Civil Society & Social InnovationThe university of the village: universities connecting with rural communities
Principal Investigator: Professor Michael Wilson
From 2011 to 2012
This pilot project explored new modes of delivery, enhanced through Next Generation Access Broadband, and was interested to redraw the relationship between universities and rural communities and grant access to university outreach services for those communities. The project in St Agnes resulted in delivering a short film course to the participants who collaboratively made a film about their village. Read more
Valuing Different Perspectives
Principal Investigator: Dr Peter Matthews
2014
This project will run both a community-led and academic-led evaluation of project legacy from two previous Connected Communities projects – Community Hacking 2.0 and Ladders to the Cloud. At the heart of this proposal are complex issues of power, knowledge and methodology. Within this complexity are simple binaries that can be presented as poles: positivist-interpretivist; academic-community; participatory-external; quantitative-qualitative. Read more
Unearth Hidden Assets through Community Co-design and Co-production
Principal Investigator: Dr Busayawan Lam, Brunel University
From 2013 to 2014
We believe that each community has many valuable assets, for example people and spaces. However, many assets may not be visible to the majority of community members. This collaborative project works with communities to uncover hidden assets and unlock their potential. Read more
Measuring big society
Principal Investigator: Professor Richard Mitchell (University of Glasgow)
From 2010 to 2011
Big Society is a core element of the coalition government’s policy and ideology. It is not easy to define, but in essence a Big Society is one in which citizens and communities take a vastly increased role in managing shaping and delivering public services and the social and physical infrastructure of society. Read more
‘Connectors, not Communities, in Preventing and Responding to Violence and Disaffection; Marginalised Youth and Complexities of ‘Community’
Principal Investigator: Basia Spalek
From 2014 to 2015
A critical theme emerging from three scoping studies conducted as part of the Connected Communities programme is that, in relation to marginalised young people and their “connections and disconnections” with communities, key individuals [‘connectors’] working within and across multiple communities often play a significant role in mediating many of the critical issues facing their lives. Read more
Living Together: Re-Thinking Social Unity for a Multi-Faith Society
Principal Investigator: Dr Derek Edyvane, University of Leeds
2011
The ‘civic health’ discourse in contemporary politics presupposes an analogy between the lives of communities and the lives of individuals that is often overlooked. This report examines two prominent philosophical conceptions of the life of an individual – the ‘episodic’ and the ‘narrative’ – and considers what they can tell us about the lives of communities. Read more
Starting from Values – Evaluating Intangible Legacies
Principal Investigator: Prof. Marie Harder, University of Brighton
From 2014 to 2015
The project brings together partners from the University of Brighton and two Connected Communities project: The Authority Research Network and Scaling-Up Co-Design. Read more
Understanding everyday participation – articulating cultural values
Principal Investigator: Dr Andrew Miles (University of Manchester)
2011
This project proposes a radical re-evaluation of the relationship between participation and cultural value. We are used to thinking about the benefits of the arts as a traditional way of understanding culture and its value but what about the meanings and stakes people attach to their hobbies and pastimes? Read more
Connection, participation and empowerment in community-based research: the case of the transition movement.
Principal Investigator: Professor Rachel Pain (Durham University); Centre for Social Justice and Community Action
From 2012 to 2013
The project addressed issues identified by Transition Network through its experience of fielding interest from researchers. It documented experiences of Transition groups and researchers involved in research collaborations, created draft guidelines for Transition research, and initiated a broader project on supporting Transition groups to devise appropriate methods for monitoring and evaluation. Read more
Cultural Activism in the Community
Principal Investigator: Michael Buser
2012
This scoping study explored literature and debates on cultural activism and communities of place. Cultural activism is defined as a set of creative practices and activities which challenge dominant interpretations and constructions of the world, while presenting alternative socio-political and spatial imaginaries in ways which challenge relationships between art, politics, participation and spectatorship. Read more
