18 91 2016
Popular wisdom has it that a picture speaks a thousand words, within the blink of an eye. In our “Learning from Innovation in Public Sector Environments” (LIPSE) research reports on public service innovation, it took us several hundreds of thousands words and more than 700 pages to explain the social innovation practices we analysed during our case studies across Europe, and what lessons we can learn from them. One may safely assume that reading these report will take significantly longer than the blink of an eye.
To make sure that our findings will still reach a wider audience – academic experts, practitioners, and citizens alike –, we decided to produce a LIPSE video. It will feature academics from all partner universities, who talk about their research findings on social innovation in a more informal and approachable way. Most importantly, the video will also introduce case study participants from innovative public service projects all over Europe.
On 23rd January 2016, it was our turn at UEBS to present our research and ourselves in moving pictures. Accompanied by an international film crew, we visited some of the Scottish case study sites to interview research participants and showcase their social innovation projects in health care, social care and sustainability. For instance, we were hosted by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) and its consortium partners from the NHS Lanarkshire and the children’s charities Barnardo’s and The Circle Scotland.
Anna Flaherty (The Circle Lanarkshire), Mae McQueen (Barnardo’s), Jill Madden (NHS Lanarkshire) and Jacqui Melville (VANL) invited frontline care staff to share their experiences in using co-production to achieve sustainable long-term improvements in the quality of life and health of vulnerable families here in Scotland. They described how through the establishment of the consortium, resources could be pooled across organisations in order to directly respond to citizens’ needs. For instance, they were approached to organise swimming lessons for children growing up with single parents on low incomes, which had the added benefit of helping isolated parents develop networks in their communities.
Their passion and dedication for the project and their clients were palpable, and demonstrated how important it is for us to share their stories and experiences across Scotland, the UK and Europe. We sincerely hope that the LIPSE research, and in particular the video, will inspire more innovators across the country to make a positive difference in people’s lives. The link to the LIPSE video will be uploaded as soon as it is ready.