"By the People, for the People" - Bringing public participation back to politics - University of Limerick
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research
impact
“By the People, for the People”
Bringing public participation back to politics
Short summary of the impact evidence-based policy making. These HEA funded project on ‘The role of public
partnerships marshal the insights and administration systems in the delivery
International best practice dictates that inputs of all policy stakeholders, and result of effective HIV-AIDS policies’. Valued at
policies impacting people should be in policy that is more effective for all. €923,486, the project draws together a
evidence-based, and that those most UL inter-disciplinary team with research
affected are in the best position to explain collaborators in Makerere University,
the needs that effective policies have to Underpinning research Uganda; Dar Es Salaam University,
meet. The problem is that people outside Tanzania; and, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South
academia rarely get to contribute to Maura Adshead and Chris McInerney are Africa (RA 1).
research, and (apart from opinion surveys) concerned with how policy processes
policy makers find it hard to understand work. They utilise methodological McInerney and Adshead’s research
people’s true needs when they formulate innovations to unearth “bottom-up” methods have led to innovative practice
policy. Researchers in UL’s Department perspectives on policy implementation in the area of policy research and civic
of Politics and Public Administration have and impacts to complement “top-down” engagement, incorporating policy
addressed this problem by developing views of policy formulation and influences. stakeholders from state and civil society
participatory frameworks for public policy In addition to traditional methods in the design and delivery of participatory
design. Working in collaboration with associated with policy analysis, their policy processes. McInerney played a
politicians, policy makers, community research has led to new approaches that pivotal role facilitating the Ennis 2020
groups and citizens, UL researchers have involve collaborative engagement with a Community Visioning and Participatory
found ways to collect the evidence needed range of policy stakeholders. The research Planning Initiative; more examples of
by state agencies, politicians and policy breaks new ground by practically applying such projects are given in Section 4. This
makers to target policy interventions and theoretical emancipatory research praxis-based foundation has led to new
resources precisely where people most frameworks in the area of public policy, pedagogies that incorporate problem-
need them. by means of evidence-based research based learning approaches to ‘real world’
In effect, UL’s researchers have become projects carried out in collaboration with policy problems and collaborative research
translators between officialdom and stakeholders in local communities. This projects. Adshead was instrumental in
citizens, helping create collaborative approach to public policy and community- developing the UL Practicum; more
partnerships that provide for robust oriented research underpins the Irish Aid/ generally, their work has revitalised
This research is supported by
research
impact
CITIZEN Engagement
university approaches to community-
oriented research and civic engagement. Better communities
Finally, since 2008 McInerney and
Adshead have produced four books, 14 future vision
book chapters, 10 refereed journal articles,
stronger voice
6 working papers, and 11 research reports;
these publications detail the empirical pride in community
studies and practical application of their
collaborative work across a range of
policy sub-systems and policy domains
(Refs 1-6).
The impact of public policy interventions editorship of books to which they have
is difficult to quantify in the short term; been invited to contribute. Adshead’s
References to the research there is significant lag time between reputation as a ‘public expert’ on Irish
implementation and observable impact. politics and policy is reflected in a variety
1. McInerney, C. (2014) Challenging Times, However, there is strong anecdotal of invitations to contribute editorial
Challenging Administration, Manchester: evidence of the impact of Adshead and opinion pieces in Irish media, including
Manchester University Press, + 212pp. McInerney’s work at four levels: national, the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Sunday
2. McInerney, C. and Adshead, M. (2013) local, professional practice (capacity Times, and online news media such as the
Problem Based Learning and Civic building), and individual (civic engagement Journal.ie and Pravda (Slovakia).
Engagement - Shifting the focus of by students and citizens).
learning in public policy education, PS: Both Adshead and McInerney have
Political Science & Politics 46/3: 630-636. Shaping debate and influencing policy been invited to host events as part
3. Adshead, M. (2012) The exercise and at national level of ‘The President of Ireland’s Ethics
impact of Social Partnership on Irish Initiative: Shaping Ireland’s Shared Future’.
