October 2019

Author:Nils SchefflerUIA Expert

The USE-IT! project Journal N° 5

Project led by the City of Birmingham

URBANPOVERTY

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The USE-IT! project

Social deprived neighbourhoods – urban regeneration – poverty alleviation: Linking large capital investments with community skills and assets to combat urban poverty

Although Birmingham is a key economic hub, the reality of poverty and underemployment amongst indigenous and migrant populations is leading to increasing social, economic and environmental isolation. Therefore, the USE-IT! project seeks to identify and connect social, cultural and economic assets already existing in poor and migrant communities to major capital and infrastructure investments, in order to reduce displacement and maximise the economic and social benefits of urban development for marginalised residents. The building of a new hospital, local social enterprise structures and universities rich in cultural and creative capital will be relied upon to enable the population to self-empower in a sustainable way.

The model proposed will rely on Community Researchers, recruited among the local community and trained in research methods to identify local assets. Mechanisms will be tested in order to unlock the potential of poor communities and facilitate the creation of a matching skills service to enhance employment and encourage the spin-off of social enterprises that are socially innovative and resilient. The project will provide peer-to-peer support for communities, and act as change and innovation drivers to bring out bold and sustainable solutions.

As a result of the project, people in the communities will be supported to raise their aspirations and to access affordable educational and training opportunities. They will access job opportunities linked to the large investment projects planned for the area (macro-assets), and new businesses will be created and developed in the area by local people.

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Partnership:

• Birmingham City Council• University of Birmingham• Karis Neighbour Scheme• Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs• Birmingham Voluntary Services Council• Localise West Midlands • Smethwick Church Action Network • Co-operative Futures • Birmingham City University• Canal and River Trust• Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust• Father Hudson’s Care• Health Exchange CIC • Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce • Citizen Coaching CIC

For further informationUSE-IT! UIA website: www.uia-initiative.eu/en/uia-cities/birmingham

USE IT! Facebook: www.facebook.com/USEITUIA/; @USEITUIA

USE IT! Twitter: https://twitter.com/UseItUIA; @UseItUIA;

USE IT! Instagram: www.instagram.com/useituia; useituia

USE IT! YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZrYQBA87FsszE4JvhlZug/featured

USE-IT Zoom-in – The creation of social enterprises: Download

USE-IT Zoom-in – Jobs for overseas migrants: Download

USE-IT! 1st journal: Download

USE-IT! 2nd journal: Download

USE-IT! 3rd journal: Download

USE-IT! 4th journal: Download

USE-IT! Social entrepreneurs programme: http://sohosen.org.uk/www.i-se.co.uk/news/use-it-social-entrepreneurs-programme/ www.i-se.co.uk/news/use-it-catalysing-social-change-in-birmingham/

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary 5

2. Project progress & successes 6

2.1 Communicatingtheproject 6

2.2 Identifyingandmappinglocalskillsandassetsthrough communityresearchers 7

2.3 Matchingjobskillsinthecommunitywithjobopportunities 9

2.4 Creatingacommunityofsocialenterprises 11

3. Challenges 15

3.1 Leadership&Collaboration 15

3.2 Participativeapproachforco-implementation 16

3.3 Communicationwithtargetbeneficiaries 17

3.4 Monitoring&evaluation 18

3.5 Mainstreamingthepilotaction(upscaling) 18

3.6 Cross-departmentworking 19

3.7 PublicProcurement 19

4. Main learning points 20

4.1 Linkingcommunitydevelopmentwithlarger investmentprojects 21

4.2 Communityresearchers 22

4.3 Matchingjobskillsinthecommunitywithjobopportunities 23

4.4 Creatingacommunityofsocialenterprises 24

5. Coming up next 26

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1. Executive Summary

USE-IT! is a£3.13m (3,6 Mio. €) project byBirmingham City Council and one of the“Innovative Urban Actions” from the EuropeanCommission initiative. It tests new solutions combating urban poverty by linking larger capital investment projects (macro-assets) in deprived neighbourhoods with local community skills, talents and ideas (micro-assets).Itdoesallthatwiththeintentiontounlocksocialandeconomicinnovation and to improve the socio-economicsituationof thedeprived residents. Theprojectstrivestoincreasetheemploymentprospectsofthe residents and migrants by generating jobsandstimulatinglocaleconomy.

For an overview about theUSE-IT! project, thebackground,itsinnovativeapproach,mechanismand partnership as well as the challengesimplementing such an approach, take alook atthepreviousjournalsoftheUSE-IT!project.

The 5th journal focuses in chapter 2 on theproject progress and successes of thedifferentwork streams in the USE-IT! project. Successesare amongst others acommissioning researchmodel that has resulted in 24 commissionedresearch projects by ‘Community Researchers’,

225overseasmigrantsbeingsupportedintoNHSjobs,whichcangenerate£7.4minlocalsalariesand 36 new social and community businesses;that have already attracted about £ 250,000ofnewincomeintothelocalarea.

Chapter 3 provides an overview about thechallenges along 7 typical challenges for theimplementation of innovation projects that theUIAInitiativehasidentified.

Incontinuationofthe4thandpreviousjournals,chapter 4 presents main learning points fromthe USE-IT! project. This with regards to theimportanceofadiversepartnershipscooperatingwithlocalcommunitybasedorganisation;linkingcommunitydevelopmentwithlargerinvestmentprojects; using community researchers to givecommunitiesalargerroleininfluencingpolicies;the need to change the current provision ofpublicservicestoaddressurbanpovertyandgetpeopleintoworkandhowtopromotesocialandcommunitybusinesses.

Chapter 5providesanoverviewaboutthenext and last steps that will follow till the officialendingofUSE-IT!attheendof2019.

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2. Project progress & successes

2.1 Communicating the project

Progress

The USE-IT! Brokerage and CommunicationsManager,JennieSandford,continuedtoproducecontent and updates for all social media channels (facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube)about USE-IT! on daily basis and to promoteproject events like the Community Researchertrainingworkshops.

In addition, she supported theproject partnersandrelatedlocalorganisationsintheirpromotion activitiesi.e.bydesigningflyers,posters,banners,providingsocialmediaadvice,etc.

