EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – SHORT TERM SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS: TU1204 – People-Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World The City Sounding Board Working Group (part of the COST Action PeopleFriendly Cities in a Data Rich World (TU1204)) http://www.cost.eu/domains_actions/tud/Actions/TU1204 invites you to participate in a Short Term Scientific Mission in Glasgow, Scotland. The application deadline is March 1, 2016. The STSMs will take place during the second and third weeks of April 2016. BACKGROUND This STSM Call for Applications sits within the COST Action TU1204 ‘People Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World, where a major emphasis to date has been on the area of citizen engagement and on understanding the factors that promote or indeed inhibit collaboration between city institutions, agencies, and the everyday citizen. While it is acknowledged that citizens have not played a significant part in the shaping of cities traditionally, the availability of the infrastructure of the internet constitutes a new context which may have major implications for urban governance and the relationship between urban stakeholders. Key issues which have arisen, include the conflict between top-down and bottom-up, the relationship of the citizen with data, the citizens’ capacity to undertake research, and the emergence of what is called ‘Smart-City’. It is also fair to say that despite a phenomenal explosion in the use of the internet for recreational, entertainment, and social media purposes, we have not seen similar platforms created to enable collaborative citizen participation in the shaping of cities or in the area of city governance. A key dimension of this COST Action has been the establishment of reference cities that have provided real city contexts in which to study best-practice, carry out research, and test emerging perspectives. The real city context also helps ground the virtual world of the internet. Reference cities to date include Lucca (September 2014 STSM), Dublin (STSMs in September 2015 and November 2015), Reykjavik (Winter Training School March 2016), and now Glasgow. The existence of a network of reference cities supports initiatives such as STSMs which can operate under a single researcher format, or, as was the case in both Lucca and Dublin (September 2015) under a team format. This brief is drawn up to guide the STSM team proposal for the city of Glasgow.
Reference City: Glasgow Glasgow is a city with a proud industrial history, particularly in ship-building and allied service areas, which flourished through the 19th and early 20th century. The City’s success as an industrial manufacturing centre created a wealthy mercantile class and an employment magnet for indigenous and immigrant labour, a culture that bred political activism and ensured a labour sensibility informed public life and the generation of political perspectives. Manufacturing and industrial decline after the World War II created large scale unemployment and environmental challenges that led to a long search for a new role for the city as a post industrial city urban landscape emerged. Glasgow has featured strongly in the narrative of urban regeneration through the second half of the 20th century both in terms of profile within the UK and internationally, and this commitment to innovation and creative renewal continues to underpin current political thinking. However, in order to narrow the focus of this research, three episodes from the last 50 years are highlighted which have the potential to reveal interesting insights into how Glasgow citizens relate to urban governance. These episodes are as follows: 1. Housing Regeneration in the 1970s: The powerful storm in mid-January 1968 severely damaged many of Glasgow’s tenement buildings and prompted a radical approach to urban regeneration, where in order to receive grants, tenants became owners of their properties. The innovation was championed by the Community Based Housing Associations and innovative practices such as ‘Assist Architects’ formed out of Strathclyde University. 2. European City of Culture: Glasgow made a successful bid for European City of Culture in 1990, after a series of European capitals and Cities of the Renaissance. The city had been working creatively on an image change for some years, and had opened the impressive Burrell collection in 1983, and won the UK Garden Festival in 1988. Glasgow used the City of Culture to express all of the City’s culture, and strove to generate a process to include a citizenry which often felt excluded. The working–class women of the city used stitch work to create 12 celebrated banners under a project ‘Keeping Glasgow in stitches’. 3. Glasgow City Vision 2011: In 2011 Glasgow was one of 50 cities in the UK to be awarded a feasibility grant to show how integrated services would work more effectively. The city then was awarded £24 million to create a future demonstrator project, and to envision what the city would look like and how it would operate in 2061. Over 2700 people participated in over 40 events. The process operated across three strands; a technocratic strand, a thought-leadership strand, and a proactive citizen engagement strand. Brief – Core Focus The process of urban regeneration and renewal in Glasgow has at times involved a close working relationship between the City Authority, the Universities and the private sector. The objective of the brief is to focus on the three episodes outlined above, and to establish
to what extent the triangular relationship played a positive role in building bridges with citizens, and engendering a culture of collaborative urbanism in the city. In particular, the brief requires a response to the following:
To what extent did ‘The City’ [Glasgow City Council], ‘The Academy’ [University sector] and ‘Practice’ [Private Practice] collaborate with each other and engage with the three major city episodes outlined above, i.e [a] The Housing Regeneration; [b] City of Culture 1990; and, [c] City Visioning project 2011. How did each of these movements engage with citizens. Establish the qualities of citizen involvement in the process. Provide insight on the quality of leadership in each of the three movements. Establish the extent to which collaborative leadership played a part in generating the three initiatives. Identify the role of technology in the three initiatives [Internet only available in the Visioning project]. Assess to what extent the lessons learned in Glasgow can be applied in other city contexts.
