Participatory Policy Learning and New Municipalism
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: INLOGOV
Abstract
I will extend my PhD research on evaluation to open up a new agenda in the field of public policy. The core principle of evaluation is that evidence should be used to identify the impact of an intervention and inform future social policy. Despite its promise, evaluation has had little impact on transformative social change, as conventional approaches tend to limit the scope for learning within the frames of the status quo. My PhD research has developed an original approach of 'counter-establishment evaluation' based on participatory action research with social justice as a core value. Counter-establishment evaluation can robustly evidence the ways in which social action has caused tangible improvements to people's lives, and then use this evidence to broaden the scope of policy learning about transformative social change.
Civil society organisations often experiment with innovative approaches to promote social justice. As such, there is much that can be learned from civil society organisations to support social transformation. At present, opportunities to learn from civil society are rarely realised by policy-makers. A more participatory approach can build on the capabilities of civil society to contribute new policy ideas to address social problems.
Municipal institutions can enable public participation, while at the same time they operate at a sufficient scale to enable transformative social change. New municipalist platforms are emerging around the world, and aim to create a new form of participatory urban politics to promote social justice - for example, Barcelona en Comú. Contemporary municipalism has considerable potential to deliver social justice, but could benefit from more systematic approaches to evidence and learn about transformative social change. Through collaboration between civil society, municipal institutions, and grant-making organisations, cities can become sites of social innovation to create new solutions to social injustice. I will engage with stakeholders in Manchester and Barcelona to advance a new direction for implementing and embedding participatory policy learning within municipal institutions.
This ESRC fellowship will create opportunities for shared learning across academia, civil society, municipal institutions and grant-making organisations with three key aims: firstly, to consider the potential for small-scale social action to inform policy-learning; secondly, to cultivate, shape, and implement a new vision for evaluative culture and practice at a municipal level; and thirdly, to set out a new agenda for participatory policy learning in municipal institutions.
I will engage with activists, civil society organisations, municipal policy-makers and grant-making organisations in Manchester and Barcelona to explore new approaches for participatory policy-learning at a municipal level. I will produce a report for the stakeholders with recommendations to advance participatory policy learning in each city. This process will create new partnerships for future research collaborations and enable opportunities to impact policy and practice. I will produce a pamphlet and digital long-form publication for a broader audience.
Through this ESRC Fellowship, I will set the foundations to establish myself as a research leader in the academic field of public policy by advancing a new agenda in participatory policy learning. I will achieve this by publishing four papers in high impact, peer-reviewed journals; through active involvement at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Local Government Studies; by presenting my work at both the Autonomous University of Barcelona through a visiting fellowship, and the European Consortium of Political Research's Joint Sessions conference; and by taking part in a unique training workshop at the Critical Participatory Action Research Institute at City University New York.
Civil society organisations often experiment with innovative approaches to promote social justice. As such, there is much that can be learned from civil society organisations to support social transformation. At present, opportunities to learn from civil society are rarely realised by policy-makers. A more participatory approach can build on the capabilities of civil society to contribute new policy ideas to address social problems.
Municipal institutions can enable public participation, while at the same time they operate at a sufficient scale to enable transformative social change. New municipalist platforms are emerging around the world, and aim to create a new form of participatory urban politics to promote social justice - for example, Barcelona en Comú. Contemporary municipalism has considerable potential to deliver social justice, but could benefit from more systematic approaches to evidence and learn about transformative social change. Through collaboration between civil society, municipal institutions, and grant-making organisations, cities can become sites of social innovation to create new solutions to social injustice. I will engage with stakeholders in Manchester and Barcelona to advance a new direction for implementing and embedding participatory policy learning within municipal institutions.
This ESRC fellowship will create opportunities for shared learning across academia, civil society, municipal institutions and grant-making organisations with three key aims: firstly, to consider the potential for small-scale social action to inform policy-learning; secondly, to cultivate, shape, and implement a new vision for evaluative culture and practice at a municipal level; and thirdly, to set out a new agenda for participatory policy learning in municipal institutions.
I will engage with activists, civil society organisations, municipal policy-makers and grant-making organisations in Manchester and Barcelona to explore new approaches for participatory policy-learning at a municipal level. I will produce a report for the stakeholders with recommendations to advance participatory policy learning in each city. This process will create new partnerships for future research collaborations and enable opportunities to impact policy and practice. I will produce a pamphlet and digital long-form publication for a broader audience.
Through this ESRC Fellowship, I will set the foundations to establish myself as a research leader in the academic field of public policy by advancing a new agenda in participatory policy learning. I will achieve this by publishing four papers in high impact, peer-reviewed journals; through active involvement at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Local Government Studies; by presenting my work at both the Autonomous University of Barcelona through a visiting fellowship, and the European Consortium of Political Research's Joint Sessions conference; and by taking part in a unique training workshop at the Critical Participatory Action Research Institute at City University New York.
Publications
Silver D
(2019)
'We know it works. . .': The Troubled Families Programme and the pre-determined boundary judgements of decontextualised policy evaluation
in Critical Social Policy
Silver D
(2023)
Handbook on Local and Regional Governance
Purdam K
(2020)
Social policy and embedded evaluation: Assessing the impact of a food insecurity project in the United Kingdom
in Social Policy & Administration
Kussy A
(2022)
The caring city? A critical reflection on Barcelona's municipal experiments in care and the commons
in Urban Studies
Description | I have published three papers in high impact, peer-reviewed journals to set out my original agenda on participatory policy learning. Through these publications I aim to shape debates in the academic fields of public policy and research methodology. |
Exploitation Route | Evaluation in civil society organisations and municipal institutions |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
Description | Guided by my academic publica,ons I have had an impact on practice. For example: I worked with the Open Society Foundations (OSF), an international grant-making organisation to made recommendations about how social action can inform social justice strategies, which was subsequently used to help guide £300,000 investment into civil society organisations; I collaborated with three charities to shape the vision and practice of evaluation based on my research. The applicants' work in this area was severely disrupted by the pandemic. This impact work was prevented by restrictions and extreme pressures on VCS organisations during the pandemic raised questions about the ethics of requests for non-pandemic-related research. Work is on-going in this area and visits to Barcelona and Zagreb to explore the potential impact with municipal institutions will be done in 2022. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | Influencing Practice |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
Description | Collaborative Writing |
Organisation | Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Shaping the terms for the investigation |
Collaborator Contribution | Producing a report on policy frameworks in Barcelona |
Impact | Academic journal article published https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00420980221134191?journalCode=usja |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Knowledge Exchange |
Organisation | Salford Community and Voluntary Services |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | I worked with three voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to advise them on evaluation strategies. The applicants' work in this area was severely disrupted by the pandemic. This knowledge exchange work was prevented by restrictions and extreme pressures on VCS organisations during the pandemic raised questions about the ethics of requests for non-pandemic-related research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative working |
Impact | n/a |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Knowledge Exchange |
Organisation | The Children's Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | I worked with three voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to advise them on evaluation strategies. The applicants' work in this area was severely disrupted by the pandemic. This knowledge exchange work was prevented by restrictions and extreme pressures on VCS organisations during the pandemic raised questions about the ethics of requests for non-pandemic-related research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative working |
Impact | n/a |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Knowledge Exchange |
Organisation | Voluntary Sector North West |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | I worked with three voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to advise them on evaluation strategies. The applicants' work in this area was severely disrupted by the pandemic. This knowledge exchange work was prevented by restrictions and extreme pressures on VCS organisations during the pandemic raised questions about the ethics of requests for non-pandemic-related research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative working |
Impact | n/a |
Start Year | 2019 |