project. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | This leaflet provided context for exhibition visitors and disseminated findings from the wider project. It has enabled people to understand how counter-mapping and related techniques can be used in the planning process. Copies have been distributed to those involved in planning in Greater Manchester and Sheffield city regions, and are being used to review participatory practices. |
| URL | https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/sites/default/files/WKM_A5%20LEAFLET_DIGITAL.pdf |
| Description | 1) Citizen expertise in the Greater Manchester spatial planning process (2017-2018): The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is a joint plan for Greater Manchester intended to provide the land for jobs and new homes across the city region. Greater Manchester is a city-region comprised of ten individual local authorities in North West England (Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Bolton, Bury, Wigan, Oldham, Tameside, Rochdale and Stockport). The focus on Greater Manchester is of particular interest in the UK as the first English city-region to negotiate a devolution deal with central government in 2014. The GMSF was initiated by planners themselves in order to address a lack of strategic regional policy, following the dissolution of the regional tier of English governance. Initially the plan was developed informally to discuss waste and infrastructure, but it soon became clear that a more formal spatial plan would be required in order to designate housing allocations in each district. This was the first time that the local authorities had collaborated on a joint spatial plan of this nature, and, in the context of institutional flux and uncertain boundaries and legitimacy, it was seen as an important test-bed for the new governance arrangements. The development of the plan began prior to the election of the first metropolitan mayor, Andy Burnham in May 2017. However, the high level of dissatisfaction with the draft GMSF, with the majority of the 27,000 responses contesting the plan, led to a commitment by Burnham to a 'radical rewrite'. Dr Vicky Habermehl undertook elite interviews with senior planners and decision-makers during the period of the 'radical rewrite' between 2017-2018. Our focus was on the agency, practices and messy institutional configurations of planners, to enable an exploration of how spatial planning is made in the context of devolution and the consequences for community expertise. The research also engaged community groups mobilising around the GMSF and other local planning processes to understand their experiences of plan-making. This was led by Professor Mark Burton, an independent scholar involved in the project, and included a workshop, a neighbourhood case study and a documentary review to look at how the expertise of local citizens and campaigners is valued, obscured or excluded from influencing decisions. We have presented this work for different audiences at several academic conferences (such as the American Association of Geographers, New Orleans, US in 2018) and curated special sessions to bring academics together to explore the themes around valuing citizen expertise and dissensus (RC21, Leeds, 2017). A journal article has been accepted in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, in which we develop the concept of 'austerity co-production' (Habermehl and Perry, forthcoming). This paper draws on the Greater Manchester case study to highlight how, in the context of austerity, local authorities are increasingly being asked to do 'more with less'. Coupled with a prioritisation of private sector input, this has the consequence of devaluing citizen expertise in planning decision-making. A report 'Done Deals' (Burton, 2019) has also been produced drawing on the workshop and neighbourhood case study and further dissemination is planned to share this work further. 2) Counter-cartography in Miles Platting: mapping alternative spatial values (2019): A central aim of the research was to unveil and value different perspectives and expertise on key urban issues. Professor Perry and Dr Habermehl formed a partnership in 2018 with Manchester Histories who had received funding for a bicentennial commemoration of the Peterloo massacre in June - August 2019. Through this partnership we agreed to host a public-facing exhibition in Manchester Central Library and proposed an innovative co-creative process with residents to produce content for the exhibition. In Spring 2019, Dr Habermehl then worked with a community group in Miles Platting, Manchester, to map their knowledge about what matters for local planning. Miles Platting is a city centre neighbourhood which has seen a reduction of council housing, a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and cuts to public services through austerity policies. We formed a further partnership with a counter-cartographer (Liz Mason Deese), a graphic designer (Dan Farley) and the community grocers in Miles Platting to design and deliver a map-making process to reveal residents' knowledge about their local area. The Miles Platting map 'Platting, Pigeons and PFI' was shown in Manchester Central Library, along with a second interactive 'People's Map of Manchester' to which visitors could add their own knowledge. The exhibition also featured the work of a local photographer and poems from local residents about their experiences of living in Miles Platting. We organised visits to the map to generate discussion with local residents and politicians. Following the end of the Peterloo bicentennial in August 2019, the exhibition moved to Miles Platting, hosted in the Church of the Apostles, where local people could continue to use the map as a prompt for discussions about important local issues. Since 2020 the exhibition has moved to the University of Sheffield where we continue to use the map to discuss the findings and implications of this work. We are also continuing to work with Dan Farley to digitise the map for further dissemination and impact. This phase of the research produced many creative and artistic outputs. The exhibition materials included 2 large maps, a guide, a foldable pocket-size map and digital resources. A local community media cooperative, the Meteor, wrote an article covering the launch of the exhibition and the perspectives and issues faced by residents in Miles Platting. The process highlighted the different kinds of local knowledge held by residents that are often overlooked in more formal planning processes. Counter-cartography provided a means to reveal local community strengths as well as issues and challenges, and the map-making process provided another way for people's expertise to be visualised and represented to formal power-holders. Several blogs and news items have been written about the process, and Dr Habermehl presented the work at the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference in 2019. A second academic paper is in the process of being written up (Habermehl and Perry). 