SOCIETY

Social Innovation - Empowering the Young (SocIEtY) for the Common Good

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

“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. To accomplish these ambitious research tasks, the research strategy will benefit from the complementarities between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, reflected in the close interconnections between the Work Packages (WPs). 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 (WP3) for evaluating existing policies towards inequalities will be analysed. 11 analyses of social support networks (WP4) 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 (WP5) 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.

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU-funded research initiative strives to reduce inequalities for young people living in deprived city districts. This can be accomplished through an expanded informational basis on which policies are designed and implemented by giving opportunities for developing aspirations and a voice to these youth.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The 'Social innovation - Empowering the young (Society) for the common good' (http://www.society-youth.eu/ (SOCIETY)) project is aiming to improve the quality of life and foster social innovation for young people aged 15 to 24. The approach involves this group in the research process, bringing to the fore their concerns and voices about their self-perception and social participation in society. In essence, the ultimate policy goal is a 'good life for all'.

To foster socially innovative policymaking, researchers are exploring what can be done to create social and institutional opportunities better enabling young people to live lives of value.

SOCIETY has adopted the capability approach (relevant to welfare economics) as its conceptual basis and in terms of its central topic: inequality, participation and social innovation. It will advance an empirical foundation helping to broaden the informational basis of local policies. Additionally, it will reformulate a capability perspective for analysing and enhancing the conceptual bases of current policies so as to foster social innovation in a practical and feasible manner.

To date, the team has provided a theoretical framework for understanding and assessing the inequalities currently faced by disadvantaged young people in 11 EU Member States. The framework can help develop innovative policies during a period of social change and crisis. Results of this work, available on the website, are presented in a final conceptual report and in working papers related to the seminar 'Inequality, innovation and the informational basis of judgements of justice'.

Researchers have assessed existing policies and identified innovative strategies in the field of youth policy. They did this for all 11 participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Team members are carrying out various analyses. These are relevant to the policy fields of education and employment, and to social support networks and policies and strategies of local actors in deprived city districts.

Focusing on the young people themselves, SOCIETY is exploring their life worlds to gain insight into relevant policy fields, analysing their interrelations and ramifications for everyday life. Ongoing work will contribute to enhanced social inclusion of vulnerable groups, empowering disadvantaged young people through social innovation.