The Project enabled researchers and community partners to develop and carry out a community needs analysis survey in the Portland Road and Clarendon areas of Brighton. The project aimed to engage the community, enable the articulation of local needs and priorities and facilitate effective intra-community communications.

Introduction

Neighbourhood Renewal areas are the most deprived areas in England. The Neighbourhood Renewal area of Portland Road and Clarendon in Hove comprises in excess of 120 community organisations, groups, clubs and associations which began to question the value of the activities and services they provide and wondered whether they could put their assets and resources to better use in the community.

Project Outline

The BSCKE funded Community Needs Analysis Project enabled dedicated researchers and community partners to develop and carry out a community needs analysis survey in the Portland Road and Clarendon area. The project aimed to engage the community, enable the articulation of local needs and priorities, and facilitate effective intra community communications. Mathematical and Information Sciences (CMIS) at the University of Brighton gained fieldwork experience on this project as part of a Community Informatics module. The project researcher will taught participatory appraisal and community research methods to students and community members, who gained direct experience of using these techniques in the community. Using a range of participatory data collection techniques the community research team visited local community groups and a range of public spaces where residents gather, in order to conduct the research. From this an open knowledgebase of community information, resources, assets and needs was developed and made available to the community.

A community communication space (CCS) was used to house the community knowledgebase. The included a dynamic visual representation of the research results. Tags, or key-words, identified by survey respondents, were used to create a tag-cloud. Community participants and students were shown how to use tagging to visually represent community needs as articulated by the community themselves. This made the community needs analysis process visible and transparent; and provided both space and incentive for residents to shape the articulation of community need whilst the research was being carried out. It also enabled changes in need to be tracked and mapped over time.

The project developed a model of ‘good practice’ that can be replicated through appropriation to suit local circumstances and needs. Nationally and internationally, the project aimed to inform policy audiences of alternative pathways to achieving social inclusion in the ‘information age’/’network society’. Furthermore, the project aimed to contribute to the growing international debates around the role of universities in local communities; civil society; service learning and community informatics.

Project Partners

University

CNA Community Research team, University of Brighton

Peter Day & Clair Farenden

Community

Jo Martindale