News

Start of third EU project coordination at Bielefeld Center

On 1st January 2013 the Bielefeld Center starts its new EU collaborative project SocIEtY. 13 partners from 11 European countries are involved.
“Social Innovation–Empowering the Young (SocIEtY) for the Common Good” will both focus on and integrate disadvantaged young people into the research process to improve their quality of life and to foster social innovation. Therefore SocIEtY will extend the given informational basis for designing and implementing policies to reduce inequalities by giving voice and opportunities for developing aspirations to young people facing multifaceted inequalities while living in deprived city districts. The approach is to bring to the fore young persons’ concerns and voices about their self-perception and social participation in society.
SocIEtY will refine a coherent theoretical and methodological framework for the whole project on the basis of the Capability Approach. As a second step a documentary analysis and interviews with relevant political stakeholders and a longitudinal analysis of EU-SILC data will be carried out. Additionally, national and regional data for each partner country for evaluating existing policies towards inequalities will be analysed. 11 analyses of social support networks will be carried out, scrutinizing the strategies and policies of local actors in deprived city districts of each partner country.
Finally, SocIEtY will develop an innovative participative research methodology bringing different stakeholders and different narratives together. An aim of this empirical instrument is to enable deliberative processes in which every participant has equal opportunity to voice their concerns and aspirations with regard to the common good. Traditional empirical research is combined with a participation methodology, broadening the informational basis for social innovation in public policies.


„Human Development Perspectives“

Bielefeld University, 26th / 27th June 2011

In connection with the awards of a Honorary Doctorate to Prof. Dr. Martha Nussbaum, University of Chicago, a conference will take place to analyze the different dimensions of human development as important elements for advancing educational and welfare perspectives for the future/for a societal renewal. Distinguished colleagues will present their disciplinary point of view with the aim of a critical reflexion of the Capability Approach. We sincerely invite you to attend this conference.
All participants of the conference are also invited to join the celebration of awarding Martha Nussbaum an Honorary Doctorate on Monday, 27th June 2011 at 3.30 p.m. (H7), and later to join the subsequent reception.
(For further information see also Events)