CreatingProsperityTheRoleOfHigherEducation20101130

A recent report exploring the contribution of Universities to enterprise and propsperity beyond traditional Knowledge Transfer and business incubation features the work of Meld - originally delivered in 2007.

Incase you missed it altogther at the time – ‘Meld’ was a collaboration lead by UCLan’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication. Funded through the now defunct RDA’s Northern Edge scheme Meld brought together SME’s from the creative industrioes sector,  freelance journalists and connected them to 3 major industry partners; Sky TV,Haymarket Publications and Johnston Press,  in a five day workshop delivered in Sandbox, UCLan’s creative industries centre.

The aim of Meld was to encourage journalists to work with interactive designers, programmers and games designers to develop new forms of none linear digital narrative story telling – or adapt existing software applications and technologies to create new methods of disseminating content. Meld was an exciting and useful ‘adventure’ into an interesting space between ‘geek’ and ‘hack’.

Simon Bucks, Associate News Editor at Sky News was delighted with the results

“I’ve seen more good ideas in a day at Meld than I’ve seen all
year”.

Meld Technology Director Andy Dickinson spent much of the week in the ‘blogosphere’ documenting the entire process with a series of regular postings. “The lab session provided rich source material for anyone engaged in the debate about the impact of digital on the future of journalism. No one has tried to do what meld did in quite the way it did it so there was plenty to post about’.

Catalyst is a £1.9m research project funded by the Engineering and Physical Research Council looking at how different communities use technology to make ‘the world’ a better place. It’s lead by Lancaster University and promises (mainly local) communities’ access to money, staff and facilities to build their better world.

At the obligatory launch event back in late November invitees were given a roadmap of the process which includes an opportunity for communities to bid for ‘launch-pad’ or ‘research sprint’ funding.
Three weeks later marked the real start of the project at the first Ideas Lab on December 14th. In contrast to the grey December day around 30 handpicked participants from voluntary organisations, community groups, Lancaster City Council, small businesses and academics met in a light, airy space at the Storey Gallery in Lancaster to kick the process off. Those present earned a place in the lab after submitting an idea for a community based project that broadly answered one or both of two big questions, framed by the research team;

• what stimulates people to participate in civic actions and why,
• and what next generation digital technologies best support how people want to innovate in a civic action setting?

Jez Hall was at the Ideas Lab. Jez is a community activist and director of ‘Shared Future’. He also works freelance for the participatory budgeting unit, a charity promoting citizen led democracy – which seems to fit perfectly with the aspirations of the research team. He came to the Lab with two clear ideas of what he’d like out of Catalyst. Both stretch way beyond building tech to the far trickier real world implementation raising the question of how citizens can improve their lot by co-designing, valuing and delivering activities within the social or public economy, to create a more sustainable, just, responsive society.

The Catalyst team are promising people like Hall the financial, human and technological resources to work with academic research teams on his projects. Project leader, Professor Jon Whittle from Lancaster University is keen to point out that the bulk of this resource will take the form of support from University staff offering their expertise in computing, environmental science, design, management and social science. However, there will also be smaller amount of cash for equipment and expenses.

The next step down the road requires community groups to submit a second, more refined proposal to the Catalyst team by 22nd December. At least they won’t be busy writing this funding application over the festive break.

Communities from across Preston came along to Interactive Newsprint’s first set of co-design workshops in the heart of the city in November. Taking place in the light and airy surrounds of community arts organisation Prescap, two afternoon workshops introduced a range of interactive paper prototypes to individuals, groups and local businesspeople.

We showed a selection of examples of how the paper could be used by Prestonians to receive a wide selection of community news and information. These prototypes included a sample hyperlocal newspaper – dubbed Preston news, a music poster featuring a local music producer and sample classified ads page.

But, these prototypes are just the beginning. Attendees then generated their own ideas of how the paper could be used, based on our prototypes, but taking them in new and innovative directions.

