Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Fairville (Facing Inequalities and democratic challenges through Co-production in Cities)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-03-31
This project is broadening of previous research projects on democracy and spatial justice. It focuses on the conditions for the formation and consolidation of collaborative frameworks and forms of intermediation that enable urban and environmental democracy to be strengthened, starting from initiatives by residents and citizens, i.e. from a ‘bottom up’ perspective rather than defining externally what value/input should be brought in the neighborhood. It brings together partners from associations and/or universities, as well as a number of local authorities, most of whom have previous experience of urban and/or environmental co-production in areas marked by profound structural inequalities and a democratic deficit.
The proposed topics relate to three social issues that are catalysts for inequality and democratic crisis: precarious or substandard housing/forced urban renewal/climate risks; environmental justice issues, particularly the accumulation and treatment of urban waste.
The consortium has begun to understand the links between multi-scalar urban inequalities and democratic quality and citizens' level of confidence in public action). The research also documents this relationship through an examination of the representations of the terms associated with co-production as seen from several perspectives and ‘retrospective’ research on certain past forms of co-production. To this purpose, a reasoned and annotated repository of resources offering data relevant to the Fairville topics at both the global and the local level. Some of the collected interpretations are focused on inequality within spatial dynamics, e.g. spatial segregation by income within metropolitan areas, the economic differences between city and country, regional differences, as well as the multiple factors impacting on urban and territorial inequalities. Besides, an introduction to the glossary has been written by a dozen of Faiville participants with many entries and conceptual versions/variations of the terms being presented and discussed, yet, useful for all as well as for the labs.
Bringing together researchers, community groups and a number of local authorities, the consortium has also been launching and starting to operate nine Fairville Labs according to a principle of participatory action-research relying first on an exploration of the main demands and issues of the affected groups or partners. These experimental labs now operate in Brussels, Marseille, Region Attica, London, Călărași, Giza and Dakar. These pilots of urban intervention engage local academics, some local authorities, community organisations, organised residents and users in the collective improvement of deprived urban neighbourhoods by deepening existing democratic processes. In relation to these issues, the Fairville labs are therefore forged on the basis of ‘public problems’ identified by residents, local residents and users, and are set up in the form of co-production collectives aimed, in particular, at producing alternative expertise and mapping by including the least consulted sections of the population. These Fairvillelabs are also laboratories for ‘epistemic justice’, i.e. the cooperative production of knowledge with a horizontal focus. In addition, two labs are more research oriented and keep records and follow current developments within co-production experiments without being direct stakeholders (in Berlin Lab for instance).
The participants are also engaged in a process of co-evaluation, the main challenge of which is to include the protagonists, including the most removed from public decision-making, in the monitoring of the co-production. Finally, they started to set the first steps of an international network of co-production, made of various civil-society organisations working with community groups at various scales. Throughout this process, and in particular from 2024 onwards, Fairville is seeking to disseminate the scientific message of the research and knowledge acquired in a language that is easier to understand and accessible to the wide range of stakeholders involved, particularly those in vulnerable situations. This language also applies to awareness-raising activities and the promotion of co-production initiatives, crucial to ensuring that these partnerships lead to real inter-understanding and the pooling of outputs.
The proposed topics relate to three social issues that are catalysts for inequality and democratic crisis: precarious or substandard housing/forced urban renewal/climate risks; environmental justice issues, particularly the accumulation and treatment of urban waste.
The consortium has begun to understand the links between multi-scalar urban inequalities and democratic quality and citizens' level of confidence in public action). The research also documents this relationship through an examination of the representations of the terms associated with co-production as seen from several perspectives and ‘retrospective’ research on certain past forms of co-production. To this purpose, a reasoned and annotated repository of resources offering data relevant to the Fairville topics at both the global and the local level. Some of the collected interpretations are focused on inequality within spatial dynamics, e.g. spatial segregation by income within metropolitan areas, the economic differences between city and country, regional differences, as well as the multiple factors impacting on urban and territorial inequalities. Besides, an introduction to the glossary has been written by a dozen of Faiville participants with many entries and conceptual versions/variations of the terms being presented and discussed, yet, useful for all as well as for the labs.
Bringing together researchers, community groups and a number of local authorities, the consortium has also been launching and starting to operate nine Fairville Labs according to a principle of participatory action-research relying first on an exploration of the main demands and issues of the affected groups or partners. These experimental labs now operate in Brussels, Marseille, Region Attica, London, Călărași, Giza and Dakar. These pilots of urban intervention engage local academics, some local authorities, community organisations, organised residents and users in the collective improvement of deprived urban neighbourhoods by deepening existing democratic processes. In relation to these issues, the Fairville labs are therefore forged on the basis of ‘public problems’ identified by residents, local residents and users, and are set up in the form of co-production collectives aimed, in particular, at producing alternative expertise and mapping by including the least consulted sections of the population. These Fairvillelabs are also laboratories for ‘epistemic justice’, i.e. the cooperative production of knowledge with a horizontal focus. In addition, two labs are more research oriented and keep records and follow current developments within co-production experiments without being direct stakeholders (in Berlin Lab for instance).