Forthecommunicationofprojectandindividualeventslike‘ImpactInvestingforPlace:BreakfastMeeting with Big Society Capital’, ‘Soho Social

Enterprise NetworkMicro-Fund’ or ‘SmethwickChangeSpaces’ were filmed, videos produced anduploadedontheUSE-IT!YouTubechannel.

TodocumentanddisseminatetheUSE-IT!story,successesandlessonslearntanew websitewascommissioned as well as filmmakers to makean end of project film plus 4 shorter, strandfocusedfilms.

Fortheinternalcommunication,butalsofortheinterested audience, theUSE-IT! Brokerage andCommunicationsManager,publishedamonthly e-newsletter aboutwhat is happening andwillhappenintheUSE-IT!project.

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Successes

Socialmediahasbeenthemainfocusforreachingthe varied groups and communities in GreaterIcknield. Annual stats from February 2018to February 2019 recorded 421,966 socialmedia (Twitter/Facebook) impressions and6,049engagements.InAugust2019USE-IT!had1.206followersacrossallplatforms.Inparticularinthelastthreemonthstheresubscribersraisedby11%.

Without having this planned as an activityof the USE-IT!, the USE-IT! Brokerage andCommunications Manager communicatedavailable jobs in the new Ladywood LeisureCentreviathesocialmediachannelsandbroughtthelocaljobclubwithanotherlocalorganisationtogethertorunworkshops/jobfairsinLadywood.Asaresult,morethan16localresidentsgotajob.

2.2 Identifying and mapping local skills and assets through community researchers

Progress

Based on the commissioning research model,whichallowsaccreditedCommunityResearcherstobelistedonanonlineplatformtobecontractedforresearchtasks,severalresearch projects for the Community Researchers were commissioned. Based on this success, someCommunity Researchers have developed theideaofa‘communityresearchsocialenterprise’andworkonthatidea(cf.2.4).

Also more quantitative surveys have beencomingin,whichprovideinformationtoidentifyandmaplocalskillsandassetsinthepilotarea.

TodisseminatetheresultsandexperiencesoftheCommunity Research stream of the USE-IT!project the University of Birmingham attendedtwoconferencesandsubmittedapaperto‘SpaceandCulture’.

Successes

Since the start of the USE-IT! project in 2017,more than 80 community researchers havebeen registered on the ‘Community ResearchTraining’programme;

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Through the commissioning research model,24researchprojectsby‘CommunityResearchers’have been commissioned. Two of them arecompleted,threefurtherprojectsareabouttobelunched. One of the research projects hasresulted in the city council being awarded anadditional£300kgranttodofurtherworkaroundchildhood obesity (read this article). Thecommissioning model has also been key todevelopingtheideaforthecommunityresearchsocialenterprise.

Alsomore than 200 quantitative surveys couldbe collected to identify and map local skillsandassets.

Research projects by community researchers• Childhood Obesity – completed• Hope Foundation - completed• European Skills Recognition Passport• Better Health ESOL evaluation

(exploring motivation to learn)• Voices of Jamaica (and other ‘Windrush’

migrants)• Health and Wellbeing Coaching Social

Enterprise• Creating a ‘Wild’ Neighbourhood• Creating an ‘Age and Gender Friendly’

Neighbourhood• Bereavement Supportive Communities• Equanimity to address barriers to

learning for children and young people• Community Arts project:

Hidden Mothers• City LAB - development of the social

enterprise• Place Perceptions - Neighbourhood and

City Inclusion (Using mental maps and environmental perceptions)

• Causes of unemployment (Ileys)• Opportunities for local procurement in

Soho Ward• Supporting Soho 1st with developing its

idea of makerspace and helping out with identifying suitable premises

• Identifying the needs of BME North Smethwick communities by Jalal Community Connect Foundation

• Health, wellbeing and clinical data dashboard social enterprise model

• Mystery Shopper: Urban Splash Show Home launch event (8th June 2019)

• Canal and River Trust volunteering and adoptions project

• Eat, Make, Play - running consultation stall

• Walkability• Alternative Community Tours• Exchange study• UK2070• Tate’ Industrial’• University as a public good

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2.3 Matching job skills in the community with job opportunities

Progress

Basedonthesuccessfulexperienceofmatchingoverseas migrants with educational health ormedicalbackgroundfromtheneighbourhoodsofGreater Icknield with job opportunities in thenew hospital (for further information read theUSE-ITZoom-in–Jobsforoverseasmigrants),thepartners of the ‘Matching job skills with jobopportunities’streamofUSE-IT!havestartedtodevelop an employment pathway for people with overseas construction qualifications/experience. This by linking them to the newcompany commissioned for completing theconstruction of the new hospital (the previouscompanywentbankrupt,whichhadstoppedtheconstructionof thehospital). The companyhascommitted to support “those living the closestbutfurthestawayfromajob”.

Tofurthersupportthelanguageskillsofoverseasmigrant that want to work in the health ormedicalsector,trainers for the English language test for healthcare professionals (OET) havebeenprovided.Thefreecourseshavestartedin

September as alternative to the InternationalEnglish Language Testing System (IELTS), whichwaspartlycriticisedbysomeoverseasmigrants.

Sincethesuccessesof‘Matchingoverseasmigrantswithaneducationalhealthormedicalbackgroundwith job opportunities in the newhospital’ havebecomeknownbeyondthelimitsofBirmingham,theBritishTVstationChannel4hasstartedfilming three, one hour documentaries based onUSE-IT! and the experience of overseas healthprofessionalsfindingwork in theBritishNationalHealthService(NHS).

To explore the links betweenqualifications andlocal economy in theUSE-IT! area, a ‘skills andpoverty mapping exercise’ was delivered. Itshows theoccupationstructureofemploymentandcompares it to thequalificationsofUSE-iT!arearesidentsandtheworkplacepopulation. Itfurther examines the economic implications ofthe qualifications mismatch in the USE-IT!area, measuring the economic demand andsupplyshortfall.

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Successes

The ‘Skills Matching in the NHS’ has beenamassivesuccessandhasreceivedthreeawards:

• HPMA (Healthcare People Managementassociation) - Runner up for Effective useofdiversity

• ENEI (Employers Network for Equality& Inclusion) - Highly Commended forCommunityImpact

• Sandwell Business awards - Runner upContributiontolocalcommunity

ThishasledtofurtherprogrammesbeingtakenupbytheNHSinotherareas.

