RELIEF 2
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: UCL Institute for Global Prosperity
Abstract
Since 2017, the RELIEF Centre has worked with citizens, NGOs, and other stakeholders to deliver a programme of research and action towards social inclusion, sustainability and better quality of life for communities in Lebanon. During this time, however, Lebanon experienced a number of radical changes and tragedies: destabilisation of government following the 2019 political protests; the horrendous blast in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020; an economic collapse and currency devaluation; widespread failure of public services and infrastructure; and a series of Covid-related lockdowns that have exerted further pressure on the economy.
In this context of compounded crises, RELIEF's work proceeds from the view that future recovery in Lebanon must follow principles of inclusive growth and prosperity, whereby the starting point and primary focus is not aggregate GDP-growth but the things that people need for better quality of life -secure livelihoods, clean and affordable services, good education, and safe, healthy and inclusive environments. In the Lebanese context of economic and political turmoil, however, 'bottom-up' initiatives are essential for developing solutions. RELIEF's work thus focuses on the sustained development of capabilities that can help citizens and communities acquire skills and organise into communities of practice that address emergent challenges. Over the next 5 years, the second phase of the RELIEF Centre (RELIEF II) will focus on strengthening existing capabilities for citizen-led research, action, and transformation. RELIEF II will build on five types of capability that were established in the first phase of the project (see Appendix Table 1):
- Partnerships for prosperity - a trans-disciplinary ecology of stakeholders, brought together by a shared commitment to research and action for positive change, underpinned by a citizen-led prosperity index (PI).
- Theories and concepts - conceptual frameworks for understanding prosperity in context, adapting new pedagogies for challenging environments, and making sense of the vitality of cities facing prolonged crises.
- Methods - new approaches to citizen-led research, data analysis, MOOC development, and urban intervention design.
- Data - quantitative and qualitative data sets, including household surveys on quality of life, surveys on quality of housing and neighbourhood infrastructures (energy, water, waste, food and transport), and interviews and focus groups about priority areas for prosperity.
- Funding - streams of additional funding to support research and interventions on the key themes of infrastructure, livelihoods, education, entrepreneurship and liveable and inclusive cities.
RELIEF II will continue to expand these capabilities and use them to create impact activities/outputs, including publications, capacity building, urban interventions, creation of educational resources, and innovative policy initiatives. These outputs will be disseminated to wider audiences both in Lebanon and internationally through outreach events and activities, and by a prosperity platform. Impact will be delivered and embedded through five work packages (WPs), each with its objectives, deliverables, and beneficiaries: (WP1) development, visualization, and application of a Prosperity Index for Lebanon; (WP2) the continuation, updating, and expansion of RELIEF's online courses, as well as its research and policy work on participatory approaches to online education; (WP3) the use of participatory mechanisms for public service design as the basis for advancing a Green New Deal for Lebanon; (WP4) the creation of a Citizen Science Academy, which will be a global leader in methodological innovation for citizen-led research and training; and (WP5) the creation of an online platform to deliver innovative knowledge sharing, policy design and pathways to policy change on key challenges of livelihoods, public services, health and education in Lebanon.
In this context of compounded crises, RELIEF's work proceeds from the view that future recovery in Lebanon must follow principles of inclusive growth and prosperity, whereby the starting point and primary focus is not aggregate GDP-growth but the things that people need for better quality of life -secure livelihoods, clean and affordable services, good education, and safe, healthy and inclusive environments. In the Lebanese context of economic and political turmoil, however, 'bottom-up' initiatives are essential for developing solutions. RELIEF's work thus focuses on the sustained development of capabilities that can help citizens and communities acquire skills and organise into communities of practice that address emergent challenges. Over the next 5 years, the second phase of the RELIEF Centre (RELIEF II) will focus on strengthening existing capabilities for citizen-led research, action, and transformation. RELIEF II will build on five types of capability that were established in the first phase of the project (see Appendix Table 1):
- Partnerships for prosperity - a trans-disciplinary ecology of stakeholders, brought together by a shared commitment to research and action for positive change, underpinned by a citizen-led prosperity index (PI).
- Theories and concepts - conceptual frameworks for understanding prosperity in context, adapting new pedagogies for challenging environments, and making sense of the vitality of cities facing prolonged crises.
- Methods - new approaches to citizen-led research, data analysis, MOOC development, and urban intervention design.
- Data - quantitative and qualitative data sets, including household surveys on quality of life, surveys on quality of housing and neighbourhood infrastructures (energy, water, waste, food and transport), and interviews and focus groups about priority areas for prosperity.
- Funding - streams of additional funding to support research and interventions on the key themes of infrastructure, livelihoods, education, entrepreneurship and liveable and inclusive cities.
