Smart Urban Intermediaries

Blog posts content

Abdullah inspects the vandalism at the StreetWatch base, Balsall Heath
12/12/2018

The rise and fall of community capacity – making a difference in Birmingham

This blog is based on my experiences working as a capacity builder during my early days at the Balsall Heath Forum (BHF) and my thoughts on the current situation facing the community.
Glasgows helping heroes
30/10/2018

Who are the SUIs – and what do they do?

By: Finn Dyrby Hermansen, Resident in Nord Vest, Copenhagen, Denmark / Dan Kreutzfelt, Resident in Nord Vest, Copenhagen, Denmark / Annika Agger, Researcher on the Smart Urban Intermediaries Project.
full group
16/10/2018

Lessons-learned at the Transnational Lab in Glasgow – reflections by Han van Geel

When the plane took-off, I only had to read the last 100 pages in the recently published biography of Johan Rudolf Thorbecke. Thorbecke was a former Dutch prime-minister and an important architect of current administrative and legislative design in the Netherlands. He was also the inventor of the “playingfield”, the “game-rules” and the “game-concept” with which the creative force of Dutch society in the 19th century woke up.

Julie Chatting_Link Up Muirhouse Edinburgh_Summer 2018
08/10/2018

What makes a smart urban intermediary effective? Reflections from Andrew Magowan

One of the key questions in this SmartUrbI project is how the work of a smart urban intermediary becomes effective. Andrew Magowan, a Link Up Programme Manager in Scotland was present during the recent Transnational Living Lab in Glasgow and tried to cover some essential characteristics in this new blog based on this paper.
photo showing people at Birmingham’s Second Local Lab
01/08/2018

‘IN IT TOGETHER’ – Reflections from Birmingham’s Second Local Lab

Using a ‘speed-networking’ technique, participants got to know one another by spending five minutes in different pairs talking about a) the best thing that they had made happen; b) the skills and strategies they use to bring about change; and c) how others perceive the work they do.
""
30/07/2018

Photovoice – “A picture is worth a thousand words”

There is an idiom in English that says “a picture is worth a thousand words” and yet social science research, especially ethnography, has often relied heavily on spoken and written words, with interviews, reflective writing and fieldwork notes usually comprising much of the data.

5 people at the Amsterdam Lab
12/07/2018

‘What is worth the effort?’ Local Lab II in Amsterdam

On Thursday July 5th, the second Local Lab took place in Amsterdam, at Zid Theatre. A group of 15 people (3 external partners, 10 smart urban intermediaries and 2 researchers) came together to discuss and exchange ideas on what it means ‘to make a difference in your neighbourhood’.
10/07/2018

‘We want to make people proud of their neighbourhood’ – First Local Lab in Copenhagen (Nord Vest)

On the 7th of May 2018, on one of this years’ first sweltering summer days in Copenhagen, 15 active local people from the neighborhood of Nord Vest gathered to talk about their work.