Government, in E. O’Malley and M. While much of McInerney and Adshead’s McInerney’s reputation as a consultant for
MacCarthaigh (eds) Governing Ireland: research is conducted at local level, their NGOs and advocacy groups is reflected in
from Cabinet to Core Executive, Dublin: insights into the ingredients of effective regular invitations to address events hosted
IPA. partnerships (including trust, honesty, and by civil society organisations; for example,
4. McInerney, C. and Adshead, M. (2010) some form of status equality) are equally the Knowledge Exchange Forum hosted by
The challenge of community participation relevant to national and international the Advocacy Initiative in July 2013 on the
in the delivery of public services: exploring projects. As a result, their research is used theme of participation in promoting social
participatory governance in Ireland, Dublin: by national and international peers as a justice advocacy. This national event was
NESF, March 2010, +164pp, ISBN 1-8- reference for politics and public policy attended by more than 70 leaders from a
99276-55-6. processes in Ireland. For example, in range of civil society organisations.
5. Adshead, M. and Tonge, J. (2009) Politics 2009 they were commissioned by the
in Ireland. Convergence and divergence in National Economic and Social Forum to More recently, in 2013 Adshead and Tom
a two-polity island, Palgrave, April 2009, research effective methods of leveraging Felle (Department of Journalism, UL)
xv+264pp. participation at the local level to improve collaborated with with the Department of
6. Adshead, M. and McInerney, C. (2008) delivery of public services. The resulting Public Expenditure and Reform to convene
Ireland’s National Anti-Poverty Strategy report continues to influence the design of a workshop examining 15 years of the
as new governance, in Considine, M. and processes that support citizen participation Freedom of Information Act in Ireland,
Giguerre, S. (eds) Local Development, and local development in Ireland. bringing together more than 60 civil
Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2008, pp. 233-254. servants, public officials, journalists and
This work is a key report in informing academics to review the FOI legislation
the implementation of national public and its proposed revision.
Research Awards policy and is as current and alive as it
was in 2009 as we shape the future For the Houses of the Oireachtas
1. Adshead, Lodge, McInerney & Muldoon. of local and community development Communications Unit our interaction
The role of public administration planning processes and debate the scope with Maura Adshead, both with the
systems in the delivery of effective HIV- and possibility of meaningful citizen FOI conference in February 2013 and
AIDS policies. Funded by Irish Aid/HEA. engagement and community participation subsequently in the creation of…the
2012-2016: €923,486 (Source 1). book on FOI for which she is the editor,
has been an invaluable exposure to the
Details of the impact Their influence is further illustrated by the research and theoretical perspective to
significant international authorship and a matter that is a very real, every day partresearch
impact
of its work. Maura has been consistently strategy document commenced in 2007
open, accessible and resourceful in terms and the research informing the document Underlying this initiative was a desire
of connecting the academic value that was gathered from local studies carried to find out what citizens / residents /
UL can offer an organisation such as the out by the University of Limerick. This users of Ennis wanted for the Town over
Houses of the Oireachtas. In that context, strategy document is the first step in the next decade. This evidence based
our interaction with Maura has had real developing a common agenda for taking approach, using community visioning as its
impact on our approach and thinking practical actions to support immigrants foundation, is both innovative and exciting.
with regard to making our records and in the community. I commend all of The partnership model utilised by the
information more accessible and thus those involved in the development of the Town Council, the Clare Active Citizenship
more transparent (Source 2). strategy (Source 5). Network and UL is to jointly research,
strategise, implement and monitor the
Leading collaborative policy projects at Another example of local impact is the progress of the Framework up to 2020
local level collaboration between Adshead, Ronnie (Source 7).