RELIEF II will continue to expand these capabilities and use them to create impact activities/outputs, including publications, capacity building, urban interventions, creation of educational resources, and innovative policy initiatives. These outputs will be disseminated to wider audiences both in Lebanon and internationally through outreach events and activities, and by a prosperity platform. Impact will be delivered and embedded through five work packages (WPs), each with its objectives, deliverables, and beneficiaries: (WP1) development, visualization, and application of a Prosperity Index for Lebanon; (WP2) the continuation, updating, and expansion of RELIEF's online courses, as well as its research and policy work on participatory approaches to online education; (WP3) the use of participatory mechanisms for public service design as the basis for advancing a Green New Deal for Lebanon; (WP4) the creation of a Citizen Science Academy, which will be a global leader in methodological innovation for citizen-led research and training; and (WP5) the creation of an online platform to deliver innovative knowledge sharing, policy design and pathways to policy change on key challenges of livelihoods, public services, health and education in Lebanon.
Publications
Mintchev N
(2022)
Sustained Citizen Science From Research to Solutions: A New Impact Model for the Social Sciences
in International Journal of Qualitative Methods
Elisabetta Pietrostefani
(2022)
Prosperity Report - El Mina, Tripoli
Kennedy, E.
(2022)
"YOU MAKE YOURSELF ENTIRELY AVAILABLE": EMOTIONAL LABOUR IN A CARING APPROACH TO ONLINE TEACHING
in Italian Journal of Educational Technology
Bekdache N
(2022)
Lifelines - Politics, ethics, and the affective economy of inhabiting
Kennedy E
(2022)
Creating value from co-designing CoMOOCs with teachers in challenging environments
in London Review of Education
Title | Vital Lebanon: Capacities of people, capacities of cities |
Description | The exhibition aims to experientially showcase the work and outputs of the first phase of the RELIEF centre, and will offer insights into the localised scales of livelihood and prosperity various Lebanese communities construct in times of uncertainty. The exhibition will make use of audio, visual, and interactive spatial design elements to showcase the research outputs, and will have immersive components to engage attendees. There will also be two performances (a music piece, and a sound immersion performance). |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Impact | It showcases the research activities of the first phase of RELIEF and their impact in an artistic way, making them more accessible The design and curation allows for a self-reflective exercise, and the continuous questioning of central notions of our work, and the need to adapt them to the time, and the space (in this case, a physical space of a gallery) Engage and provoke the audience on common notions, and less common ones Receive feedback from the audience (through a feedback wall which is part of the exhibition design) on the exhibition, as well as the work we do, and other thoughts they have on any of the projects/topics displayed Promoting our work, particularly the citizen science methodology, the FF2030 network, the interventions, and the datasets, and encouraging people to engage with them, by joining the network, using the data to come up with an intervention, etc. |
URL | https://www.relief-centre.org/events/vital-lebanon-capacities-of-people-capacities-of-cities |
Description | Livelihoods Networks and Political Experience in Beirut, Lebanon (MENA Social Policy Network scheme) |
Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2022 |
End | 08/2023 |
Title | Livelihoods and Governance interview data set |
Description | - 14 semi-structured interviews with Ras Beirut residents on the themes of the changing nature of livelihoods and governance in Lebanon. - 5 semi-structured interviews about the value and impact about two citizen-led interventions for improved quality of life in Ras Beirut. These interventions were created by a previous research initiative on which the project team worked, and the data from the evaluation interviews will be used to create policy proposals and policy solutions for improved livelihoods that simultaneously contribute to conflict prevention in the community. - A series of ethnographic observations and reflections about the 2022 Lebanese general election, including political speeches from key party leaders, social media posts, observations of campaign strategies such as strategic placement of political billboards, and accounts of public behaviour and public attitudes related to the election. These observations will be published as a working paper at the beginning of 2023. - 1 interview (with four more planned before the end of January) with Lebanon-based policy experts about the current negotiations between the IMF and the Lebanese government about structural reforms requested by the IMF as a condition for releasing a $3 billion assistance loan. The interviews have important implications for the future of Lebanon's economic policy and its ability to achieve decent social security, good quality livelihoods, and political stability. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The data set has provided new and up-to-date insights about the changing landscape of livelihoods and political identification in the context of Lebanon's economic crisis, as well as the value of small scale citizen-led interventions for improved quality of life. |
Description | A citizen science methodology collaboration between Lebanon and Palestine for social policy creation |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Institute for Global Prosperity |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We collaborated with Dr. Christopher Harker to design a project that would connect the research teams in Lebanon and Palestine working with the citizen science methodology for social policy change. We co-wrote the grant's application. In case the grant is won, our team based in Lebanon would contribute with training on the citizen science methodology. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Christopher Harker, Co-I on the Palestine research team, co-wrote the proposal for the grant with us. |
Impact | The writing and the submission of the proposal to the funders is the main outcome for this collaboration. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with Education Research Laboratory, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth |
Organisation | Saint Joseph University |
Country | Lebanon |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Eileen Kennedy has been working with researchers within the Education Research Laboratory, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth to establish collaborative support for early career researchers in digital learning. This nascent collaboration has been funded by UCL IOE International Funds to support a cross-institutional hybrid conference for PhD students at UCL Knowledge Lab and Education Research Laboratory, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth. In addition, the collaboration will also support a new student journal at UCL Press which will be a vehicle for publishing early career research in digital learning in Lebanon and internationally. |