The aim of the workshops was to not only show three early-stage demonstrators, but for our design teams, journalists and user interface experts to collaborate with Preston-based groups, organisations, businesses and individuals to identify how the technology could to meet their own needs or interests in the future.

by John Mills (This post first appeared in www.interactivenewsprint.org)

Community reporters from Callon and Fishwick take the stage at the Victoria & Albert museum to talk about their role in the Bespoke project. Steven Robinson AKA Dub P and Darren ‘Dhee’ Burr joined researchers from Dundee, Falmouth, Surrey and UCLan at the London Design Festival where the project team are exhibiting work developed in a unique collaboration with residents from Preston’s Callon and Fishwick estate.

Using a new approach to participatory design called Insight Journalism designers studied stories created by a team of community reporters from the estate. Dub P and Dhee Burr, regular contributors to the ‘Newspaper!’ and local news website BespokeNews reflected on their involvement in Bespoke telling a busy auditorium about the importance of making sure that projects like Bespoke deliver real benefits to the people participating in them.

Singling out the Viewpoint as a good example of design that represented the aims of Bespoke community reporter Dhee Burr explains, ‘Viewpoint grew out of the journalism. As we went round the estate talking to people about life in general it became obvious that people didn’t feel connected to those who made decisions about their lives. This story came up a lot so the designers built a machine that allowed people from the estate to ask a question and other residents to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by pushing a large button on the front of the machine. Loads of people used it’.

Three Viewpoit machines were installed at different locations across the estate. The first in a a small shop near the estate, the second at the YMCA on the estate and the third at Contour Homes – the housing association that owns properties on the estate.

Paul Egglestone who headed up the Insight Journalism process in Preston was also at the V&A and shared Burr’s enthusiasm for Viewpoint. He said, “Viewpoint works because everyone who’s involved, from the families on the Callon and Fishwick estates, to the councillors, housing officers, and researchers, understand the importance of commitment and communication. For example if someone asks a question about whether dog fouling is a priority issue for the area then the recipient knows it must be answered quickly and honestly. Their answer is not only communicated to everyone but is followed up to ensure promises are kept.”

‘For me, Viewpoint is the project’s defining moment. It represents the difference between empty political rhetoric and grass roots reality. Rather than connecting the community to a formulaic, centralised and faceless bureaucratic process it links people to people enabling everyone to change things for the better’.

For Steve Robinson it wasn’t the designs so much as the project itself that had the biggest effect on him. Steve talked about what it felt like to work with designers as they built a larger than life statue of him to promote his music production featuring local artists from the estate. Whilst he’d been excited about the process as the idea became reality he explained how `Bespoke’ had given him a new set of skills and enabled him to find work as a video maker and renewed his passion for the estate.

Viewpoint was one of the most successful designs to evolve through the process of Insight Journalism on the Bespoke Project hosted in Preston.  I liked it because Viewpoint combines two basic elements of journalism; content and design. The former comprises gathering the sort of information people need to make better informed decisions about issues that directly affect them – whether it’s housing, vandalism, plans for a new community centre or where a litter bin should be placed on their street. Like all grass roots journalism it strives to ensure that decisions are open and transparent. The design should create a vehicle which gives this journalism and the community it represents a voice. But it’s a voice which is not only heard but loud enough to demand a suitable response. A considered reply which shows a genuine understanding of what’s needed.

Some were rightly sceptical about Viewpoint’s aim. Would it simply raise expectations and fail to deliver any tangible benefits?

Viewpoint works because everyone who’s involved, from the families on the Callon and Fishwick estates, to the councillors, housing officers, and researchers, understand the importance of commitment and communication. For example if someone asks a question about whether dog fouling is a priority issue for the area then the recipient knows it must be answered quickly and honestly. Their answer is not only communicated to everyone but is followed up to ensure promises are kept.

For me, Viewpoint is the project’s defining moment. It represents the difference between empty political rhetoric and grass roots reality. Rather than connecting the community to a formulaic, centralised and faceless bureaucratic process it links people to people enabling everyone to change things for the better.