AlsofundingfortheEnglishqualificationsexamsfor the overseas migrants could be unlocked.SandwellCouncilisnowfundingIELTS.TheBlackCountryandWestBirminghamsustainabilityandtransformationpartnership(STP)isnowfundingthe Professional and Linguistic AssessmentsBoardtest(PLAB)fordoctors–anecessaryfurtherqualification doctors have to get after IELTS.Health Education England (HEE) is now fundingIELTStrainingintheBlackCountry,£250,000peryearforthreeyears.

The new developer for completing the newhospitalhassigned-uptotherecruitmentoflocalpeople into construction jobs. This is in part

because the USE-IT! project was able todemonstrate that a partnership was already inplace and existing pathways established forlinking localpeople to construction jobson thehospitalsite.

By now, about 225 individuals with relevantmedicalandnon-medicalqualificationareontheUSE-IT! clientsdatabase.149havebeen invitedtothefreetrainingforthelanguageexamIELTS(passing it is a prerequisite to be able to startwiththetrainingtobecomeadoctororbeabletowork in the NHS). 104 are studying or havestudied IELTS, 11 have decided to study OETinstead. 14 have passed OET/IELTS. 18 personshavestartedworkexperienceplacementsattheHospital.45areinpaidworkinHealthCareasaninterim employment opportunity. 6 have beeninvitedforplacementasGeneralPractitionersinprimarycaresettings.3haveaccepted.

Takingthecurrently225clientsbeingsupportedinto NHS jobs and comparing each client’squalification to their future job role/earningpotential, theUSE-IT!projectpartners calculatethatthiswillgenerate£7.4minsalaries,halfofwhichwillbeforclientslivinginthepilotareaofthe USE-IT! project. Thus, they estimate that£3.7mwillbeaddedtothelocaleconomy-morethantheoverallcostofUSE-IT!project.

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2.4 Creating a community of social enterprises

Progress

The delivery partners of the stream ‘Creatinga community of social enterprises’ of USE-IT!haveputfurther social enterprise/ co-operative consortiums in place and developed newproducts and services with them. Products arediverse fromwalking and city tours, handymanservice,food,healthandsocialcare.

Thedeliverypartnerssupported social enterprise start-ups from the pilot area through the FUSEprogramme, provided advice to select theappropriatemodel for business and to becomeregistered (WarmEarth,Eat,Make,Play,ModernClay). For existing local social enterprises theyorganised workshops to support their growth.The workshops were about social media forbusinessanddirectPayments/Personalbudgets.Inaddition,theyawardedachallengefundof£3000 to a local environmental organisation tounderpin new product development aroundusing food waste to provide compost to driveunder-soilheating.

Three examples of new social enterprisesWarmEarth–agroupoflocalresidentshavedevelopedahorticulturalprojectgrowing and selling plants as well ascreatingproductssuchaswindowboxes.Theorganisationprovidesvolunteeringopportunitiesandmeaningfulactivitiestothelocalcommunity.

Eat,Make,Play–acommunitybusinessthat uses surplus spaces, food andmaterials to generate products. Theyprovideworkshopsinfoodpreparationand sewing/upcycling skills, as wellas running social activities. Thisimproves people’s lives by developingemployability, life skills, lifelonglearningandwellbeing.

ModernClay–agroupoflocalfreelanceartists who have come together toform aco-operative. This has enabled

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themtopooltheirresources,includingtheirsharedstudiospaceandspecialistequipment.Thisbusinessmodelallowsthem to work more collaborativelyandalso make an income from therentingoftheirresources(studiospaceandequipment).

Further they put the Schools Programme in place. The programme promotes thedevelopmentofsocialbusinessinyoungpeopleand teachers. Schools have been supported toplan and develop their own social enterprisesandput those ideas intoaction, learningaboutenterpriseandthemeasurementofsocialvalueand impact. The work has been evaluated andareportpublishedtosupportwiderdisseminationandallowthepracticetobereplicated inotherschoolsacrosstheCity.

In addition, a new co-working office spacewasopened(SmethwickChangeSpaces).

Since January 2019, Community Researchers(cf.2.3)havebeenworkingwiththeteamoftheUniversity of Birmingham on developinga proposal for a community research social enterprise, writing up a business plan and thecommissioningresearchmodel.Theworkingtitleoftheenterprise is“DAWN-DevelopingAssetsWithin Neighbourhoods”. So far the mission,objectives and the market for a communityresearch social enterprise were discussed anddeveloped into a draftmission statement. Thiswill be used to animate future discussions andstarttheprocessofdevelopingthecoreaspectsofthebusinessplan.

ThroughaUSE-IT!event,a local social enterprise that writes health awareness children’s bookscould be linked to the Hospital Trust.TheTrust’scharity is now sponsoring a series of books tohelpchildrenwhohaveahospitalappointment.

Further pop-up markets were implemented topromotesocialbusinessesandinformabouttheSocialenterpriseNetworkSoHo.

For the business mentors specialist trainings were provided by the local organisation BRAP. For evaluation purposes, they sent outquestionnaires to all social enterprises theyhave worked with to capture the value of

mentoring in terms of accessing new marketsandsupplychainopportunities.

Withamulti-agencysteeringgroup,theworktodevelopBirmingham as a Social Enterprise City istakenforward.Recentlyacitywidebaselineofsocialenterpriseactivityhasbeencompleted.