The participants are also engaged in a process of co-evaluation, the main challenge of which is to include the protagonists, including the most removed from public decision-making, in the monitoring of the co-production. Finally, they started to set the first steps of an international network of co-production, made of various civil-society organisations working with community groups at various scales. Throughout this process, and in particular from 2024 onwards, Fairville is seeking to disseminate the scientific message of the research and knowledge acquired in a language that is easier to understand and accessible to the wide range of stakeholders involved, particularly those in vulnerable situations. This language also applies to awareness-raising activities and the promotion of co-production initiatives, crucial to ensuring that these partnerships lead to real inter-understanding and the pooling of outputs.
The D1.1 "Report on Document Analysis" is a detailed collection of resources about Fairville topics at different levels. Part One reviews sources on inequality and political participation, providing examples of community initiatives. Part Two makes these resources easy to find, listing and describing global and local sources on these topics.
Alongside, the report D.2.4 defined 'institutional coproduction' and 'community-led coproduction' to better analyze these processes. It states there is no clear evidence that coproduction reduces socio-economic inequalities because such processes are rare and inequalities are complex. More research is needed to address inequalities in coproduction experiments.
Towards a glossary: The group expanded its reflection by creating 10 entries, authored by academics and civil society members. Besides coproduction and inequalities, institutionalization and epistemic justice are key terms. Institutionalization focuses on long-term integration of coproduction into public policies, sparking ongoing debates. Epistemic justice, however, lacks consensus among non-academic members, stimulating discussions on universally understandable terms. These dialogues have shaped parallel interpretations of the concepts. Additionally, research into past coproductions in various cities has been initiated, with four contributions awaiting collective analysis.
A stakeholders and key actors database has been created. This very simple grid has been useful to start understanding the diversity of engagements within the Fairville labs, spanning from 4 to 32 kinds of participants and including a diversity of stakeholders that needed to be understood more in-depth. It is from there on that the consortium started sharing views of the internal governance of the labs.
A toolbox for co-production of pilot actions has been delivered. It outlines the methodology of the nine Fairville Labs. Following the launch of the coproduction lab, there's a need to collectively define a pathway, often overlooked in participatory research. The Fairville Labs must involve all parties to codify this methodology, subject to revision in practice, emphasizing collective governance and task division.
A monthly Mutual Learning Seminar, initiated in November 2023, facilitates cross-disciplinary sharing among project teams and partners, focusing on experiences and challenges in co-production. It complements peer-to-peer support sessions by broadening discussions on tools and methods, while also serving as a platform for showcasing project progress to the public.
The D4.2 deliverable, led by WP4 and the CNRS team, offers a comprehensive checklist and framework for co-assessment of Fairville Labs, building upon previous deliverables and incorporating various inputs. It aims to enhance nuanced evaluation through tailored questions and objectives, with ongoing refinement planned before finalization and potential publication to aid collaborative research projects.
Alongside, the report D.2.4 defined 'institutional coproduction' and 'community-led coproduction' to better analyze these processes. It states there is no clear evidence that coproduction reduces socio-economic inequalities because such processes are rare and inequalities are complex. More research is needed to address inequalities in coproduction experiments.
Towards a glossary: The group expanded its reflection by creating 10 entries, authored by academics and civil society members. Besides coproduction and inequalities, institutionalization and epistemic justice are key terms. Institutionalization focuses on long-term integration of coproduction into public policies, sparking ongoing debates. Epistemic justice, however, lacks consensus among non-academic members, stimulating discussions on universally understandable terms. These dialogues have shaped parallel interpretations of the concepts. Additionally, research into past coproductions in various cities has been initiated, with four contributions awaiting collective analysis.
A stakeholders and key actors database has been created. This very simple grid has been useful to start understanding the diversity of engagements within the Fairville labs, spanning from 4 to 32 kinds of participants and including a diversity of stakeholders that needed to be understood more in-depth. It is from there on that the consortium started sharing views of the internal governance of the labs.
A toolbox for co-production of pilot actions has been delivered. It outlines the methodology of the nine Fairville Labs. Following the launch of the coproduction lab, there's a need to collectively define a pathway, often overlooked in participatory research. The Fairville Labs must involve all parties to codify this methodology, subject to revision in practice, emphasizing collective governance and task division.
A monthly Mutual Learning Seminar, initiated in November 2023, facilitates cross-disciplinary sharing among project teams and partners, focusing on experiences and challenges in co-production. It complements peer-to-peer support sessions by broadening discussions on tools and methods, while also serving as a platform for showcasing project progress to the public.
The D4.2 deliverable, led by WP4 and the CNRS team, offers a comprehensive checklist and framework for co-assessment of Fairville Labs, building upon previous deliverables and incorporating various inputs. It aims to enhance nuanced evaluation through tailored questions and objectives, with ongoing refinement planned before finalization and potential publication to aid collaborative research projects.
This section is not applicable at this stage of the project.