3) Developing policy and academic networks for international comparative exchange and learning (2016-2019): A key goal of the research was to influence and shape policy and academic debates around contested knowledge claims for sustainable urban development. Professor Perry secured additional funding from Mistra Urban Futures for a bilateral partnership with academics and practitioners in Sweden. The 'Participatory Cities' project (see Further Funding) brought the Whose Knowledge Matters project into a productive dialogue with a research project funded by the Swedish organisation, Formas, on the Impact of Participation, led by Dr Nazem Tahvilzadeh, Division for Urban and Regional Studies, Department of Urban Planning and the Environment, Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. This collaboration focussed on understanding what participation in planning means in different cities, in light of Goal 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which commits signatories to 'enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries (SDG 11).' Our collaboration involved two panel discussions in 2018 led by Dr Habermehl with Professor Perry and Dr Tahvilzadeh - one at the UK and Ireland Planning Conference and one at the Realising Just Cities conference in Cape Town - to discuss international perspectives on what 'true' participation in planning looks like. A study visit organised by Professor Perry to Gothenburg in March 2019 enabled a workshop to take place with regional and local planners, in which we discussed the process and outcomes of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework. A further conference session was organised by Professor Perry in October 2019 to identify common messages and differences from our case studies about how SDG 11's aspirations for participatory planning land in the contexts of Sweden and the UK. This process brought a number of different academics and practitioners into dialogue with one another, including Just Space, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Gothenburg Regional Authority (Sheffield); the University of Cape Town, Development Action Group, Ubuntu Growing Minds, the Community Organisation Resource Centre, Informal Settlement Network and Malmo City (Cape Town); Gothenburg City Council, Gothenburg Region, the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities and Manchester Settlement (Gothenburg). This produced a series of blogs (in both English and Swedish), videos and ideas for further collaborations. Professor Tim May led a further strand of work to examine the issues involved in dealing with competing and contesting knowledge claims within the academy. In thinking about 'whose knowledge matters', academics need to be reflexive about the limits to their own knowledge claims. This work enabled the consolidation of intellectual agendas around reflexivity, the relationship between knowledge and action, and the changing role of universities in relation to urban transformation. Publications include two books (May and Perry, 2017, 2018) in which the concepts and practices of 'active intermediation' as a process of working across boundaries were developed. Both Professors May and Perry presented at the international Gothenburg Transdisciplinary Research School (2018, 2019) to share this knowledge with early career researchers, practitioners and PhD students. During 2019 Professor May undertook a series of interviews with senior academics involved in boundary spanning work across the UK, which culminated in an academic workshop in December 2019 on 'Contesting Knowledges for Just Urban Futures', co-organised with Professor Perry. This brought UK and international scholars together to reflect on what the idea of contesting knowledge claims for sustainable urban development means for our own practice as academics. A special issue is in production and insights from this research are informing further outputs, including the 5th edition of Social Research: Issues, Methods and Processes (2020/2021). A new partnership with academics at Cardiff University has resulted, enabling an academic roadshow to discuss issues concerned with 'Knowing the Social World' in the 21st century which will continue beyond the lifetime of this grant. |
| Exploitation Route | See Narrative Impact. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org.uk |
| Description | Influencing planning policy in Greater Manchester, Gothenburg and Sheffield: Our work has provided an independent evidence base on which learning about citizen engagement in the process of spatial planning has taken place. In Greater Manchester, we have focussed on the value of exchange for policy-makers in Greater Manchester to hear about our findings in a context where they can discuss with colleagues. A planner from Stockport MBC took part in a panel discussion at the Sheffield Planning conference and learnt about experiences in London from the Just Space initiative and colleagues in Gothenburg. Partly as a result of our learning and interaction, consultations on a revised Spatial Framework for Greater Manchester have been elongated, and are this time supported by documentation written expressly for non-experts that explains the context and constraints of spatial planning at this scale. In addition, a specific role has been identified for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector, engaged directly (though the GMCA VCSE Accord Principal) in discussions about the community impact of spatial planning. In Greater Manchester, findings were also shared with the voluntary sector to support VCSE organisations to work effectively with the Combined Authority and with their own stakeholders, and contribute to large-scale planning decisions in an informed manner. Our findings were used to feed into and shape a series of events on spatial planning and citizen engagement, as a result of which there has been community organisation around responses to the open Greater Manchester Spatial Framework. The research provides evidence to support community planning groups in organising and advocating for alternative approaches. We have presented our findings to colleagues in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, West Midlands and also in the Gothenburg Metropolitan authority who have expressed the intention to act on these finding. Planners reported that they would approach consultation differently as a result of the project, to ensure communities understand legal constraints and engage people in an active way in identifying alternatives where a plan is contested. Discussions have also begun concerning the relevance of the work to planning decisions and processes in Sheffield. We will track whether there is further direct influence in this area over time. Tools for citizen engagement: In 2019, the "Whose Knowledge Matters" exhibition provided a further opportunity to disseminate findings, as well as enable visitors to explore how their own knowledge matters for spatial planning (documented on the People's Map of Manchester). Coordinated visits to the exhibition with local politicians and international conference delegates provided a further avenue to engage relevant audiences with our findings. The Miles Platting participants in the map-making process and exhibition have used the map to represent their concerns: for instance, during the launch event the implications for public services in the area were discussed with a local councillor. The map has been used to generate local discussions about whose knowledge matters and international visitors have been inspired by their visit to the map to undertake their own mapping processes with local residents. We hope that the digitisation of the resources and tools made will enable other community groups to undertake their own counter-mapping processes. We continue to look for evidence of direct impact in different settings. Influence on training for researchers: The findings have also been used by researchers to inform their own practice and teaching. A number of lectures and seminars have been delivered through the project to tailor the results of the project to early career researchers. A specific focus has been on equipping researchers with the ideas and practices to work across boundaries and negotiate and navigate competing knowledge claims. Aspects of the work is being written into research methods books, such as the 5th edition of Social Research: Issues, Methods and Practice. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Beth Perry gave invited guest lecture to University of Gothenburg Transdisciplinary Research School, "The Hybrid Role of the Transdisciplinary Researcher" |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Invited guest lecture to University of Gothenburg Transdisciplinary Research School, "The Hybrid Role of the Transdisciplinary Researcher" |