Successes

Birmingham has become a SocialEnterpriseCity,whichwillbenefit thecontinuationof theworkon the development of a community of socialenterprisesthathasbeenstartedwithUSE-IT!.It

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Supported new social enterprise start-ups• Golden Sparkle (Queeni Thomas registered) – Health/older peoples support• Asperger’s Heroes (David Derbyshire, registered) – Health/Coaching• Feed My Creative (Janet Gray, registered) – Gifts, recycled products, workshops• Boatel (Saima Razzaq trading as sole trader) – Tourism, boat tours, floating hotel• Elev8te Projects – (registered CIC)• Elizabeth Higgs (trading as sole trader) – Dyslexia Assessment and support• Bearwood Community Hub (Registered not yet trading) – shared workspace/consultancy.• Mothership Projects CIC (registered and trading) – women’s support• Friends & Neighbours CIC handyman project – Delroy Thomas (feasibility at Board Stage)• DoNation – events management fashion for a cause, registered CIC• Smethwick CAN (Smethwick Snax) - food• Caroline Singh – mental health support• Hampstead Diamonds Community FC (Harjinder Jheet) – sport/fitness• Frank Swish (Gary Scott) – sport/fitness• Summerfield Co-operative (B16) (batch cooking) - food• Sam Morgan• Pouring Oil on Wine – counselling, coaching, support for widows, registered CIC• Smethwick CAN (Smethwick Food Hub) – food• Vegan Vybes – (Lynda Mcfarlane) – vegan food• Ladywood Cleaners Co-operative – cleaning/built environment• Carol Henry (Community Support in Soho) – community development• Make Good Upcycling (Alison Goodman)• Community Craft Workshop – crafts/gifts retail• Heart of Birmingham Tours – Hamid Lea - tourism• Be Ever Vigilant CIC (Registered and Trading) – Patricia Panton - education• Creative Mindfulness (not registered) – health/wellbeing• Sherine Edward Dodds (not trading, not registered)• Samantha Brown – – coaching, human rights, human trafficking – support to schools,

Registered CIC• Helping Hands Africa (registered and trading) – Mbye Jallow – foreign aid• Sham Malhi – health/social care, Trading as Limited Company• Zero Waste Life (Charlotte Watkivs)• Citizen Home (registered) – Retail – recycling/zero waste• Black Heritage Walks CIC• Eat Make Play (registration as Community Benefit Society)• John Parman – CF supporting with the registration of Community Benefit Society

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willcontinuetoopenupmarkets,opportunitiesfor jointworking, consortiumdevelopmentandplanningofco-ordinationofthesocialeconomytorespondtomajorchangesintheCityincludingthearrivalofhighspeedtrainconnectionandtheCommonwealthGames.

The Network of Social enterprises has been established, whose 80 members meet onafrequentbasis.Theyhaveapermanentwebsite to support social enterprises to develop, growandprovideaccesstosupportthroughnewtoolsandsupportmaterial.

Six social enterprise / co-operative consortiums are in place toaccessnewmarketopportunitiesfor social businesses: built environment(construction), Summerfield Alliance (place-based), Tourism (Birmingham Explore), FoodConsortium (through Smethwick Food Hub),Health consortium and Retail Consortium. Allconsortiums are working to develop productsandservices.

36newsocialenterpriseshavebeen supportedtostartupand25socialenterpriseshavereceivedmentoring by 36 mentors. This led to theregistration of 10 new social and community

businesses and further ones that trade as soletraders. These enterprises are genuinelyembedded into their local communities andofferdirectbenefitstotheresidentsthatengagewiththem.

22 new services/productshavebeendevelopedand taken to market by the social andcommunitybusinesses.

About £ 250,000 of new income into the local area have been unlocked by supporting socialenterprisestowincontractsandattractfundingforservices.Thus, somesocialenterpriseshavedevelopedfromgrantrelianttotrading.

Throughthedevelopmentofmarketopportunitieswithinthisithasbeenpossibletoinfluencepublicprocurement for the Commonwealth Games2022whichareduetobeheldinBirmingham.Ithasbeenidentifiedthatthatthesegamesaretobe the social games and 1% of each builtenvironmentcontract is tobe spentwith socialenterprisesi.e.£3,500,000throughtheirinclusionwithinthesupplychain.AsthelegacyoftheUSE-IT! project develops, we expect this ‘buyingsocial’approachtodevelop.

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3. Challenges

The UIA Initiative has identified seven typicalchallengesfortheimplementationofinnovation

projects, as USE-IT! is one. The USE-IT! projecthadtodealwithsomeofthesechallenges.

3.1 Leadership & CollaborationAkeycomponentoftheUSE-IT!projecthasbeenitslarge and diverse partnershipofprivate,civicand public organisations and single people. Atthesametime,thiswasachallengeto effectively collaborate and communicate across the workpackagestoaidcollaborationasthewiderangeof people and partners have different ways ofworkingandorganisation’svalues.

The USE-IT! Brokerage and CommunicationsManager, Jennie Sandford, utilised a number of strategies to deal with the“communication”challenge:

• Sheestablishedasocialmediapresence,andeasilyshareablebite-sizepiecesofnewsandinformation,usingexistinggroupsandonlineplaceswherepeoplemightalreadybeactive.

• She organised a number of physicalcommunication events to demonstratehow things could be shared and coveredand the benefits of communication acrossthepartnership.

• Sheattendedawiderangeofpartnereventstoshowsupportandreportontheactivity.

• Sheestablishedaregulare-newsletter.

• She produced videos as a way to tell thestoriesfromtheproject.

• Shesharedsuccesses

• Sheremainedopenandapproachablesothatpeople across the partnership felt able toreachoutforhelp.

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Theuseofprojectmanagementdata to informindividualpartnerperformancehasalsoprovidedthe partners with clear information regardingwhoisperformingandinformationonwhathasbeenachieved.

Inordertosteerandcoordinatetheprojectandits partners effectively, the overall projectmanager, Karolina Medwecka, did not onlyorganise steering group and project board meeting.Tohaveabetterunderstandingwhatis

happening at the local level andwhat changesmightbeneeded,shemet at a frequent level the key partners and individuals at work in the pilot area. This buildup trust in the communities aswell and allowed her to have a good overviewwhatishappeningatthelocallevelandconnectpartnersifnecessary.

Further challengeswith regard to leadershipandcollaborationinsuchamultiplepartnershipprojecthavebeenmentionedinthe1st and 2ndjournal.

3.2 Participative approach for co-implementationThe USE-IT! project was divided into relativelyindependentworkingpackagesandwithineachworking package the main partners werecollaboratingwithevenmore localpartners. Sonot only communication and collaborationbetween themain partners andwork packageshadtobeensured,butalsothecommunicationand information flow between the partnerswithineachworkpackage.Andthis informationhadtobestreamedtotheoverallproject level.Thismadethecommunication and collaboration quite complex to ensure an integratedimplementation of the USE-iT! project andmaking useof the synergies between theworkpackages. One method to summarise theinformationflowfromthesinglelocalpartnerstotheworkpackageleadersandfromtheretothemainpartnersoftheUSE-IT!projectwasinsteadof requesting each local partner sending ina monthly update they had to enter theinformationinonesinglecentrallyhelddocument.This has been a revelation in terms of projectmanagementallowingtoupdatethewholeworkpackage monthly and see at a glance whichoutcomes have been successfully achieved andwhatworkstillhadtobedone.