Technology, it’s argued, defines how media is created, consumed and distributed. At the same time it can determine the strength of an individual’s political voice. Followers of the debate about the decline and fall of the newspaper industry will be well-versed with the notion that print isn’t dying, merely evolving and that a workable business model will be found. But if journalists and newspapers disappear who or what replaces them? Who will hold local government, business and the police to account?

Cynics frequently say the press rarely holds anyone to account because it’s part of a political system designed to maintain the status quo. There may be a few hiccoughs such as Murdochgate or Expensesgate but they are soon forgotten.

After the Bespoke project you might expect me to argue that nature fears a vacuum and a new breed of community reporters will fill the void left by this imploding news media. But there’s a problem and, like the one facing all media, it’s economic.

Community reporters are essentially volunteers who rely on substantial professional input from training and equipment to legal support – the stuff of “old media companies”. Most volunteers are unlikely to be university graduates and many are unemployed. In fact they are unlikely to regard journalism as a job.

Projects like Bespoke are pragmatic responses to a call in a changing community, legal and media environment that emphasises the importance of investing in community journalism.  Because if these volunteers replace the old journalistic model they will need to be properly equipped. They will need to become critical thinkers, have the confidence to ask difficult questions and the tenacity to get answers. In December, when the Localism Bill looks like finally receiving the Royal assent community reporters may be best placed to report on its impact in their neighbourhoods.

A delayed flight from Gatwick to Dundee after a meeting in Surrey with the Bespoke research team left time for just one quick pint with messrs Rogers and Chinniah who’d invited me to give one of the opening presentations for the Knight Mozilla news challenge tour. If the brief chat over a beer was anything to go by Jon Rogers, head of product design at Dundee had pulled off one of the most interesting and exciting experiments in the seemingly flagging debate on the future of news. As the whole news media industry recognises the challenge of trying to lift itself by its own bootlaces the influx of new ideas from a range of different practices outside journalism is rather more welcome than it might’ve been even just 2 or 3 years ago.

This time the new ideas were provided by 150 or so product designers who pitched up at the student union for a brief introduction to the day and a series of intense workshops eventually leading to the production of short films uploaded to a website as entries for the Mozilla Knight Foundation News Challenge competition.

What is the Knight-Mozilla News Technology Partnership?
The Knight-Mozilla News Technology Partnership (aka “MoJo”) is a three-year partnership between the Knight Foundation and Mozilla to harness open Web innovation for journalism. Through a series of innovation challenges and community events, we will identity 15 fellows that will be embedded in leading newsrooms around the world. These fellows will create new tools, ideas, and news experiences that benefit both readers and newsmakers—all using open technologies. Learn more.

To stay informed follow @knightmozilla on Twitter and sign up for our community list to stay up to date with the challenges.

A key element of the AHRC funded Connected Communities

Work Home project is listening to stories from residents living in social housing in East London about how they would redesign their homes to make working and living in them better. The aim is to get their input into the development of design briefs for building affordable work-homes in the future. The project is being driven by Frances Holliss from London Met team working in partnership with sociologist Carol Wolkowitz [Warwick University] and Paul Egglestone.

Egglestone who has been filming much of the process thinks the combination of methods the research team are using is going down well with the local residents. “We have heard some great stories already. Concert violinists who would like their homes soundproofing so they can practice without annoying their neighbours, artists who’d like to be able to open their homes for private views, chefs who’d like communal community kitchens. These are all good ideas that are really practical’.

One thing conversations have revealed is peoples need for help and support setting up their businesses. The project team have been able to respond to this need by inviting local business mentors and support services to the John Scurr community centre in Limehouse to offer advice and practical help. The event will take the form of a community fayre and has been designed with the community to be a none threatening introduction to starting a business.

This session will be followed by a workshop on 16th July when local residents will be shown how to set up and run their own website for free by Blog Preston http://blogpreston.co.uk/about/ web entrepreneur Jo Stashko and Paul Egglestone.

The event will be at the John Scurr community centre in Limehouse and starts at 2pm.

About 12 months ago I was asked by a colleague if I’d like to participate in a project called Big Society research.