| Description | Greater Manchester Spatial Framework consultations |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | Designing and agreeing a spatial framework to govern the development of the ten local authorities which make up Greater Manchester [GM] was one of the first challenges facing the Combined Authority. The first attempt created controversy with more than 27,000 objections registered. The Combined Authority therefore needed to reappraise their approach. Planners participating in the interview process subsequently reported that it had informed the reappraisal. Specifically, the communication strategy was re-planned and documentation written with a view to ensuring readers would understand the context of planning decisions (incorporating a plain English summary drafted by and with a non-expert). The Combined Authority continued to consult Professor Beth Perry and colleagues to find out what might be done differently. Senior policy makers including the Principal officer tasked with implementing the GM Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Accord, subsequently redesigned the consultation process to include multiple feedback loops and make use of co-productive models. This process is ongoing. New developments include: 1) a VCSE representative joining the spatial framework commission on housing; 2) the VCSE sector leading complementary work packages: (a) describing what 'good' looks like in communities; (b) assessing development in terms of equalities and impact; (c) mapping community assets to inform planning decisions. Planners also reported that they would approach consultation differently as a result of the project, to ensure communities understand legal constraints and engage people in an active way in identifying alternatives where a plan is contested. |
| Description | Strategic Meeting between Paul Dennett, GMCA Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing, with Whose Knowledge Matters team members, during the GMSF process. |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Participatory Cities |
| Amount | £21,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Mistra Urban Futures |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Sweden |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | Whose Heritage Matters: Mapping, Making and Mobilising Heritage Values for Sustainable Livelihoods in Cape Town and Kisumu |
| Amount | £300,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Collaboration between Professor Mark Burton from Steady State Manchester and Whose Knowledge Matters |
| Organisation | Whose Knowledge Matters |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Whose Knowledge Matters team has been strengthened by building research collaboration beyond the Urban Institute in Sheffield, with campaign groups, and organisers in Manchester. This partnership has help to strengthen the impact of the research. In particular research has developed with a focus on different campaigning organisations in relation to spatial decision making through this collaboration. This has led to workshops, publications and requests for further support from these organisations. The interviews are mapping work carried out by the researchers on planning and the GMSF also brought insights to the partnerships and networks which Mark Burton facilitates. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Mark Burton has developed and delivered workshops (specifically the co-facilitation of a workshop in Manchester with citizen groups on planning on 31st January 2019), as well as ongoing research activities for instance, carrying out interviews and case studies of campaigning groups in Chorlton, Manchester. Outputs have included blog posts on the Steady State Manchester website and insights informing wider campaign and advocacy activity across Greater Manchester. A case study report was also produced, entitled Done Deals: Citizens and Urban Planning (2019) and further dissemination is planned. |
| Impact | Prof Mark Burton, has developed workshops, as well as ongoing research activities, as well as carrying out interviews and case studies in campaigning groups. Specifically this included a set of interviews, blog posts on Steady State Manchester website and the co-facilitation of a workshop in Manchester with citizen groups on planning, on 31st January 2019. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Knowing the Social World |
| Organisation | Cardiff University |
| Department | School of Social Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Professor Tim May has co-devised the "Knowing the Social World" programme, building on ESRC and other prior work, to collaborate with social scientists at other universities in order to further examine methodological issues in knowing the social world. The programme will include a seminar hosted at the University of Sheffield with Professor Beth Perry focussed on co-production and its implications for social science research practice. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The main collaborator is Professor Malcolm Williams (School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University). The programme of work, which has been jointly devised, involves workshops with other social scientists in Cardiff, Glasgow and Sheffield. |
| Impact | The main collaborators are both sociologists by training. The programme engages with academics from other disciplines. No specific outcomes as yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Mistra Urban Futures and Whose Knowledge Matters |
| Organisation | Mistra Urban Futures |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As UK Programme Director for Mistra Urban Futures, Beth Perry negotiated additional funding from Mistra Urban Futures (see Further Funding: Participatory Cities) to support the internationalisation of Whose Knowledge Matters through a bilateral collaboration with partners in Sweden. In addition, Perry drew on the Mistra Urban Futures collaboration to create dissemination and engagement opportunities for the project. Mistra Urban Futures also contributed additional match funding, as detailed below. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mistra Urban Futures provided additional dissemination and engagement opportunities, for instance, through the planning workshop with officials in Gothenburg in March 2019, detailed under 'Engagement Activities'. The centre also provided funds for a knowledge exchange officer to support website development and social media presence for the project, and additional staff time to cover the non-cost extension of the project. These funds totalled c. £15,000. |
| Impact | As detailed elsewhere, the partnership enabled: - the development of the Whose Knowledge Matters website - additional knowledge exchange and dissemination support - new policy connections in Gothenburg which impacted on planners' perceptions of citizen engagement in spatial planning - further funding for a bilateral partnership with Sweden (see Further Funding) - profile in international publications (such as Joubert et al, Realising Just Cities, forthcoming) |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Participatory Cities |
| Organisation | Royal Institute of Technology |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This comparative process was initiated by Whose Knowledge Matters and through the MISTRA Urban Futures network, to explore ways of creating constructive, inclusive conversations and learning opportunities about different practices and applications of participatory planning. The partnership was developed with Dr Nazem Tahvilzadeh, Division for Urban and Regional Studies, Department of Urban Planning and the Environment, Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Victoria Habermehl has provided research support, including leading and organising events, workshops, and roundtables. Two roundtables at international conferences have been organized: one entitled 'Practices, challenges and potentials of strategic planning: is true participation possible?' at the UK planning conference in Sheffield; and one in Cape Town as part of the Mistra Urban Futures conference, called 'Is co-production possible in planning?' These roundtables drew together different planning expertise (academic, practitioner, community, NGO, activist) and encouraged debate across different geographical contexts, to develop shared learning opportunities. Prof. Beth Perry provided input on event design and introduced a range of stakeholders to the space. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Nazem Tahvilzadeh has led the collaboration from KTH Sweden. Specific contributions included: 1) attending and co-facilitating workshops hosted at Sheffield and in Cape Town 2) introducing a range of stakeholders from the Swedish context to the above events 3) writing a blog on 'Is co-production possible in planning? Notes from a roundtable on participatory cities' published on the Realising Just Cities website. |