The USE-IT! project is about developingmechanisms for co-implementation and joining

“forces” (each partner brings in theirspecificskillsandservicestoimprovethework).how to keep the horizontal cooperation between all the different stakeholders in the different work packages?

One main challenge was to gain support in particular across large scale organisations likethehospitaltrustwithmultipledepartmentsandcomplexsystems.Asitisaboutaculturalchangehowservicesareprovided,inparticularthelargerorganisations needed time to react andincorporate this “cultural change” into theirinstitutionalprocesses.Toconvincethemindoingso,itwaskeytostartwithaspecificproject(notan overarching strategy) linked to anorganisationalpriorityofthelargerorganisation.Demonstrating that the USE-IT! approach candeliverandmakeadifference,openeddoorsandmindsandmadeitpossiblei.e.inthecaseoftheHospitalTrusttogetaseniormanagerto“buy-inand trust”. With the senior managementsupport in place, the roll-out of the approachto other priority areas within the organisationwaspossible.

Furtherchallengeswithregardtothehorizontalcooperationbetween the involved stakeholdershavebeenmentionedinthe1st(chapter3.4),2nd (chapter1.1)and3rdjournal(chapter1.1).

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3.3 Communication with target beneficiariesThe USE-IT! project covers a large and variedproject area with a wide range of people andtargetbeneficiaries.Inaddition,ithasanumberofdistinctstreams,eachrequiringdifferenttargetgroups and thus a different targeted approach.Communicatingtoandwithallofthemwiththelimited staff time and resource available toimplement communication activities was a bighurdle.Todealwiththatchallenge,anumberofstrategiestocommunicateboththeopportunitiesandsuccessesofUSE-IT!withinthelimitsoftheUSE-IT!BrokerageandCommunicationsManagercapacitywereapplied:

• Establishing a social media presence, andeasilyshareablebite-sizedpiecesofnewsandinformation,usingexistinggroupsandonlineplaceswherepeoplemightalreadybeactive,toshareandextendourreach.

• Physically establishing a local presence inLadywood and making links with localactivists and established organisations toutilisetheirnetworks.

• Keeping the tone and language ofcommunication materials as accessible aspossible, so that the audience andpotentialbeneficiaries could understand the messageanduseit.

• Usingonlineandprintedflyersandbannerstopromote events and workshops andsupportinglocalorganisationswiththedesignandprintoftheirmaterials.

• Usingafree,subscription-basede-newsletterto allow anyone to access monthly newsupdatesfromtheproject.

• Makingfilmsthatdescribeopportunitiesandactivity as people seem to prefer to watchvideooverotherformsofcommunication.

• Targeting specific messages to groups andareasthataremostlikelytoengage.

• Remaining open and approachable sothat people felt able to reach out for helpandinformation.

Inaddition,somepartnersengagedwithexistingcommunity organisations that are trusted andcommunicated and used their “communicationchannels”. This was a very effective way ofcommunicationtothetargetgroups.

“It feels like we have needed the last two years to fully embed ourselves in the communities and it’s only now that a lot of the hard work is starting to pay off. We’re on a roll now but sadly with only a few months left it seems that the project is ending as it’s really starting to make an impact!”

JennieSandford, USE-IT!BrokerageandCommunications

Manager,BirminghamCityUniversity

Another initial challengewas the promotion ofsocialenterprisesinthepilot,introducingtolocalpeoplewhat the conceptof social enterprise isabout. Many people did not understand whatasocialenterprisewasandthereforeattendanceat the awareness raising sessions was poor.A solution was joining the awareness raisingsessions with those for the community workdone by Smethwick CAN and Co-operativeFutures and having “issue” based meetings.Attendancebecamemuchbetter.

Furtherchallengeswithregardtothehorizontalcooperationbetween the involved stakeholdershave been mentioned in the 1st, 2nd (chapter1.2)and3rdjournal(chapter1.2).

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3.4 Monitoring & evaluationSomeUSE-IT!partnershavefeltthemonitoringof the outcomes of USE-IT! a challenge asthroughout the project the reporting systemandtemplateschanged.Thiswasduetothesizeoftheproject,thenumberofpartnersandtherange of activity being undertaken. There hasbeensomeduplicationofreportingintermsofmonthly reports to work package leaders,annual reports to the city of Birmingham,informationforthejournalsandzoom-in.

Alsocollectingthedatajustonceayearwasnotsufficient to use the monitoring asamanagement tool.With the introduction ofamonthlyreportingbythekeypartnerstotheoverallprojectcoordinator,theprojectmanagerreceivedabetteroverviewabouttheprogressoftheprojectand ifparticularactionsneededtobetaken.

Alsotocollateevidenceof thequantitativeandqualitativeimpactsthroughtheUSE-IT!activitieswas difficult and therefore reports were timeconsuming and potentially inaccurate. Thiswasonereasontohireanexternalevaluationteamtoevaluate the process and impacts of USE-IT!.Together with them, they developed anevaluationframeworktobeabletodemonstrateevidence of the impact of USE-IT!. But as theexternal evaluator were brought in 18 monthsafterUSE-IT!hadstarted,theyneededsometimeto‘catchup’fromanevaluationperspective.

For the stream ‘Creatinga communityof socialenterprises’monitoringbecameeasiersincetheyhad introduced the “tracker document” thatcaptures project outcomes at a glancebut alsosomeoftheinterestingadditionaloutcomesthatarenotprojectrelated.Thisdocumentisupdatedonafrequentbasis.

3.5 Mainstreaming the pilot action (upscaling)PartsofUSE-IT!willcontinue,inparticularwhereorganisations have an economic benefit of theUSE-IT!approach(i.e.trainingandmatchinglocalpeople to work in the health sector). Theseorganisations (possibly) will bring in neededresources.AnotherapproachistouseelementsofUSE-IT!innewfundingapplicationsortolinkUSE-IT!tonewBirminghambasedinitiativessuchas theCommonwealthGames2020or theEastBirminghamProspectus.