Greenwood (Department of Psychology,
Since 2006, Adshead and McInerney’s UL) and the Limerick branch of the The second phase refined this exercise
expertise is routinely sought to facilitate New Communities Partnership (NCP), and led to the production of a strategy
collaborative public policy research a national umbrella organization for 78 for the future development of the town:
projects. Their work has linked policy new ethnic community groups in Ireland. Ennis 2020 - Planning Beyond Recession,
makers with people who carry out This collaboration involved setting up designed to align with the National Spatial
policy on a daily basis and with people and supporting an NCP women’s group Strategy. This strategy was adopted by
who access services, making it possible in Limerick to assist in providing supports Ennis Town Council and was formally
to identify and fix the unintended and services to a mostly ‘invisible’ group launched in March 2013 (Sources 8 and 9).
consequences that frequently occur during of ethnic minority women. The women’s Concrete results of the strategy have been
policy implementation. Their projects have group highlighted a number of gaps in noted by both elected representatives and
demonstrated how evidence-based policy social supports; as a result, a Community public servants.
making and implementation can work at Research Partnership was created to
the local level. conduct an emancipatory research The Ennis 2020 initiative facilitated an
project to explore and remedy these gaps. engagement process between statutory
Following a successful Community This research has generated on-going agencies, UL as a third level institution
Research Partnership with the Ennis collaborations between the NCP and and the community and voluntary sector/
Community Development Project, the Department of Politics and Public citizens of Ennis. The concrete impact in
Adshead was approached by the Ennis Administration and laid the foundation for terms of projects/initiatives stimulated
Inter-Agency Steering Group. This group ongoing advocacy efforts: included various socio-economic projects.
of 14 local statutory agencies, all of For example, the international Purple Flag
which deliver public services to refugees, It has been a great satisfaction working branding, accreditation for high quality
asylum seekers, migrants and travellers, with Dr Maura Adshead, Department tourism product offering, and a safe night-
recognised that lack of coordination and of Politics and Public Administration, time economy in Ennis (Source 10).
understanding crippled the effectiveness University of Limerick. Maura was The effectiveness of the Ennis initiative
of their service provision. They perceived as “…somebody who listens has been recognised by other counties
commissioned Adshead and colleagues and can understand…somebody whose across Ireland, resulting in a number of
to carry out baseline research on the work can inform policy and carries hope requests for McInerney and Adshead to
needs of migrants, asylum seekers and for social change”. Maura and her work facilitate similar projects. In addition, the
refugees in County Clare. The research have boosted NCP and communities’ Ennis 2020 Framework led to Ennis Town
report (Getting to Know You) was used to momentum in Ireland (Source 6). Council’s being shortlisted in the eleventh
underpin the Co. Clare Integrated Strategic On another front, following public annual Chambers Ireland Excellence in
Plan for Immigrants (Source 3), and was dissemination of their research for the Local Government Awards for 2014. While
disseminated amongst the community in National Economic and Social Forum (Ref the outcome will not be known until
the Count Me In collaborative research 4), McInerney was invited by Ennis Town November 2014, the letter of notification
project with travellers, asylum seekers Council to develop an approach that states: “The judging panel were very
and refugees (Source 4). The report’s would engage the Council more deeply impressed with the high calibre of entries
recommendations have improved with residents and users of the town. The and competition for a place on the shortlist
collaboration, service delivery, and first phase of this process, carried out in was extremely tough” (Source 11).
commitment to quality monitoring across conjunction with UL students, facilitated
agencies. different forms of dialogue with over 400 Impact on professional practice
people as part of a community visioning
The research and development of the exercise: McInerney and Adshead’s approach toresearch
impact
public policy research and praxis has
generated a number of institutional-level
impacts in terms of capacity building.
These include university collaborations
with civil society; incorporation of these
collaborations into teaching and learning
initiatives by means of project work outside
the university; and skills training for Irish
public servants and community volunteers.
