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A Realising Just Cities Project

Jam and Justice

News, events and blog

New SDG Policy Brief Published

We've just published a Policy Brief on localising the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This stems from the work we did in partnership with UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development, which involved convening a residential workshop for various UK and international cities.

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TransformGM: Re-thinking prosperity and economics in Greater Manchester

Coinciding with the launch of the Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review, the ESRC Jam & Justice project is releasing its report on GM’s Social & Solidarity Economy. The report argues that we need a ‘new way of seeing’ the economy, and calls for the establishment of a Chamber for the Social & Solidarity Economy and the co-production of an impetus plan for the Social & Solidarity Economy.

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"There's no co-production panacea"

To exemplify co-productive design principles means challenging the idea of an ‘end-user’ who receives a final report. It means rethinking what impact looks like and how it can be achieved. Our commitment is to engage decision-makers in a collaborative learning journey through informal spaces for exchange and international networking. Trans-local learning is an important element in opening up spaces for learning and dissemination often reserved for academics to urban decision-makers . Trans-localism is more than just cities learning from each other across national boundaries. It points to the need for meaningful interactions between networked individuals and groups of similarly thinking people beyond the local. What is at stake is a sense of belonging through shared perspectives and concerns that transcend local boundaries.

In this blog for our Trans-local Learning mini-series, guests David Rogerson and Nick Fairclough from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority reflect on their experience at the Mistra Urban Futures Annual Conference in Cape Town.

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View of Cape Town

Mistra Urban Futures Conference 2018, Cape Town

‘Comparative Co-production’ was the theme of the 2018 Mistra Urban Futures conference in Cape Town earlier this month, which was attended by members of the Urban Institute’s Realising Just Cities team.

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Coproducing Urban Governance Special Edition Published

There are many critiques of existing forms of urban governance as not fit for purpose. However, there is just as much contestation over what alternatives might look like. Coproduction is proposed as a response to address complex wicked issues. Achieving coproduction is a highly complex and daunting task. Bottom up approaches to the initiation of coproduced governance are seen as fruitful, including exemplification of utopian alternatives though local practices.

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Community-led housing: a new era of cross-party support?

by Richard Goulding and Sophie King

We are undoubtedly witnessing “a moment” in the history-making of community-led housing in the UK. Where has it sprung from? Where is it going? What are the motivations behind new forms of political support on left and right, from the centre, and at the local level? What would meaningful political support actually look like in practice and how can it be secured?

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What role will UK trade unions play on climate change?

By Jennifer Patient 11th July 2018

“Trade unions hear different stories - about climate change and what the response should be - from employers, industry bodies, the government and climate campaigners; they have no ‘honest broker’ to adjudicate between these stories. How can trade unions find an honest broker? Or can they become their own honest broker?”

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Municipal What?: Reflections on #municipalsocialism in the 21st century

Author Bertie Russell, 29th June 2018

Reflections and analysis of CURA's "Municipal Socialism in the 21st Century" conference, 27th June.

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Pie-Jacked by Middlesbrough Food Partnership

Author: Nick Taylor Buck, 28th February 2018

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Rethinking state-civil society relationships: is the new VCSE sector Accord a game-changer for Greater Manchester?

Alex Whinnom is Co-Investigator of Jam and Justice: Co-producing Urban Governance for Social Innovation. He is Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation. In this blog, he reflects on the significance of a new Accord signed between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Greater Manchester voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.

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Our Projects

All our projects seek to contribute to realising just cities through developing more participatory processes, valuing citizens knowledges and supporting fairer outcomes for different groups.

Culture Heritage and Citizenship

How can we value everyday understandings of place, culture and heritage? These projects support citizens’ own understandings of the value of formal and informal cultural practices, memories and meanings of place.

Democracy and Engagement

How can decision-making processes be redesigned to include more voices and place citizens at the heart of policy-making? These projects directly seek to support more inclusive and co-productive governance within city-regions.

International Collaborations

This cluster of projects highlights those that specifically involve international partners across the Mistra Urban Futures network and beyond.

Local Management and Organisations

What are the changing roles and relationships between different organisations involved in the governance of city-regions? These projects have a specific focus on the roles of institutions as change agents in realising just cities, including local government, universities, partnership bodies, trade unions and third section organisations.

Neighbourhoods and Communities

How can we empower neighbourhoods and communities to develop their own capacities for social and economic change? These projects all have a strong focus on spatial and social justice through working at the neighbourhood scale.

Planning and Environment

How can citizens be involved in complex topics such as climate change, environment and planning? These projects seek to understand and map how different kinds of expertise can inform spatial planning and environmental strategy development and implementation.

Economy and Entrepreneurship

How can we support alternative economic practices and social entrepreneurship? These projects have a specific focus on spending decisions and new forms of economic organising.

Digital Tools and Techniques

To what extent can digital technologies support citizen participation, or do they create new forms of exclusion? These projects include a consideration of the role and value of digital platforms, tools and techniques in enhancing democratic engagement.

Methods and Practices

What methods and practices are needed to support transformative urban research? These projects have a specific focus on innovative methodologies, methods and mindsets, to test and learn about what works to support coproductive research and governance.

Greater Manchester

These projects are all being undertaken in Greater Manchester, North West of England.

Sheffield

These projects are all being undertaken in the Sheffield city-region, in the Yorkshire and Humber region of England.

You can search our work by clicking on the themes below:

Culture Heritage and Citizenship
Democracy and Engagement
International Collaborations
Local Management and Organisations
Neighbourhoods and Communities
Planning and Environment
Economy and Entrepreneurship
Digital Tools and Techniques
Methods and Practices
Greater Manchester
Sheffield
Reset Filters

Testing the 21st Century Councillor Framework

Democracy and Engagement
Local Management and Organisations
Greater Manchester
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Inverted Citizens’ Inquiry: Care at Home

Democracy and Engagement
Local Management and Organisations
Methods and Practices
Greater Manchester
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