Collaborator Contribution | Partners will organise PhD students in digital learning to present at the conference and help to establish an enduring collaboration. Partners will form part of the international advisory board of the new journal, Reflecting Digital Learning (UCL Press). |
Impact | Outputs so far include international advisory board membership of the journal Reflecting Digital Learning and a date for the cross-institution hybrid seminar/conference (May 2023). |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Mar Mikhael CS-led Intervention - "Mayyel" the elderly community group |
Organisation | CatalyticAction |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | RELIEF Centre has funded, evaluated and advised a group of Citizen Scientists affiliated to 2 Lebanese NGOs, to found and execute a 6 month project: joining isolated and lonely elderly in a community affected by the August 4th 2020 Beirut Blast. The advising was done in collaboration with charity CatalyticAction. In January 2023, RELIEF handed the project over to the elderly community, installing a structure for electing a representative, a treasurer, and for any member of the community to propose a project based on the community's needs. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Citizen Scientists managed the project for the 1st 6 months. They organized events and activities for the elderly on their public stair and in various public spaces arounf Lebanon. CatalyticAction helped advise them and organized one activity for them. |
Impact | Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mayyel_community/ Evaluations by the RELIEF team and Catalytic action in interview form. Evaluations by the Citizen Scientists in interview form. Both evaluations are to be analyzed in a report by RELIEF. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | An invited presentation on "Realising the potential of digital learning at scale" at Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Lebanon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Eileen Kennedy was invited to present her research on "Realising the potential of digital learning at scale: research approaches" at the Education Research Laboratory, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (USJ) on 9 December 2022. The audience was composed of faculty and early career researchers studying for PhD in Education at USJ. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | How does citizen science change us? Exploring the impacts on 'citizens', 'researchers', 'policymakers', and social action |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Mayssa Jallad presented on Lebanon Citizen Science Activities in the section Presentations: Pathways to change. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-open-science-conference-how-does-citizen-science-change-us-ticket... |
Description | Imagining Futures Gathering II Strategic use of Archives in contexts of Displacement and Post-Conflict |
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 | The gathering is jointly organised by IF - the Imaging Futures Through Un/Archived Pasts Network (based at the University of Exeter) and the British Institute at Ankara and is aimed at bringing together different stakeholders including policymakers, knowledge holders and specialists through participation in a series of tailored conversations and practice sessions on archiving and the negotiations of everyday life in post-conflict and/or displaced contexts. Considering this event took place after the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, it was of exceptional value to come together and collectively discuss the impact and vital considerations to address in the aftermath. It was a unique event in that it brought together people from various disciplines ransing from urbanis, architecture, archaeology, social sciences, political science and artists, around a brainstorming of what it is we need to archive and preserve when disaster hits communities and geographies at a large scale, as well as, how do you mediate between victims' wishes and decision-makers in time of emergency. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://imaginingfutures.world/projects/ |
Description | Invited presentation "A pedagogy of care for online teaching and learning", Lebanese University Faculty of Pedagogy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Eileen Kennedy was invited to share her research on a caring approach to digital learning with faculty and postgraduate students from Lebanese University's Faculty of Pedagogy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://luwebxx.ul.edu.lb/en/faculty-pedagogy-organizes-webinar-online-teaching-and-learning |
Description | Lebanon-UK Citizen Science Exchange Workshop in London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | An exchange between London Citizen Scientists and Lebanon Citizen Scientists. All CSs presented their work, and a Q and A between the two groups ensued. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | London Prosperity Board briefing - Sharing Citizen Science Experiences - RELIEF CENTRE |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presentation given by Mayssa Jallad on our Citizen Science activities and interventions, to the London Prosperity Board |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | PROCOL Lebanon Conference: Vital Lebanon |
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 | the conference aims to bring together academic and non-academics to debate the uncertainty experienced in Lebanon and its effect on people's livelihoods, solidarity and activism as the processes of vitality in times of crises, and the energetics needed to re-imagine the way resources are used and shared using a whole system approach. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.relief-centre.org/events/vital-lebanon-uncertainty-solidarity-activism-amp-energetics |
Description | Realising the potential of MOOCs as a decentred process for collaborative professional development |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Diana Laurillard and Eileen Kennedy presented a talk on "Realising the potential of MOOCs as a decentred process for collaborative professional development" (with Diana Laurillard) at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) Annual Conference in May 25 2022. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.researchcghe.org/perch/resources/realising-the-potential-of-moocs-as-a-decentred-process... |
Description | Urban Citizen Science and Community-based Knowledge Production (DSA Conference panel) |
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 | This was a Development Studies Association conference panel convened by RELIEF II team members Nikolay Mintchev and Mariam Daher, in collaboration with IGP colleague Dr Saffron Woodcraft. The panel contained presentations and contributions from academics and practitioners from the UK and abroad. The theme was participatory research methods for urban research and action. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hloYM3oz20E&ab_channel=NomadIT |