Principal Investigator: Professor Morag McDermontCo-investigators: Angela Piccini, Tim Cole, Ros Sutherland, Wendy Larner of the University of Bristol; Eva Elliott, Martin Innes, Emma Renold, of Cardiff UniversityCollaborators: Building the Bridge (Bristol) , Single Parent Action Network (Bristol) , Coexist (Bristol), 3G’s Development Trust (Merthyr Tydfil) , Southville Community Development Association (Bristol), South Riverside Community Development Centre (Cardiff)Duration: From 2013 to 2018
Community engagement needs radical re-design. All too often decision-making is top-down and decision makers do not adequately engage, deeming ‘community engagement’ a passive exercise. Communities are often only invited to comment on decisions which have already been made, leaving isolated and excluded communities feeling even more powerless, and adding to dislocation between politicians and the electorate.
Starting life in April 2013, the Productive Margins: Regulating for Engagement research programme is a co-production venture comprising community organisations and social enterprises in Bristol and South Wales and academics from the University of Bristol and Cardiff University.
• A five year project, the aim is to co-produce new forms of engagement in decision-making, not just across politics and policy but also the arts.
