Mapping for Social Innovation Project: Qualitative mapping of needs

Background
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2011) defines Social Innovation as ‘improving the welfare of individuals and community through employment, consumption or participation, its expressed purpose being therefore to provide solutions for individual and community problems’ OECD (2011). Social innovation is a participatory and bottom-up process which offers creative answers to social needs. Its impact is in its power to improve the quality of people’s lives and satisfy needs which do not find solutions from the usual institutional channels.

We are launching an ambitious Social Innovation initiative in the city of Dundee in Scotland and, at this stage, we will concentrate on an extensive mapping of needs and potentials of the local community, using both and together qualitative research and data science and visualisation.

The Project
This project will bootstrap a Social Innovation initiative, centred on the city of Dundee, particularly where there are areas of disadvantage and gap in the delivery of provisions. The investigation will focus on exploring how to build user-driven and sustainable social innovation initiatives. The project will investigate areas not provided by, or funded, via traditional public and private sources and will start a process for proposing potential solutions. Core to the this project will in particular be a strong emphasis on mapping existing activities, people’s and charities’ needs, with the intent to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation and begin exploring some areas of intervention and foresee potential Social Innovation Solutions.
The approach we propose places particular emphasis on working closely with various local groups to identify the existing gaps and the forms of social innovation that would benefit them. The actual direct outcomes will be determined through an initial mapping and exploration phase, in collaboration with the local community. We believe that the mapping phase can have an impact well beyond the scope of the project itself and it has added value for the activities of a variety of potential actors (such as trusts, philanthropists), especially around their planning and supporting activities.

The Studentship
Initial in-depth mapping is required in order to understand the most pressing needs of the local community. The mapping will support assessing those needs which offer the potential for Social Innovation solutions. This phase will be conducted largely with qualitative research techniques such as interviews and ethnographic observations. The successful applicant will have at least an undergraduate degree (2:1 or higher) and a background in Social Sciences broadly defined (e.g. Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, Political Economy etc) and skills in qualitative research. You will be responsible for data collection and analysis and contribute to the qualitative mapping of needs and to the formulation of scenarios for future activities. In addition to the methodological skills noted above, candidates should have strong communication, interpersonal skills and interest to work at an interdisciplinary level.