This article reports on qualitative research among 48 social professionals, managers and policymakers and their perceptions of activating citizenship, social work roles and responsibilities, carried out in Utrecht and Tartu. Professionals from both countries agreed to the idea of activating citizenship but stressing the perspective of personalised or lived citizenship, each person to his own capacities and embedded in the personal context. Nearly all respondents were critical about the recognition of social workers as a full profession, about the new management way of steering social work and about cooperation between different groups of professionals and services. Although both countries have quite different historical and cultural backgrounds, the authors found many similarities among social workers regarding their ideas on support, participation and commitment to the people they work for and work with. International research projects contribute to a more strongly recognised social work theory and social work practice by getting a better understanding, in particular of the way social work adapts to different contexts but from a highly recognisable international discourse within social work.
The relevance of citizen participation in regeneration projects, particularly in shrinking cities, is widely acknowledged, and this topic has received a great deal of policy and academic attention. Although the many advantages of citizen participation in regeneration projects have been identified, its current forms have also received considerable criticism. In short, this criticism boils down to the conclusion that the ideal of citizen participation is not put into practice. This paper considers why this is the case, asking whether current participatory practices enable citizens to exercise influence as political actors in urban regeneration projects. In this paper, we examine this question based on Mouffe’s conception of the political, coupled with findings from our empirical research conducted in Heerlen North, The Netherlands. We conducted qualitative research on urban regeneration in the shrinking old industrial city of Heerlen. The findings reveal two distinct perspectives on citizen participation. Professionals see the existing context of citizen participation as a reasonable and practical but, in some respects, insufficient practice. Citizens’ views on participation are organized around feelings of anger, shame, and fear and are grounded in experiences of a lack of recognition. These experiences limit citizens’ abilities to exert true influence on regeneration projects. We conclude that efforts to regenerate shrinking cities should strive to recognize these experiences so as to create conditions that generate respect and esteem and, as such, enable urban social justice.
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This article is based on ethnographic research over recent years in eight Dutch police teams. It focuses on the othering process in which police officers define ‘crooks’ as the Other and chase, catch and arrest them. Catching crooks is perceived as an assignment as well as a game. Street cops construct detailed subcategories of the crook which influence their daily practices. They select crooks by recognition (the permanent suspects), by abnormalization (out of placeness) and by profiling (regardless of place). In addition to the discussion on ethnic profiling, we argue that profiling is a contextual practice. The contents of the profiles depend on the demographic characteristics of the district in which a police team operates. Interacting mediaframes of both the crook and the police reinforce the mutual caricatures and tense relationships.
KnowledgeFlows in Marine Spatial Planning - Sharing Innovation in Higher Education(KnowledgeFlows) aims at further enforcing the European higher education community to meet the growing demands for knowledge, skills and innovation within the still emerging field of marine or maritime spatial planning (MSP).Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is an emerging governmental approach towards a more effective use of the sea. MSP is of great interest in Europe and can be considered a societal process to balance conflicting interests of maritime stakeholders and the marine environment. Many different activities take place at sea, ranging from shipping, fisheries, to offshore wind energy activities. Simultaneously, new and evolving policies focus on strategies to integrate different marine demands in space and resources. MSP is now legally binding in the EU and is much needed approach to manage and organize the use of the sea, while also protecting the environment.KnowledgeFlows will contribute to the development of new innovative approaches to higher education and training on MSP by means of problem-based learning schemes, transdisciplinary collaboration, and advanced e-learning concepts. KnowledgeFlows builds on results from former project outputs (Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Marine Spatial Planning SP-MSP), such as the online learning platform MSP Education Arena (https://www.sp-msp.uol.de).The strategic partnership consists of a transnational network of experts both in research and in practice based in the north Atlantic, Baltic Sea and North Sea Regions including Aalborg University (DK, lead partner), The University of Oldenburg (D), the University of Liverpool (U.K.), the University of Nantes (F), the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (D), the Breda University of Applied Sciences (NL), University of Ulster (U.K.), and the Finnish Environment Institute (FI). Gothenburg University, also being a higher education organisation, will be associated partner.Furthermore, three international organisations, the Marine Spatial Planning Research Network, the Baltic inter-governmental VASAB and the pan-Nordic Nordregio will be involved in the partnership as associated organisations deeply rooted in the MSP community of practice.The further improvement of curricula, exchange of knowledge and experts, and transparency and recognition of learning outcomes to reach higher qualifications in MSP are key components of KnowledgeFlows. A mutual learning environment for MSP higher education will enable problem-driven innovation among students and their educators from research and governance also involving stakeholders. Related activities on intellectual outputs, multiplier events and lecturing will be carried out by all participating organisations.The intellectual outputs are related to three major contributions to the European higher education landscape:1) an advanced level international topical MSP course (Step-up MSP)2) digital learning facilities and tools (MSP Education Arena)3) designing problem-based learning in MSP (MSP directory)The advanced level inter-institutional topical MSP course will include different teaching and training activities within a problem-based learning environment. Digital learning facilities enabling communication and training will include a further enrichment of the MSP Education Arena platform for students, practitioners and lecturers for including modules forcollaborate learning activities, documentation and dissemination, mobilisation/recruitment, thesis opportunities, placements/internships. Designing problem-based learning in MSP will include topics as; the design of didactics and methods; guidance for lecturers, supervisors and students; evaluation and quality assurance; assessment.Five multiplier events back to back or as part of conferences within the MSP community will be organised to mainstream the outputs and innovative MSP didactics among other universities and institutions.Different teaching and training activities feeds into the intellectual output activities, which will include serious gaming sessions (MSP Challenge (http://www.mspchallenge.info/) and others), workshops, excursions, courses/classes as well as a conference with a specific focus on facilitating the exchange of innovative ideas and approaches among students at bachelor´s, master´s and doctoral level and the MSP community of practice.Project management meetings (twice a year) will assure coherence in project planning and implementation. As the core focus of the strategic partnership is on collaboration, mutual learning, and innovation among educators, students, and practitioners in order to meet actual and future needs regarding knowledge exchange and training within the MSP community, the project will be designed to have long lasting effects.Results