But the mainstreaming of the overall USE-IT!project is a challenge. The implementation ofnew, innovativeapproachessuchasUSE-IT!aretime-consuming.Atthesametimechallengesintheimplementationprocessoccurandhavetobemastered promptly. This requires time for allstakeholdersinvolved.Asaresult,therewaslittlecapacitytoworkonmainstreamingandupscaling

at an early stage, especially when so manystakeholdersareinvolvedasinUSE-IT!.Therefore,mainstreaming and upscaling gained a strongerfocusfirstattheendoftheproject(andwillstayafter the official closure of USE-IT! project). Torespond to that important task, a legacycoordinator has been recruited to ensure thelegacy of the USE-IT! project is mapped andlessonsarelearntanddisseminated.

Anotherchallengeistheausterity“policy”inthecity of Birmingham. In this context, ensuringfunding andpersonnel to continueandupscaletheUSE-IT!approachisagreatchallenge.

MainstreamingisalsohamperedbythefactthatUSE-IT!isanapproachoraprocesswhereaslargeinstitutions are used to working to specificoutputsoroutcomes.Thisismakingitdifficultto“sell”theUSE-IT!model.

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3.6 Cross- department workingThemajority of the project was carried out byprivate and third sector partners. The publicadministration mainly acted as coordinator.

Therefore, cross-department working was notafocusoftheproject.

3.7 Public ProcurementThemajorityof thepartnershavebeenprivateandthirdsectorinstitutions.Duetothatreasonpublicprocurementwasnotofamajorissue.

Further challenges have been described in thepreviousjournalsas

• Recruitingcommunityresearchers(journal1)

• Engaging property developer for the USE-ITapproach(journal1)

• Creationofacommunityofsocialenterprises(journal2and3,chapter1.3)

• Identificationoflocalskillsandassetsthroughcommunity researchers (journal 2 and 3,chapter1.4)

• Matchingjobskillsinthecommunitywithjobopportunities (journal 2 and 3, chapter 1.5;journal4,p.11)

Also to find out about the real needs of new client groups and to link them to the majordevelopment projects in Greater Icknield wasachallenge.Itwasdealtwiththroughaworkingpartnership that linked specialist micro-organisationsinthecommunity(thatworkwiththechosenclientgroup)viainterimorganisations(i.e. Brushstrokes, the LearningWorks) tomajor,macro assets (in the USE-IT! case the newhospital). By delivering specific activities trustalong this pathway could be built for partnersand clients and their engagement gained.Through the engagement it could belearnedmoreabouttheclient’sneedsandthenrespondedaccordingly.

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4. Main learning points

TheUSE-IT!projectstartedin2017.Lookingbackthelast2½yearstheprojectcanshowsuccesses-expectedaswellasunexpected.Thediverse and manifold partnership plus working with localbasedcommunityorganisationswas keyforit.Bybringing together the different local skills andknowledge of the partners and making themavailablefortheoverallprojectinacoordinatedway, an innovative approach such as USE-IT!could be implemented at all. Individually, thepartnerswouldnothavebeenabletoimplementsuchaproject.

Also the flexibility to react to “incidents” and new opportunities and to adapt the project tothem was important to ensure a successfulcourse of the project. Also to concentrate theavailableresources-time,finances,personnel -onwhatwasachievable.Therewasno“clinging”togoalsthatcouldonlybeenachievedwithverygreateffort,ifatall.

Butanotherlearningisalsothatcomplex projects are complex to handle!Evenwhenpartnersare

willingtocollaborate,whenthecomplexityleadsto a greater time coordination effort for one’sownwork,thecollaborationdoesnottakeplaceto the extent necessary to exploit all possiblesynergyeffects.Soevenwhenmoreispossible,sometimesreducingthecomplexityisofbenefitfortheoverallresults.Keepprojectsmanageable!

As the USE-IT! approach is about public andprivate partners co-develop and co-implementaprojectandonequalfooting(flathierarchies),it requires a cultural change in organisations’ decision-making and working mechanisms for co-development and co-implementation. Thisculturalchangeininstitutionsdemandstimeandparticularsuccessfulexamples.Ifonesuccessfulexampleinthecontextofpublicausteritywillbeenough to cause such cultural changes in thelargerinstitutionsthefuturewillshow.

Further lessons learnt have been presented inthe previous journals. New and especiallyhighlightedlessonsbythepartnersoftheUSE-ITprojectare:

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4.1 Linking community development with larger investment projects

Communities have local assets, but…! USE-IT!has demonstrated that communities in socialdeprived neighbourhoods have relevantendogenousassets.USE-IT!partnersmentionedtheywere surprised tofind somanymotivatedindividuals at the local level “doing things incommunities”.Butyouneedtoidentifythemandbring them up into light – even for thecommunities themselves. Here local basedcommunity organisers and brokers as well asorganisation are very helpful. In addition, youneed“intermediators”thatareabletomakethelink between these local assets and largerinvestments projects in the city. You need toconvincetheinvolvedparties,bothatcommunitylevelandattheinvestmentprojectlevel,tomakeuseoftheselinks,infavourofthesocio-economicdevelopmentofthelocalcommunities.

Working with communities takes time!Workingwithcommunitiestakestimeinparticulartobuildtrustandevenlongertomakeadifferenceforthebetter. In this way three years pass by quickly.Bridgesarebuildbutpeopleneed to cross themthemselves. Where local partners or anchorinstitutions have been on board and willing,

connecting to residentshasbeen very successfuli.e.forthehospitalandskillsmatching(cf.2.3)orconnecting ‘Birmingham Settlement’ and localresidentsfortheuseofthe‘PlayingField’.

“Work hard to become established within the communities you are working with to gain trust and respect, rather than being seen as a big funder who is just ‘parachuting’ into the area to offer short term support.”

