Objective
The effort to strengthen social cohesion and lower social inequalities is among Europe’s main policy challenges. It means that local welfare systems are at the forefront of the struggle to address this challenge – and they are far from winning. While the statistics show some positive signs, the overall picture still shows sharp and sometimes rising inequalities, a loss of social cohesion and failing policies of integration.
But, contrary to what is sometimes thought, a lack of bottom-up innovation is not the issue in itself. European cities are teeming with new ideas, initiated by citizens, professionals and policymakers. The problem is, rather, that innovations taking place in the city are not effectively disseminated because they are not sufficiently understood. Many innovations are not picked up, because their relevance is not recognised or they fail after they have been introduced, because they were not suitable to the different conditions in another city in another country.
In this project, we will look into this missing link between innovations at the local level and their successful transfer and implementation to other settings. We will examine innovation in cities, not as a disconnected phenomenon, but as an element in a tradition of welfare that is part of particular socio-economic models and the result of specific national and local cultures. By contextualising innovations in local welfare, will be more effective in understanding how they could work in other cities, for the benefit of other citizens.
In short, the aim of the project is to examine, through cross-national comparative research, how local welfare systems affect social inequalities and how they favour social cohesion and sustainability. The results will be used, through strong interaction with stakeholders and urban policy recommendations, to link immediately to the needs of practitioners.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
FP7-SSH-2010-2
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research projectCoordinator
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
See on map
Participants (13)
48149 MUENSTER
See on map
20133 Milano
See on map
1211 Geneve
See on map
08007 Barcelona
See on map
10000 Zagreb
See on map
CT2 7NZ Canterbury, Kent
See on map
75017 PARIS
See on map
00-927 WARSZAWA
See on map
10061 STOCKHOLM
See on map
35390 Giessen
See on map
4000 LIEGE
See on map
48149 Muenster
See on map
841 01 BRATISLAVA
See on map