| Impact | 1) A series of two blogposts reporting on the two roundtables 2) A short film sharing learning from the roundtable of partners in Sweden and the UK 3) Two roundtables at international conferences with different audiences, drawing together different cases (Sweden, UK and South Africa) as well as expertise (viz. community, planning, NGO and academic). 4) The process has been described and showcased in two final reports from the Mistra Urban Futures network (Perry et al., 2019; Joubert with the Realising Just Cities team, 2020). |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership with Church of the Apostles, Miles Platting |
| Organisation | Church of England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The exhibition Whose Knowledge Matters was developed with and by residents of the Miles Platting neighbourhood. After it had been displayed as part of the Manchester Histories festival, it was important for it to be exhibited in the local area. The partnership with the Church of Apostles enabled this to occur. We were able to bring groups to view the exhibition and explain its significance and implications for local planning and politics. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Church of the Apostles, one of two buildings in the Church of England parish of Miles Platting, hosted the exhibition from August to November 2019. They organised specific visits to the map, as well as hosting other visitors to come and see the exhibit. |
| Impact | - Visit of international conference delegates to the exhibition in October 2019 |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Partnership with Manchester Central Library |
| Organisation | Manchester City Council |
| Department | Manchester Central Library |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We coordinated production of the exhibition, Whose Knowledge Matters, which was shown at Manchester Central Library as part of the Manchester Histories Peterloo Festival. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Manchester Central Library provided a venue and supported the installation of the exhibition, hosting it throughout the Peterloo Festival (June-August 2019) and ensuring its safe storage. |
| Impact | - People's Map of Manchester - Whose Knowledge Matters exhibition - Launch event including discussion with a local councillor |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Partnership with Manchester Histories |
| Organisation | Manchester Histories |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Our researchers co-created an exhibition about the Whose Knowledge Matters project, working with local residents in Miles Platting to showcase the relevance of local expertise in planning matters and demonstrate the potential of counter-mapping as a participatory planning technique. This was prepared as a part of the Manchester Histories Peterloo 2019 Festival programme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Manchester Histories provided an opportunity for wider dissemination of project learning, organising a venue (Manchester Central Library) and promoting the exhibition within the festival event programme. The city-wide focus of the exhibition also enabled engagement with a wider public (populating the People's Map of Manchester, integrated within the exhibition) and we were able to organise hosted visits to the exhibition with specific audiences. |
| Impact | - Whose Knowledge Matters exhibition - Whose Knowledge Matters leaflet - Platting, Pigeons and PFI map (including foldout version) - People's Map of Manchester (presently being reproduced online) - Increased political participation (as e.g. through dialogue with local councillors) |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Partnership with the Democratic Society (DemSoc) to co-produce the Space in Common action research project. |
| Organisation | The Democratic Society Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This project was initiated by Jam and Justice's Action Research Collective (ARC) through a co-design process, to explore ways of creating constructive, inclusive conversations in the context of spatial planning, with particular reference to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF). The Action Research Team (ART) has been supported by Adrian Ball (ARC member and Chief Executive of Manchester Settlement). The Jam & Justice Co-Investigators have provided strategic guidance and oversight. In particular, Prof. Beth Perry has provided strategic direction to the project, including framing, design and planning, stakeholder engagement and event design. She has specifically introduced a range of stakeholders to the space (including e.g. a representative from London's Just Space network). This additional input drew on work beyond Jam and Justice as part of the sister Whose Knowledge Matters project. Dr Bertie Russell has provided research support, including with design and with data collection. Findings were circulated through project networks, including at events with Councillors (as part of the project partnership with North West Employers), and to key persons at Greater Manchester Combined Authority who had indicated their interest in the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Democratic Society (DemSoc) responded to a call for tenders to act as delivery partner for the project, once it had been established that direct involvement in the GMSF consultations was not practical (because of shifts in timetabling and political constraints). As delivery partner, they arranged, facilitated, and documented publicly a series of four workshops exploring the central question, "how can we have better conversations about spatial planning?" They also carried out a first analysis of findings, co-drafting a set of key messages; and their networks provided occasion for dissemination of other Jam and Justice findings. One of the DemSoc team delivered a presentation about the work as part of our wider report launch in July 2019. |
| Impact | 1) A series of five blogposts reporting on the four workshop sessions, produced and published by DemSoc. 2) A blog report from Jam & Justice impact officer Dr Iona Hine reflecting on what Jam & Justice's Action Research Collective might learn from Just Space. 3) A set of key messages published as: "Space in Common: Seeking better conversations about what's built where". (8 pages) 4) As with all sub-projects, this collaboration informed lessons learned as presented in the larger report, "How can we govern cities differently? The promise and practices of co-production". This is an interdisciplinary project drawing on academic expertise in urban studies and planning, geography, politics and policy. It has also benefited from the involvement of non-academic partners with expertise in promoting openness and participation in public services. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 1 March 2017: Presentation at the New Urban Ruins Post-Crisis City Workshop at Trinity College Dublin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Victoria Habermehl presented at The New Urban Ruins: Vacancy and the Post-Crisis City workshop at Trinity College Dublin on research in Argentina, focusing on bottom up responses to urban abandonment. Also developed new networks for the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://irelandafternama.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/newurbanruinsworkshopfinalprogr2602.pdf |