The research team will be expected to carry out desk-top research before arrival, on the general Glasgow context, and also to become familiar with the core history of the three episodes which are the focus of the research. SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON STSMs
A STSM grant is a fixed contribution based on the requested budget which is evaluated by the STSM Committee. The grant is for travel and subsistence costs only. It does not necessarily cover all such expenses. The Management Committee of the COST Action TU1204 will award up to 5 STSMs. The budget will be divided among the successful applicants (called Grant Holders) in accordance with COST rules. Successful applicants will receive an allowance of €120/day and €300 (maximum) for travel up to a maximum total budget of €2,500. After the STSM, the Grant Holder must submit a scientific report to the Host and to the STSM Coordinator within 30 days after the end of his/her stays. Moreover, the Grant Holder must request a signed acceptance letter of his/her scientific report from the Host (senior researcher at the Host Institution), which the Host sends to the STSM Coordinator. The STSM grant will be paid after the Grant Holder’s scientific report and the acceptance letter from the Host institution have been approved by the STSM Committee. The Grant Holder must therefore pre-finance costs related to the STSM (travel, stay, meals).
EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION TEMPLATE– SHORT TERM SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS: The City Sounding Board – Glasgow, Scotland COST ACTION TU1204 – People-Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World Note: To be eligible, STSM applicants must be engaged in a research programme as a postgraduate student or postdoctoral fellow, or be employed by or officially affiliated to an institution or legal entity. This institution is considered as the Home institution. Institutions may be public or private entities. Prior to filling out your application, please ensure you have read the COST Vademecum section on STSMs http://www.cost.eu/participate/networking Applicant Name: ____________________________________ Home Institution: ____________________________________ Motivation Letter (500-800 words) As part of your motivation letter, please include information on how your expertise relates to the objectives of the City Sounding Board (please attach motivation letter as a separate document). Additional Material to be included with application: Letter of Support from the Home Institution Letter of invitation from the Host Institution (will be provided by STSM Coordinator to successful applicants Detailed CV (including publications)
Applicant’s Signature: _________________________
Date: __________________________
EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – SHORT TERM SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS: TU1204 – People-Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World APPLICATION PROCESS 1. STSM applicants must be engaged in a research programme as a postgraduate student or postdoctoral fellow, or be employed by or officially affiliated to an institution or legal entity. 2. Applicants must send the following application documentation to Dimitra Xidous (STSM Coordinator; see full contact details below): o Completed STSM Application Template (see attached). o Letter of support from applicant’s Home Institution o CV (including list of publications) *Letter from the Host Institution will be supplied to all successful applicants to complete the STSM application. EVALUATION 1. The application will be evaluated by the STSM Committee (consisting of the STSM Coordinator, as well as the Chair and the Working Group 5 Leader of COST Action TU1204). 2. Notification of the Committee’s decision will be sent to the applicants by March 15 , 2016 FINAL REPORT 1. The Grant Holder will receive payment after his/her scientific report of the Grant Holder and the acceptance letter from the Host Institution has been approved by the STSM Committee. The scientific report is typically about 10-20 pages long. It must include: Purpose of the STSM; Description of the work carried out during the STSM; Description of the main results obtained; Future collaboration with the Host Institution (if applicable); Foreseen publications/articles resulting from the STSM (if applicable); and Other comments (if applicable). IMPORTANT DATES: Deadline for applications: March, 1, 2016 Notification of acceptance: March 15, 2016 Period of STSMs: Second and third week of April 2016
Prior to the award applicants are required to read and abide by the instructions in Section 6 of the COST Vademecum - Short Term Scientific Mission (http://www.cost.eu/participate/guidelines, pp.32-35). Contact person: Dimitra Xidous (xidousd@tcd.ie )