In 2011, in conjunction with the Limerick
City Development Board (CDB,) McInerney
and Adshead convened a Summer School
on Civic Engagement. This school was
offered nationwide and focused on the
practical skills needed by public servants
and community-based organisations
to more effectively encourage local
participation and civic engagement. The
is supported by an AHSS faculty teaching research in partnership with university
four-day school was launched by Minister
award. PBL experts from the UK and students.
for the Environment, Community and
Ireland were invited to support reflection
Local Government Phil Hogan TD, and was
on this process with PPA staff. ‘Count Me In’ not only brought University
attended by more than 100 participants
of Limerick expertise in Ennis, but for
from all over Ireland.
Since 2009, both Adshead and McInerney the first time, communities here felt that
have contributed politics and public they were not “researched on” but were
(The Summer School was) absolutely
policy modules to BA degree training associated fully in the research. Starting
brilliant… (it was my) first time ever in the
programmes for the Office of Revenue from designing questionnaires, conducting
corridors of UL (after) living in the city all
Commissioners, training public officials research on the field to the data processing
my life. (It was a) fantastic experience, very
in bespoke designed courses on public in UL, all this side by side with UL students,
open forum, everyone had a chance to
administration and social policy for tax it was for many of participants a life
have their say (Source 12).
officials; these courses enable officials experience…immigrants and Travellers
As a result of their experience with
to set their work in a larger context. (are) still talking today about it. Now with
collaborative partnerships and civic
Nationally, texts by both Adshead (2009) Dr. Adshead’s involvement in Intercultural
engagement research projects, Adshead
(Ref 5) and McInerney (Ref 1) are used by and Diversity Education Centre (IDEC-
and McInerney have developed a range
the Office of Revenue Commissioners for Ireland), we have no doubt this will bring
of new skills for teaching politics and
their training in Irish politics and public to a new high level the joint work of our
public administration. This has produced
administration. communities in Clare and (the) academic
a significant renewal of curriculum,
community from UL (Source 14).
particularly in relation to graduate
This degree course… (undergoes) regular Local councillors and public servants have
methods and civic engagement. Since
evaluation of content and of overall also developed their capacity to engage
2006, McInerney and Adshead have
effectiveness. Chris’s contribution has with citizens and communicate with
contributed the UL Winter School on PhD
attracted particularly favourable comment constituents in new and meaningful ways:
methods (emancipatory research, action
both from students and from Revenue
research, community-oriented research,
senior management. This is particularly The Ennis 2020 process has also changed
civic engagement techniques, and ethics),
significant because the module in question mindsets, causing people to think
giving graduate seminars every year to
is designed to give students an awareness differently about how we operate as a local
more than 20 PhD students from across
of their socio-political environment authority (Source 7).
Ireland and abroad.
as preparation for strategic decision
making. This can be a more challenging Development of broader civic
In 2013, McInerney pioneered the ‘Politics
requirement than the imparting of engagement mission
Problem Based Learning (PBL) laboratory’
technical knowledge (Source 13).
using local civic engagement and ‘real-
Finally, Adshead and McInerney have McInerney and Adshead’s range of
world’ problem solving opportunities
provided skills training to a range of experience combining community-
to explore and evaluate the utility of
community stakeholders. As part of the oriented research, civic engagement and
PBL for politics teaching. All Politics and
Count Me In project, volunteer refugees, ‘real-world’ problem-based teaching has
Public Administration staff and teaching
asylum seekers, migrants and travellers shown them the strategic potential of this
graduates are part of this exercise, which
were trained to conduct community-based area in higher education institutions moreresearch
impact
generally. They have acquired a range beyond training and capacity building, Mark Mulqueen, Head of
of methods for developing university deepening understanding of strategies that Communications, Houses of the
commitment to civic engagement that can be employed by local government to Oireachtas, Dublin
supports other key university ambitions ignite community revival. 3. Policy documents for the Integrated