| Description | 10 December 2019: Contested Knowledges for Just Urban Futures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | How does our commitment to just urban futures specifically manifest in practice, in the context of the wider co-productive turn and interest in different ideas about what it means to be an 'engaged' academic? -- On 10 December 2019, Professors Tim May and Beth Perry convened a one-day workshop to explore this question. 25 university-based researchers participated, including postgraduate students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://urbaninstitute.group.shef.ac.uk/contested-knowledges-for-just-urban-futures/ |
| Description | 12 December 2019: presentation at the Contested Knowledges for Just Urban Futures workshop "Breaking down binaries" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Professor Beth Perry gave a provocation to the workshop drawing on ESRC research to challenge binary thinking that often plagues urban engaged research: the constraint/enablement provided by academic institutional settings; the rejection/embrace of academic knowledge production in relation to questions of legitimacy and relevance and the navigation of critique/co-optation through different forms of academic practice. In rejecting an either/or approach, the provocation questioned whether academics can be the architects of their own struggles in engaged research, doing themselves and their institutions a disservice by failing to recognise and embrace how we are tethered differently to universities and peer communities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://jamandjustice-rjc.org/news/contested-knowledges-just-urban-futures |
| Description | 12 October 2019 - Whose Heritage Matters visit to Miles Platting |
| 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 | During an international gathering in the UK, co-researchers from a new sibling project (Whose Heritage Matters - see Further Funding) were brought on a guided visit to Miles Platting to visit the exhibition in situ at the Church of the Apostles. The aim was to prompt thinking about methods and offer the exhibition as an example of how alternative expertise could be documented. As a result of this visit, partners in Kisumu have been inspired to think about what creative mapping methods might offer them in engaging with women in Kisumu around cultural heritage issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/sustainable-development-mapping-making-mobilising-herit... |
| Description | 14 March 2019: Workshop with planners from the Gothenburg Region Association of Local Authorities |
| 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 | Part of an extended learning exchange, this 2.5 hour workshop with planners from the municipalities of Gothenburg Region asked "How do we solve common challenges through municipal partnership and co-production?" Beth Perry spoke about tyrannies (e.g. top-down/bottom-up) and austerity co-production, illustrating this with examples including the 2018 Green Summit and the spatial planning process, drawing on insights from Whose Knowledge Matters. Adrian Ball spoke about the Space in Common ARC project. Delegates from West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority spoke about inclusive growth corridors in WM city-regional planning; collaboration with the VCSE sector on the GM Spatial Framework; and revising GM Strategy to increase meaningful engagement of citizens and civil society organisations. Subsequent written reflections from Combined Authority participants were published and, where appropriate, have been reported separately. Three questions shaped the discussion: Where is the scope for more co-productive approaches to decision making? What mechanisms exist for recognising difference as well as commonality across local authority boundaries? How can we value citizens as experts in complex technical areas? A Swedish-language write-up of this workshop is available at the link specified. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://goteborgsregionen.se/toppmenyn/dettajobbargrmed/miljoochsamhallsbyggnad/natverk/mistraurbanf... |
| Description | 15 July 2019: Tour of the Platting, Pigeons and PFI exhibition with community grocers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A coordinated visit to the Platting, Pigeons and PFI exhibition (on show at Manchester Central Library). This activity provided an opportunity for representatives of other community grocer schemes and similar enterprises to discuss and learn about the process and outcomes from our collaboration and consider how this overlapped with their own area. (Led by Dr Vicky Habermehl). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 15 October 2019 - Presentation at conference session on participatory cities and alternative models of urban development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Vicky Habermehl presented examples of participatory planning based on Whose Knowledge Matters research, as part of this session at the 4th international Mistra Urban Futures conference. Parts of the conference were filmed, including the feedback from this session (see link). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClT64Iwju9k&list=PLgzV5NR0ttJhhXTZe2Z1VM28W0BOh0KHg&index=3&t=0s |
| Description | 15 October 2019 - Workshop organised on Participatory Cities and Urban Development |
| 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 | Professor Beth Perry organised this session at the Realising Just Cities conference to bring together international perspectives on participation in urban development. This included showcasing work undertaken in Sweden and in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 15 October 2019: Universities and Urban Development workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Professor Tim May organised, chaired, and was among those presenting at the "Universities and Urban Development: Knowledge in Action" symposium, part of the Mistra Urban Futures Annual Conference, hosted by the University of Sheffield. Presentations drew upon experiences of working in different contexts in the Mistra Urban Futures programme, reflecting on experiences of working across boundaries and the opportunities and challenges posed in linking knowledge and action. In the process they each addressed the following questions: What are the issues raised for academic practice when working across boundaries with a commitment to producing social change. And what does this mean for the role of the university in urban development? Parts of the conference were recorded, including a plenary account of this session (linked below). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gA_hhkvuD4 |
| Description | 16 May - 6 June 2019: Workshops at Miles Platting Community Grocer, Manchester |
| 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 | In May and June 2019, Dr Vicky Habermehl and Dr Liz Mason Deese together with graphic designer Dan Farley and Anna Hudson (project coordinator for Healthy Me Healthy Communities) undertook a series of four mapping workshops with community-based volunteers at Miles Platting Community Grocer. Each session received input from up to ten local residents, people connected to the Community Grocer and a related community savers scheme. Participants explored the principles of counter-mapping and drew on knowledge of the area, past and present, to document their own knowledge about urban development and its impact on those living locally. The process led to a co-produced map and exhibition resources illustrating the significance of local knowledge for urban planning. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.countercartographies.org/a-community-map-of-miles-platting/ |
| Description | 16 October 2019: Workshop and international visit to see the Whose Knowledge Matters exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | As part of the programme for Mistra Urban Futures fourth international Realising Just Cities conference, international delegates took part in a one-day programme in Greater Manchester. This included a walking tour focussed on issues of housing and financialisation, which concluded with a visit to the Platting, Pigeons and PFI map/exhibition at the Church of the Apostles. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.mistraurbanfutures.org/en/blog/exploring-financialisation-and-around-central-manchester |