KathyHopkin, CooperativeFutures,partnerofthe‘Creating

acommunityofsocialenterprises’stream

Not everyone is open to new approaches!Therehave been organizations not supportive to theUSE-IT! approach (Urban Splash/Port Loopdevelopment),as itdidnotcorrespond to theirclassicprojectdevelopmentapproach;andtheycould implement their investment projectanyway. This was where the USE-IT! approachreached its limits. It therefore requires thewillingness of the investing organisations toparticipate in something like the USE-IT!approach;whichmakesiteasierwhenitcanbeproventhatthenewapproachisbetterforthemthantheirclassicone.

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4.2 Community researchers

Lessonslearntfromthecommunityresearchstreamsupported by the University of Birmingham havebeenmentionedinthe4thUSE-IT!journal,p.7,andthe previous journals. Peter Lee and Sara Hassar(workpackagesleadersofthecommunityresearchstream)havehighlightedadditionalones:

• Through community research the narrative ofplace and space is not produced solely byacademicsorpolicymakersbutisrefinedthroughtheinputofcommunityrepresentatives.

• Through accredited community researchprogrammes additional resources for localcommunitiescanbeprovidedthroughleveragingincomestreamsrelatedtoresearchgrants.

• Through community research programmeslinkedtotheHigherEducationsectorasanchorinstitutions,thecommunitycanplayalargerroleininfluencingpolicies.

• Through accredited community researchprogrammes‘localbasedresources’areavailable

fortheprivateandpublicsectortoworkwithincommissioningpiecesofresearchorconsultancyaboutlocalandcommunityissues.

They also stress the institutional and project learningfromtheUSE-IT!approach:

• Innovativeprojects likeUSE-IT!canbeamajordisruptorandculturalchallengeprojectfortheestablished institutions. It demonstrates thata university can be a driver for public andsocial good and that it can live up to thatresponsibility even in the context of austerity.Corresponding decisionsmust bemade at thestrategiclevelandthenlivedattheoperationalleveloftheuniversity.

• Approaches like USE-IT! demand a greaterflexibilityintheprojectdesign.Thereisadegreeof controlled serendipity in the process whichneeds encouraging rather than paternalisticsuppressionof ideasandcreativity,allowingto“re-configure” a programme or parts of theprojectapproach.

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4.3 Matching job skills in the community with job opportunities

Mainlessonslearntfromidentifyingandtraininglocal overseas migrants with relevant medicaland non-medical qualifications that could bematched with the jobs available in the NHShospitalaretobefoundinthe4thUSE-IT!journal,p. 11, and the previous journals. Conrad Parke(workpackageleaderofthe‘Matchingjobskillsinthecommunitywithjobopportunities’stream)mentionedtwofurtherkeylessons:

1. KeyelementforthesuccessesistheLearningWorks, the one-stop-shop for access totraining, development and employmentopportunitiesintheNHS,anditspartnershipswithover40communitybasedorganisations.Jointly they identify, qualify and supportsuitable overseas migrants on their path toa job in the NHS. This partnerships is alsohelping the Hospital Trust to unlock thepotentialoftheTrust’s“YouthVillage”,linkingNHS employment opportunities for youngpeople to supported accommodation by

enabling the engagement of other prioritygroups–suchascare leavers,homelessandex-offenders.

2. The usual public services to address urbanpoverty and get people into work is partlymissingthereality–atleastforthepilotareaoftheUSE-IT!project.

This is reflected in the standard publicinterventions that are deployed (i.e. jobcentres, signposting services, careersadvice,access to adult education, etc.) which aretypically aimedat lower training, entry leveljobs,directemploymentopportunities(ratherthan option self-employment or businessstart-up).However, for theUSE-IT! area, theSkills Mismatch Modelling using secondarydata sources has identified that there isa higher proportion of residents that arequalified at a degree-level or equivalentqualification.There isahigherproportionofjob opportunities at a degree-level or

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equivalentqualification.Alsoitwasidentifiedthatthereislittlebusinessstart-upsupportinthe area prior to USE-IT! starting. This wasconfirmed by the community surveys thatreported43outof83respondentshada1stdegree or higher and that 43 out of 70respondentswereinterestedinstartingtheirownbusinesses.

These findings must be taken into accountandpublicservicesmustbesupplementedoradaptedbasedon theUSE-IT!experienceasthe standard public interventions beingdeployedarenotmeetingtheneedsofmanylocalresidents.

Also the culture change of the HospitalTrust working with and deliveringthroughcommunitybasedorganisationsasaneffective and efficient mechanism foraddressing organisational priorities rather

than trying to do everything in-house is animportantlessonlearnt.

3. Having good language skills is a prerequisiteto be able to work in the health andmedicalsector

Thus,thefreelanguagecoursesinpreparationofthenecessary languageexams(IELTS,OET, PLAB)arecrucialtomatchoverseasmigrantswitheducationalhealthormedicalbackgroundwith job opportunities in the new hospital.But having tofinancehis/her and family lifetakestime,whichcomplicatesthecontinuousparticipationinthelanguagecoursesasothercommitments like childcare, birth of a baby,illness,etc.ThisresultsinconstantlydroppinginandoutofthecoursesprolongingthetimetodeveloptheEnglishskillstoarequiredleveltoworkintheNHS.

4.4 Creating a community of social enterprises

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Main lessons learnt fromcreatingacommunityofsocialenterpriseshavebeenmentionedinthe4th USE-IT! journal, p. 13, and the previousjournals.Inaddition,SimonVeaseyandJoWhite(workpackageleadersof‘Creatingacommunityof social enterprises’), highlight followinglessonslearnt:

• Grass-roots initiatives do not consider to become profitable enterprises! It wasanticipated that fledgling social andcommunitybusinesseswouldapproachUSE-IT! for support. However, a lot of the grass-rootswork happening in the pilot area is ata smaller project-based level, withoutnecessarily considering the opportunity tocreateaprofitableenterprise.Ahigher levelof development work and seeking out keycommunity activators has therefore beenneededtodevelopgroups,andtogivethemtheconfidenceandskillstoconsiderhowtheycould develop and sell their productsandservices.

• Social and community businesses takes time to develop!Atthebeginningmanystart-upshave been more grass roots organisations.Starting the journey to become a socialenterprises,‘enterprise-ready’andtoregisteras a formalbusiness takestimeanda lotofcommunitydevelopmentwork.