for teaching and research. Their work Strategy for Clare immigrant services can
has helped both students and citizens As a result of their work, Adshead and be accessed at:
to understand and advocate for civic McInerney have been at the forefront of http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/
engagement. UL initiatives to develop a clearer strategic Publications/SocialInclusion/
direction for university civic engagement IntegratedStrategy0912.htm
On an academic level, their research activities. These include Adshead’s chairing 4. Count Me In publications can be
has informed a range of academic the UL Civic Engagement Task Force accessed at: http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/
outputs by students. For example, (2012): the group’s final report made Faculties/Arts,_Humanities_%26_Social_
data for the research report Getting 23 recommendations for action, all of Sciences/Doing_Community_Research/
to Know You (which underpinned the which were approved by Management Publications/Count_Me_In
Co. Clare Integrated Strategic Plan for Council and are currently underway. Since 5. Written testimonial from Minister Conor
Immigrants) was collected by buddy 2013, both Adshead and McInerney have Lenihan, Office for Promotion of Migrant
teams of UL students and community collaborated with UL Civic Engagement Integration
researchers, and used to develop 11 final Champion Bernie Quillinan to set up a 6. Report from J. Jacques Mounoume
year undergraduate dissertations, 4 MA hub for civic engagement staff supports Lobe, Regional Coordinator, New
dissertations and 1 Phd (Eidin Ni She, and information. They have been actively Communities Partnership, Limerick
submitted September 2010). involved in the design of the ‘UL Engage’ 7. Written testimonial from Cllr. Johnny
website, which outlines civic engagement Flynn, Mayor of Ennis, Co. Clare
On the level of praxis, since 2007 activities for students, staff, public and 8. Research underpinning the Ennis 2020
Adshead has led the development of external groups and provides complete initiative undertaken by Ennis County
the UL Practicum, which in 2014 was links to all UL services and resources. Council in
incorporated into the UL Broadening the collaboration with the Clare Active
Curriculum initiative in collaboration with In sum, McInerney and Adshead have Citizenship network can be accessed at:
UL Civic Engagement Champion Bernie found ways to translate internationally http://ennis2020.ie
Quillinan. The UL Practicum, which builds accepted theory into practical approaches 9. Strategic policy document resulting
on the successful piloting of a ‘Community that engage stakeholders and end-users in from the Ennis community visioning
Research Partnership’ and related projects the development of effective public policy. research
in Ennis, provides accredited student Their work is changing the way policy exercise can be seen at: http://www.
learning on a university-supported project- makers and citizens interact, and is creating ennis2020.ie/Ennis_2020_planning_
based module. commitment to civic engagement at beyond_recession.pdf
multiple levels: in students and community 10. Written testimonial from Leonard
The Practicum experience has without members; in public administration and Cleary, former Town Clerk of Ennis Town
a doubt positively shaped my time in academia; institutionally, locally, nationally Council
Ireland. The people I have met and the and internationally. 11. Letter from Ian Talbot, Chief Executive,
opportunities I have had because of Chambers Ireland, Dublin
Practicum have made me a better student, 12. Testimonial from Mattie Collins,
a better teacher, and above all, a better Sources to corroborate the Limerick resident
person (Source 14). impact 13. Recommendation from Tony Buckley,
Assistant Secretary, South West Region,
On the community level, the participatory 1. Recommendation from Marie Carroll, Revenue
research in “Obstacles faced by Migrant Former CEO Southside Partnership and 14. Written testimonial from Alphonse
Women in Accessing Social Welfare former member of the National Economic Basogomba, Chairman, IDEC Ireland
Support” fostered enthusiasm and and Social Forum 15. Written testimonial from Sadie Scibo,
commitment among the migrants’ 2. Written testimonial from former UL Practicum student, Chicago
community, as well as a broader sense of
acknowledgement and caring within the
entire community. It forged strong links
between the university, the city of Limerick, Dr Maura Adshead Dr Chris McInerney
and specific communities within the city. Senior Lecturer Lecturer in Public Administration
The impact of the collaboration between Department of Politics and Public Department of Politics and Public
Administration Administration
the University of Limerick and the New Email: maura.adshead@ul.ie Email: chris.g.mcinerney@ul.ie
Communities Partnership (NCP) wentYou can also read