| Description | 20 April 2017: Anti politics and Austerity. Geography, Politics and Urban Studies Department, Glasgow University . |
| 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 | Victoria Habermehl presented on Anti politics and Austerity to the Geography, Politics and Urban Studies Department at Glasgow University on 20 April 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 20 June 2019: Launch of Platting, Pigeons and PFI exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Hosted by Manchester Central Library and in association with Manchester Histories' Peterloo 2019 festival, this event launched the exhibition "Platting, Pigeons and PFI" (based on the community mapping workshops held in Miles Platting). The exhibition was interactive, inviting people to add to the examples of local knowledge that ought to inform urban development in Manchester and beyond. For the launch, a local councillor was invited to attend and take part in a discussion feeding back on what had been learned through the mapping process and seeking to change how public services are run in the area. The event was documented by a community journalist from The Manchester Meteor, who interviewed several of those who had been involved in the mapping process. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.themeteor.org/2019/07/02/in-miles-platting-whose-knowledge-matters/ |
| Description | 2019: Consultations with Sheffield City Council and Sheffield Combined Authority |
| 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 | During 2019, Professor Beth Perry and colleagues engaged in informal consultations with Sheffield City Council and stakeholder organisations on issues pertaining to just urban development. Conversation partners included local councillors and council officers as well as representatives of Sheffield City Region Combined Authority. Sheffield City Council is now seeking to engage residents in local decision-making about planning and investment. These conversations showcased different ESRC findings, including the Whose Knowledge Matters work carried out in Miles Platting (counter-mapping) (as a key illustration of alternative modes of engagement in the planning process) and wider discussions stemming from Jam and Justice about co-production in urban governance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 2019: In Miles Platting - Whose Knowledge Matters? (themeteor.org) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Meteor, Manchester's independent newspaper, attended and wrote about the launch of the Plattings, Pigeons and PFI Exhibition, as part of the Manchester Histories Peterloo Bicentennial. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.themeteor.org/2019/07/02/in-miles-platting-whose-knowledge-matters/ |
| Description | 21 October 2019: Meeting to discuss relevance of Jam and Justice findings for stakeholders in the Sheffield city-region |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Professor Beth Perry organised a closed dialogue with local elected councillors and policy officers in the Sheffield city-region to explore the implications of ESRC findings and opportunities for impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 24 April-9 May: Set-up sessions for collaboration with Miles Platting Community Grocer |
| 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 | In April and May 2019, Dr Vicky Habermehl and Dr Liz Mason Deese met with key actors at Miles Platting Community Grocer to discuss potential overlap between work already underway and the Whose Knowledge Matters project and then make arrangements for workshops with local residents. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 27 June 2018: Participation in the plenary session of People, Policy and Place Conference at Sheffield Hallam University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Professor Beth Perry was invited to offer a '3 minute manifesto' for alternative urban futures in the closing plenary session of the Alternative Urban Futures for Tackling Spatial and Social Inequalities conference at Sheffield Hallam University. This drew on the findings from ESRC funded research concerning the importance of valuing different kinds of expertise, creating spaces for collaborative working and the roles that universities could play as agents of urban transformations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/event/people-place-and-policy-2018-alternative-urban-futures-for-... |
| Description | 28 May 2019: Liz Mason Deese at the Urban Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Liz Mason Deese gave a lunchtime presentation about her work in Argentina, raising the profile of our counter-mapping collaboration. This was advertised to and attended by postgraduate students and academics in the Urban Institute, Urban Studies and Planning, and Geography at the University of Sheffield. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 29 August 2019 - Presentation at the Royal Geographical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Vicky Habermehl delivered a presentation illustrating the application of counter-cartography as a method to explore different history, knowledge and expertise, using the "Platting, Pigeons and PFI" exhibition as a case study. This was part of the Royal Geographical Society programme, within a session on "Time and Austerity: Troubled pasts, hopeful futures". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://conference.rgs.org/AC2019/148 |
| Description | 29 November 2018: Beth Perry met with Richard Lee of Just Space (by phone) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Perry met with Richard Lee of London's Just Space to discuss his input to Space in Common and other (topically-related) research with Whose Knowledge Matters. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | 9 July 2017: Public discussion as part of Sheffield Festival of Debate on "What can I do to make my city a better place?" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An evening of public debate organised by scholars at the University of Sheffield as part of the 'Festival of Debate'. Beth Perry presented top tips for making cities better places, translating early findings from ESRC funded research for a general audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58b55bf2197aeabd5a9d1604/t/59b1593646c3c4723288a878/150479494... |
| Description | 9 September 2020: Victoria Habermehl gave a presentation on 'whose knowledge matters and finance' to the September School hosted by the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield |
| 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 September School represents the Urban Institute's commitment to: generating new theoretical frameworks for understanding urbanization processes; working collaboratively with partners across the world to develop new methodologies of research and engagement; developing new pedagogical instruments for knowledge production and conveyance and; a systematic response to the intellectual and political challenges occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic. The school was organized as a series of weekly workshops on a series of interrelated sequential themes. Each workshop was prepared by a core working group of 8-10 researchers drawn from across the world, who would use the school to deliberate on these specific thematic issues over the course of a single day and via on-line platforms. In preparation for the schools, each working group conducted consultations in advance of the workshop, assembled documentary material, and focused systematic attention to processes in their geographical and sectoral areas of expertise related to each theme. Each workshop was open to a larger body of "observers", who, during the final segment of each workshop was allowed questions and comments. Victoria presented at the workshop on 'Urban Popular Economies: Remaking Social Compacts and Urban Arrangements in the Pandemic Era' - Co-convened by Consejo Latinamericano Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) and the Sheffied Desk on Urban Popular Economy. In both the reiterated and newly created gaps between what states imagine as the composition of settlements and urban economies it seeks to govern, and the actual dynamics of settlements and work at ground-level, what existing forms of popular economy are being seen in new ways and what new forms are likely to emerge in the working out of new relationships between governmental and administrative institutions, local communities, institutions, and collectives? As pandemic conditions provide new incentives and legitimacy for attempts on the part of states to formalize, straighten out, curtail a wide range of settlement and work practices-at the same as implicitly needing them to endure as safety valves and "real economies"-what new forms of popular economy might emerge in this process? What opportunities might exist for workers to garner new rights and possibilities? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://urbaninstitute.group.shef.ac.uk/urban-institute-september-school/ |
