Citizens Transforming Society: Tools for Change (CaTalyST)

我们将公民主导的（社会）创新定义为自下而上地为主要社会问题提供社区驱动的解决方案。几个世纪以来，公民主导的创新一直是社会的积极组成部分。然而，在线社交网络和移动计算等技术的发展，使它比以往任何时候都更容易发起和培育；这些技术使得“极其容易的群体形成”成为可能，并以前所未有的规模和效率引领公民参与。最近的事件表明，现在既是公民主导创新的时机，也是极其必要的时机。一方面，社会经历了一场大规模的全球经济危机。我们都被要求以更少的钱做更多的事，其中一个后果是，现在期望公民更积极地参与解决地方问题（参见《大社会》）。另一方面，英美两国政府正在开放公共数据，以提高透明度，以一种前所未有的方式将信息交到公民手中。该提案解决了两个核心主题，将最大限度地提高公民改造社会的机会：理解行为（什么刺激人们参与以及为什么参与）和变革工具（什么下一代技术最能支持人们的创新方式）。关于第一个主题，政府提出的许多建议——地方主义、国家公民服务、大社会——都是在没有从社会学角度理解人们需要什么的情况下实施的。关于第二点，虽然社会技术在促进公民主导的行动主义方面非常有效，但它们并不是专门为此设计的；因此，很自然地要问下一代工具应该是什么样子，并在设计这些工具时牢牢记住参与公民的需要。此外，还有一些基本障碍需要克服。特别是，创新和包容之间存在着众所周知的紧张关系。社区事务等组织的经验表明，公民参与社会行动的一个主要原因是需要更多的人际接触；然而，技术有减少人与人之间接触的趋势，而有利于虚拟接触。因此，我们认为一个根本的挑战是扭转这一趋势。在我们所有的研究活动中，我们将强调这一目标，并致力于技术的调解，而不是替代人类接触。我们的研究方法将以人为本的活动置于综合研究/人员战略的最前沿，该战略旨在通过一系列“研究冲刺”来回答有关公民主导创新的基本研究问题，这些研究冲刺将结合学科跳跃、跨学科培训、社区驱动的研究议程以及对跨学科过程本身的反思。该项目将汇集一群社会科学家（社会学、人类学）、计算机科学家（移动计算、web2.0、分布式系统）、管理科学家（消费者行为）和设计师（创新）来开发下一代系统，使公民能够为“邪恶”的社会问题创造自下而上的创新解决方案。我们将与曼彻斯特和德里有着成功历史的合作伙伴合作：曼彻斯特数字发展局（MDDA）和曼彻斯特的FutureEverything；德里地区警务伙伴关系（dppp）。我们还将专注于将研究扩大到英国各地的社区。这将由两个组织促进-皇家艺术，制造和商业鼓励协会（RSA）和社区事务

We define citizen-led (social) innovation as the bottom-up creation of community-driven solutions to major societal problems. Citizen-led innovation has been an active ingredient of societies for centuries. However, technological developments such as online social networks and mobile computing have made it easier than ever before to initiate and nurture it; these technologies permit 'ridiculously easy group forming' and have led to civic engagement on a scale and with an efficiency not seen before.Recent events mean that now is both an opportune and critically necessary time for citizen-led innovation. On the one hand, society has experienced a massive global economic crisis. We are all being asked to do more for less and one consequence is that citizens are now expected to become more active participants in solving local problems (cf. Big Society). On the other hand, governments in both the UK and US are opening up public data in a drive for transparency that puts information into the hands of citizens in a way never before envisaged. This proposal addresses two core themes that will maximize the opportunities for citizens to transform society: understanding behaviour (what stimulates people to participate and why) and tools for change (what next-generation technologies best support how people want to innovate). Regarding the first theme, much of what is being proposed by governments - Localism, National Citizen Service, Big Society - is being implemented without a sociological understanding of what people need from it. Regarding the second, although social technologies have been extremely effective in promoting citizen-led activism, they were not designed specifically for it; it is natural, therefore, to ask what the next generation of tools should look like and to design those tools with the wants and needs of participatory citizens firmly in mind.Furthermore, there are fundamental barriers to overcome. In particular, there is a well-known tension between innovation and inclusion. Experience from organisations such as Community Matters shows that a major reason for citizens engaging in social action is the need for more human contact; however, technology has a tendency to reduce human contact in favour of virtual contact. We therefore see that a fundamental challenge is to reverse this trend. In all our research activities, we will emphasise this goal and work towards technologies that are mediators and not replacements for human contact. Our research methodology puts people-based activities at the forefront of an integrated research/people strategy that aims to answer fundamental research questions about citizen-led innovation via a series of 'research sprints' that will combine discipline hopping, cross-discipline training, a community-driven research agenda and reflection on the interdisciplinary process itself.The project will bring together a group of social scientists (sociology; anthropology), computer scientists (mobile computing; web2.0; distributed systems), management scientists (consumer behaviour) and designers (innovation) to develop next generation systems that empower citizens to create bottom-up innovative solutions to 'wicked' societal problems. We will work with partners in Manchester and Derry with which we have a history of success: the Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA) and FutureEverything in Manchester; Derry District Policing Partnership (DDPP) in Derry. We will also focus on widening the research to communities across the UK. This will be facilitated by two organisations - the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and Community Matters