The WILCO Project: Studying Social

Innovation at the Local Level

Taco BrandsenRadboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Panel: European Social Innovation – The Link with PolicyNovember 15, 2013

Design of theresearch project

International comparative project: 10 countries Time period: 2010-2014Funded by the 7th European Framework Programme Coordinated by Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

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Methods

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Analysis of institutional background(secondary analysis, 60 interviews)

Charting patterns and dynamics of social inequality(Eurostat data for 20 cities, 360 biographical interviews)

Identifying innovations and linking them to contexts(discourse analysis, 540 interviews)

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Types of recommendations and challenges

The WILCO project will have recommendations on the emergence and diffusion of social innovation in relation to (different types of) urban environments and governance types

But: The most relevant policymakers and professionals for us to address are at the local or sublocal level Research results require translation to specific local conditionsMore flexible, open-ended format for research-related activities needed ?

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Challenges for EU research projects

Study commissioned by European Commission & WILCO project: achievements, but also much replication among EU funded projects, as well as wide gapsThe desire to be policy-relevant may lead to overemphasis on successful innovations and widely transformative, successfully diffused casesYet the evidence shows the practice of innovation is often one of failures, conflicts and discontinued initiatives

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More information

www.wilcoproject.euhttps://www.facebook.com/wilcoproject