| Description | April 2019: Session at Mistra Urban Futures Research School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | In April 2019, Professor Tim May delivered a session on "Working across boundaries: learning, experience and possibilities" as part of the Mistra Urban Futures Research School programme at Chalmers University, Gothenburg. This programme is directed towards those dealing with 'wicked urban problems' in daily practice or aiming to address such current and future urban challenges in PhD research. Participants demonstrated active interest in the research and were encouraged to identify ways to integrate learning into their future practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.mistraurbanfutures.org/sites/mistraurbanfutures.org/files/Course%20proposal_18-19_Eng_0.... |
| Description | August-November 2019: Whose Knowledge Matters exhibition at Miles Platting parish church |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Following on from its display as part of the Manchester Histories festival, the Whose Knowledge Matters "Platting, Pigeons and PFI" exhibition was relocated to the Church of the Apostles, Miles Platting, where it was exhibited from August to November 2019. This provided opportunity for further local learning and discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Beth Perry and Tim May organised Participatory Cities workshop at the Mistra Urban Futures annual conference in Kisumu Kenya November 2017 |
| 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 | International workshop in November organised with partners from Kenya, Sweden and South Africa to discuss commonalities and differences between local projects on knowledge production and spatial development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.mistraurbanfutures.org/en/rjc-2017 |
| Description | Beth Perry and Victoria Habermehl had a Partnership meeting with Manchester Histories on 8 December 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Partnership meeting to discuss future collaboration and event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Beth Perry participated in a panel debate in the Science, Technology and Humanity: The 11th Annual Science in Public Conference at the University of Sheffield on 1 July 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Session held on the issues in knowledge intermediation in urban research with a focus on 12 lessons from coproduction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://sipsheff17.co.uk/ |
| Description | Beth Perry presented on Participatory Cities at the Mistra Urban Futures Annual Conference in Kisumu Kenya on 14 November 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation drawing on Jam and Justice and Whose Knowledge Matters as part of Participatory Cities workshop held in Kisumu, November 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.mistraurbanfutures.org/en/annual-conference/programme-rjc-2017 |
| Description | Beth Perry wrote a blog entitled Participatory Cities and Urban Justice for the Urban Institute website on 22 September 2017 |
| 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 | This blog was written by Prof Beth Perry and originally appeared on the Mistra Urban Future website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://urbaninstitute.group.shef.ac.uk/participatory-cities-and-urban-justice/ |
| Description | Dr Nazem Tahvilzadeh wrote a blog: Is co-production possible in planning? Notes from a roundtable on participatory cities |
| 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 | This blog aimed to spark debate on the potentials of participatory plan making, and ensure the outcomes of the roundtable had a wider audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/blog/co-production-possible-planning-notes-roundtable-particip... |
| Description | Dr Victoria Habermehl and Prof Beth Perry chaired a panel 'Practices, challenges and potentials of strategic planning: is true participation possible?' at the UK Planning Conference, Tuesday 4th September |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This roundtable was organised to have a workshop between the participants to enable deeper understanding of the different geographical contexts (UK and Sweden) and different professional capacities of organising participatory planning (academic, consultant, planner, professional, community activist/ lobbying group). This sparked lively debate and different understandings of the various subject positions connected to participatory plan making. At the Roundtable debate, the audience engaged with the different expertise and discussion, leading to questions about the different approaches to participatory planning. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/event/uk-planning-research-conference-roundtable-discussion |
| Description | Dr Victoria Habermehl and Prof Beth Perry chaired a roundtable on Participatory Cities, Realising Just Cities - Comparative Co-production, Mistra Urban Futures conference, Cape Town, South Africa, November 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This panel reflected on the practice and potentials of participatory planning in Cape Town, and Sweden. The panel comprised: Vanessa Watson, Professor of City Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics at the University of Cape Town; Adi Kumar from the Development Action Group, Cape Town; Olwethu Jack, from Ubuntu Growing Minds, Cape Town, Nadine Coetzee Architect and Technical Support, Community Organization Resource Centre (CORC); Mavis Manyathi from the Informal Settlement Network (ISN); and Hannah Wadman, a planner in Malmö City. The audience was international academics, postgraduate students and practitioners. This panel sparked questions and debate into the different ways participatory planning could be undertaken in very different global contexts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/blog/co-production-possible-planning-notes-roundtable-particip... |
| Description | Dr Victoria Habermehl wrote a blog after organising workshop in Jan 2019: Citizen Contributions to Spatial Planning: Are we chasing a unicorn? |
| 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 | This blog reflected on the debates that were engaged with in the workshop on citizen expertise and experiences in spatial planning. Its aim was to communicate some of the ideas from the workshop to a wider audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/blog/citizen-contributions-spatial-planning-are-we-chasing-uni... |
| Description | June 2019: Miles Platting on Counter-Cartographies Collective blog |
| 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 | Collaborator Dr Liz Mason-Deese wrote about the work carried out together on the Counter-Cartographies Collective website, which is dedicated to sharing examples of counter-mapping, forming new collaborations, and so transforming economies and social relations. In the blog post, Liz identified how mapping functions as collective research, as a means of knowing the territory, with capacity to tell multiple stories and layer different temporalities. She also highlighted the open-ended nature of the work, enabling an ongoing discussion about neighbourhood space. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.countercartographies.org/a-community-map-of-miles-platting/ |