After the political rhetoric in the run up to the election last year it seemed at the very least like an opportunity to find out how the legacy of people working together to create better neighbourhoods, improve public services and adapt to constantly changing economic, social and cultural situations was somehow different to the way they might do that in Cameron’s so called ‘Big Society’.

Four themed workshops for researchers and none academics aim to collect together the raft of existing research which might provide some pointers to what Big Society might be about – whilst recognising that the vast majority of work in this area substantially pre-dates attempts by any political party to badge it as a policy initiative. And this is where most of the tension lay as researchers and others disassociate themselves with the party political posturing in order to get on with the business of collating evidence through past papers, case studies, interventions and ongoing projects by people who never thought they were doing was anything other than trying to work out why things don’t work as well as they might – and in some cases – how this could be changed so they did.

Amidst the media ripples of discontent among colleagues in the research community over the relative distance between central government (funding) and researchers in relation to ‘Big Society’ a friend of mine offered some helpful thoughts. His view was that intellectually he could not ignore the possibilities of new thinking purely because he was extremely uncomfortable with the ‘language of the right’. He gave me a concrete apolitical example from work he’d been doing in India where villagers – not health professionals – support new mothers and babies. His work identified the response of the villagers as cultural. There to deepen the ties of existing relationships and encourage others to share responsibility for care. Uncovering the essence of how this practice emerged and how it continues is surely a worthwhile intellectual pursuit regardless of its apparent mapping with the cost saving agenda of policy makers. Not exactly a justification for research into ‘Big Society’ but a compelling argument nevertheless and one that ought to persuade some that perhaps the biggest challenge of this new context is how to retain the integrity of work in this area for its own sake and how to frame and present it in such a way that it cannot be hi-jacked by ‘policy wonks’ and political band wagoners to further a spurious cost saving agenda.

Meld ‘upped sticks’  to London for its latest foray into new forms of cross platform narrative.  Coinciding with the London launch of Sandbox, UCLan’s creative and digital industries centre at the British Film Institute, journalists invited from the BBC, the Independent, the Guardian, SKY News, Johnston Press, Haymarket Media were joined by Skillset and the Broadcast Journalism Training Council to work with professional games designers and students from UCLan’s MA Games Design programme.

The aim of the day – to collaborate and develop a new game on the theme of ‘democracy’. The cross disciplinary teams were given a basic structure to work within. As well as making sure the end result was compelling, simple and innovative the games needed to:

• demonstrate cause and effect (results from actions)
• build/create a user community,
• grow and develop with that community,
• respond to users not direct them,
• be social, inclusive and free.

The Sandbox team were on hand leading the newly formed groups through a series of exercises designed to foster creative collaboration. Four teams each produced a game concept and pitched it to their peers before assessing its viability and desirability.

One of the teams at work

Paul Egglestone, who set the project up, said: “What’s really interesting about a process like this is the very different approaches both Journalists and games creators take to narrative. Journalists think of themselves as ‘storytellers’ – as do games creators – but their priorities are very different. Gamers want to build a great game. A decent story provides the vehicle for the game whilst the focus is firmly on the gaming experience. Journalists don’t generally focus on the user experience – they concentrate on telling the story.”

This is the latest chapter in an ongoing project that draws together senior editorial personnel from the BBC, the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, Johnston Press, Trinity Mirror, Haymarket Media, Nokia research as well as freelancers, Indies and sector skills representatives. They’re all committed to working out where the future of journalism lies and to explore new ways of telling stories on digital platforms.

Andy Dickinson is leading the project for the School of Journalism, Media and Communication. He recognises the value of this contribution from working journalists taking time away from the cut and thrust of the day-to-day news cycle to collaborate across print, broadcast and online to determine the skills future journalists will need. He says: “The project is at a really exciting stage. We’ve already used the Sandbox method to develop three new MA level modules aimed directly at working journalists. The new digital journalism masters will survey the digital landscape and offer a range of intellectual, creative and digital or technical skills that our ever growing industry panel tell us they’ll be looking for in future.”

This part of the process isn’t due to finish until January 2011 but the first of the new digital modules are ready for delivery online and the School of Journalism, Media and Communication will be recruiting from September this year.