• Social enterprises are popular, but… Socialenterprisesarebecomingpopularandseenasa catalyst for change by local people, but it

takes time to help local people to reallyunderstandwhatasocialenterpriseisabout.It needs continuous awareness raisingactivities.Thisisessentialtoincreaseturnoverandaccessnewmarketsforsocialbusinesses.

• Product development takes time! Manyof the social enterprises supported throughthe USE-IT! project have been at distancefrom their markets and being a marketplayer.Thereforetheyhavebeenslowerthanexpected to engage as market playersand engage in the developed socialbusinessconsortiums.

• In-depth support for social and community businesses is needed! Support to existingsocial enterprises was less than originallyexpected. But those organisations on theotherhandneededfarmoresupportintermsoftimeandresources.

• Physical presence is key! Keytogettingtotheheartofthecommunityistohaveaphysicalpresence (at Ladywood Community Centre)and to create strong working partnershipswith genuine grassroots communityorganisations. Only by doing this youcan enable these enterprises to becomesustainable. Providing temporary top-downsupportthatdisappearswhenaprojectendsis not sufficient to create a strong legacyof social and community business withinanarea.

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5. Coming up next

Bytheendof2019USE-IT!willofficiallyendandwith it theUIA initiative’sfinancialsupport.Butthatshouldn’tbetheendofthewholeproject.TheUSE-IT!partnersworkonthelegacyofUSE-IT! and check which components can becontinued and in which form. The legacycoordinatorwillpursuetoworkoutthe

• legacy for USE-IT!, as an example of goodpracticeinaddressingurbanpoverty,thatcanbeappliedtootherpublicsectorinvestmentsandinfra-structureopportunities;

• legacyfortheindividualUSE-IT!workpackagestomake sure thework sustains beyond theend of UIA funding at that the community/participantscontinuetobenefit;

• legacyfor thepartnerorganisationstoensuretheyallleavetheUSE-IT!programmeenhancedin someway thatwill benefit both them andtheirclientslong-termintothefuture.

Theupcomingstepsare:

Dissemination of results

TheUSE-IT!projectisinitsfinalmonths.Intermsofcommunicationtheywillbeusedtoworkonthewebsite,filmsandwrittenmaterialsthatwilldisseminate the learning and legacy of USE-IT!both within the partnership and for a wideraudience,withaparticularemphasisonsystemchangeandpolicy.

BytheendofNovemberafinalevent–abustourthrough the pilot area – will be organised towhichorganizations/decisionmakersareinvitedwho are of particular importance for thecontinuationoftheUSE-ITapproach.Theywillbeshowcased theoutcomesof theUSE-ITproject,bringing them together with beneficiaries anddeliverypartners.

Withaviewto thesuccessofmatchingoverseasmigrants with an educational health or medicalbackground with job opportunities in the newhospital in Greater Icknield, activities (TVdocumentary, good practice visits from otherhospitals, research papers, etc.) to disseminatethisgoodpracticeandtheaddedvalueandwiderbenefits to national and European audiences isplanned.AlsotobuildonlinktoMatthewHancock,SecretaryofState forHealth,whohas registeredhisinterestinthispartoftheUSE-IT!project.

Toshowcasethecommunityresearchstream,anexhibitionwill bepreparedaswell as aUSE-IT!community research conference to reflect onachievements,thejourneyandlegacy.

Continuation of ‘Matching job skills in the community with job opportunities’

Forthecontinuationof‘Matchingjobskillsinthecommunity with job opportunities’ after thefinish of the USE-IT! project by the end of thisyeara structured legacyplanwillbedevelopedfor the involved partners. Also it is about todevelopnewpathwaysintojobsforotherpriority

groups (ex-offenders, homeless, care leavers,etc.).Theexisting,successfulpartnershipoftheLearning Works with the community basedorganisationswillbeusedasthemainfoundationforestablishingthosepathways.

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Fostering community engagement

To continue the work of the University ofBirmingham fostering community engagement,the university wants to establish a presence ina grade II-listed former Municipal Bank inBirmingham’scitycentre.ThespaceintheformerbankwillbeusedtoutilisetheUniversity’sroleasan anchor institution to bring together multiplestakeholderstoaddressthechallengesofthecityofBirminghamanddeliverinclusivegrowthfortheregion. This approach ought to bring theUniversity’sresearchclosertopeople,enablingits

worktoinform,andbeinformedbyitsaudiences.Forfurtherinformation,readthisarticle.

Also further steps for the development of thecommunity research social enterprise will bedone as i.e. gaining partners like the centre ofvoluntaryaction.

Tomake‘Communityresearch’partoftheformalprocess of planning consultation on urbandevelopment,theUniversityofBirminghamisinconversationwiththecitycouncilofBirmingham.

Continuation with the Social enterprise network and support of social and community businesses

In the last months the partners of the stream‘Creatingacommunityofsocialenterprises’willconcentratetoidentifystructuresandresources(project based funding) to support continueddevelopment of social enterprise through the‘Social Enterprise City’. They will continue toidentifynewmarketsfornewandexistingsocialandcommunityenterprisesacrossthecityusingthelearningfromtheconsortiumwork.Alsotheywill tryto identifyresourcestoprovidestartupand business growth for social enterprisesectorgrowth.

Further, they will finalise a legacy planhighlightingwhat theywill leavebehind in theUSE-IT!areaattheendoftheproject.

Co-operativeFutureswill continue to support thecommunitybusinessesthathavebeenestablishedunder USE-IT!, namely Warm Earth, EAT, MAKE,PLAY,ModernClay and Together Smethwick FoodHub. They will also engage with an organisationwhorunsanumberofsocialenterprisesthemselvesandwantstodevelopasocialenterpriseincubator.Helping to establish this would leave a positivelegacyfromtheUSE-IT!project.

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Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an Initiative of the European Union that provides urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges. Based on article 8 of ERDF, the Initiative has a total ERDF budget of EUR 372 million for 2014-2020.UIA projects will produce a wealth of knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solutions for sustainable urban development that are of interest for city practitioners and stakeholders across the EU. This journal is a paper written by a UIA Expert that captures and disseminates the lessons learnt from the project implementation and the good practices identified. The journals will be structured around the main challenges of implementation identified and faced at local level by UIA projects. They will be published on a regular basis on the UIA website.