| Description | Meeting with the Head of Planning at Greater Manchester Combined Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Vicky Habermehl, Dr Bert Russell and Prof Beth Perry met with the Head of Planning and another GMCA officer to begin working with Greater Manchester Combined Authority about the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework process. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | November 2019: Reflexive Research Practice in the University: Boundaries, Expertise and Expectations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | In November 2019, Professor Tim May delivered a paper on reflexive research practice in Birmingham. This event was organised by the School of Society and Government at the University of Birmingham and was attended by postgraduates and others with an interest in boundary-crossing research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Participatory cities project - short video- September 2018 |
| 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 | This short video was produced to communicate our project's rationale, research and ideas to a non-academic and international audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=ZzO7FJufAtQ |
| Description | Prof Beth Perry video for GOLIP |
| 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 | Prof Beth Perry gave a presentation to the Gothenburg Consortium which was then used as part of a short video to educate about the work of the Gothenburg Platform for Mistra Urban Futures |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Prof Mark Burton, Dr Victoria Habermehl and Prof Beth Perry co-organised a workshop "Whose Knowledge Matters: citizen contributions to spatial planning", Manchester 31/01/2019 |
| 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 | 12 practitioners and members of the public attended the workshop to discuss their experiences and expertise of dealing with the planning system. This highlighted shared values, and allowed participants to discuss and develop different techniques for dealing with planning processes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org/event/whose-knowledge-matters-invitation-workshop-citizen-cont... |
| Description | Prof Tim May book launch at Mistra Urban Futures Annual Conference in November 2018 to promote two pivotal books published in 2017/2018: Cities and the Knowledge Economy (Routledge) and Reflexivity: The Essential Guide (Sage). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Book Launch at the Mistra Urban Futures conference in Cape Town. This expanded the international audience for the books, discussing the key themes within them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Prof Tim May organising of workshop in April 2018, Dancing with Dichotomies: Reflexive Experiences of Working Across Boundaries |
| 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 | Professor Tim May, Sheffield Methods Institute, gave a guest lecture to address how the landscape of university work is changing. Funders increasingly seek interdisciplinary collaborations; the thirst for knowledge is manifest in the desire to produce innovative methods; researchers are routinely expected to demonstrate impact and engagement; working beyond disciplines is expected whilst careers are evaluated by disciplines; postgraduate education is placing more emphasis on learning, experiencing and understanding outside of disciplinary boundaries and issues associated with coproduction, working with policy-makers and communities, lead to a need to deepen understanding of the different ways in which we produce knowledge. These and other factors have implications for the future of the university as a distinct site of knowledge production. This lecture examined these pressures and their manifestations and consider what this means for the social organisation of knowledge production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/event/mining-and-mixing-methodology-knowledge-and-distinction-un... |
| Description | Session organised by Victoria Habermehl and Beth Perry entitled 'Valuing Urban Dissensus' at the 'Rethinking Global Urban Justice' Conference in Leeds 11-13 September 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The conference took place on 11-13 September in Leeds, Rethinking Global Urban Justice, provided an opportunity for dialogue between the UK and Swedish partners. The RC21 'Rethinking Global Urban Justice' conference was held in Leeds from the 11th to the 13th September 2017. The event was organised by Research Committee 21 (RC21) on Sociology of Urban and Regional Development of the International Sociological Association. A session organised by Victoria Habermehl and Beth Perry was entitled 'Valuing Urban Dissensus'. Drawing on Whose Knowledge Matters, the sessions explored questions relating to the role and value of citizens' knowledge in sustainable urban development projects. Magnus Johansson from Malmö University presented work on engagement initiatives in Sofielund. A plurality of cases had been selected to draw out themes around dissensus as community contestation, dissensus in everyday life and challenging business as usual. Urban case studies were presented from the UK, Spain, Israel, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and India. A common theme was the need to avoid presenting over-simplistic binary cases of success or failure. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://rc21leeds2017.wordpress.com |
| Description | Tim May gave a key note address 'Forging the Knowledge City for the Many, not the Few' at the Annual Conference of The Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, University of Malmö Sweden on 12 December 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Forging the Knowledge City for the Many, not the Few'. Keynote address at the Annual Conference of The Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, University of Malmö. December. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Tim May gave a keynote address at the 'Social Research in a Sceptical Age' Social Research Association Annual Conference at the British Library in London on 6 December 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tim May presented on 'Meaning, Validity and Expertise: Lessons for Social Research from the Era of Post-Truth'. The 'Social Research in a Sceptical Age' conference - The current climate of scepticism towards 'experts' has put many research practitioners and users on the defensive. Is it enough simply to assert the value of rigorous methods, or should we be checking, sharpening and improving our tools? If 'post-truth' carries real meaning then the pressure is on researchers to find a positive response - such as clearly communicating our findings and why they matter; and demonstrating how high standards in design, conduct and analysis are built in to our research. The SRA annual conference is the only forum the UK has for bringing together social researchers from all sectors and disciplines to share knowledge and ideas, to debate our most pressing professional issues, and, of course, to meet, network and talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhuVR8zjIgo |
| Description | UK and Sheffield Ireland Planning Conference Roundtable Debate - a short video- September 2018 |
| 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 | This short video reflected on the debates at the UK planning conference roundtable, in order to communicate the messages more widely to an international audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLk9BCg0yg&feature=youtu.be |
| Description | Whose Knowledge Matters website |
| 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 | The Whose Knowledge Matters website was developed to create an easy portal to access and engage with our research. The website enabled background information, news, events and blogs to be written, as well as providing a user interface for relevant outputs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020 |
| URL | https://whoseknowledgematters-rjc.org |