Engaging £eithChooses - a community conversation
May 3, 2023
Location Norton park Conference Centre
57 Albion Rd
Edinburgh
EH7 5QYDescription An opportunity for in person networking around £eithChooses (http://www.leithchooses.net) & learning how to improve community-based participatory budgeting (PB) for future years.
Attendees will include representatives of organisations that have or may in future apply for funding from LeithChooses, which disburses funding from Edinburgh Council for the Leith 'neighbourhood network' area. Other attendees will be representatives of Edinburgh Council, COSLA, Scottish Government who have interests in participatory budgeting.People Bruce Ryan
Abigail CunninghamOrg Units School of Applied Sciences
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/engaging-eithchooses-a-community-conversation-tickets-592662047137
Events (24)
School of Computing PhD Workshop Series - Final Event
Oct 31, 2018
Location 16:00 in CoRe44 (room C44) Merchiston Campus Description Please join us for the closing event of the PhD masterclass. As a reminder, PhD masterclass was a seminar series run last semester to promote knowledge and skills exchange between students. For this closing event, there will be 4 short talks on:
How can students take a step towards research impact?
Lindsey Middleton
How to simplify reality ? An introduction to the purposes and approaches of modelling
Cedric Perret
Why statistics matter
Sean McKeown
Visualising your results and other tricks with R
Andreas Steyven
The seminar starts at 4pm in C44 and it is followed by a social gathering (including a lot of food).
All students and staff welcome.People Sean McKeown
Andreas SteyvenOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
RIVAL (Research Impact Value and LIS) #lis_rival
Jul 11, 2018
Location Room 1/10, Craiglockhart Campus Description Entitled Research Impact Value and LIS (RIVAL), this event brought together members of three main groups – creators, users, and end-user beneficiaries of LIS research output – to explore concepts and examples of the impact and value of LIS research to services delivery in practice. The format of the day encouraged the strengthening of links between these interacting communities, narrowing of gaps between LIS research and practice, and laying the ground for future research-related support and collaborations across the sector.
There were practitioner delegates from a range of libraries (academic, health, national, prison, public, special), plus others from the research community, the main UK professional body for library and information professionals, and independent consultants. Organisations represented were:
Birmingham City University
British Library
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
City of Edinburgh Council
Department for International Development
Edinburgh City Libraries
Edinburgh Napier University
Goldsmiths, University of London
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
LKN Foundation
National Library of Scotland
Northumbria University
Scottish Poetry Library
Scottish Prison Service College
University College London
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Salford
University of Strathclyde
For further information, including the full programme and links to presentation slides, please see: https://hazelhall.org/2018/07/11/follow-lis_rival-for-updates-on-research-impact-value-lis-at-edinburgh-napier-today/People Bruce Ryan Org Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rival-research-impact-value-and-lis-lis-rival-registration-45585730146#
Centre for Social Informatics contribution to ASIST2017
Oct 27, 2017
Location Washington DC, USA Description Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Frances Ryan presented a poster at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIST2017). This work, which Frances developed with the members of her supervision team (Hazel Hall, Peter Cruickshank, and Alistair Lawson), is entitled ‘Building identity in online environments: an Information Science perspective‘.
For further information please see: https://hazelhall.org/2017/10/19/centre-for-social-informatics-at-asist2017/People Alistair Lawson
Peter Cruickshank
Frances RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://hazelhall.org/2017/10/19/centre-for-social-informatics-at-asist2017/
Centre for Social Informatics contribution to Ways of Being in a Digital Age conference
Oct 10, 2017
Location Liverpool Description Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Alicja Pawluczuk presented a paper entitled ‘Digital culture co-creation: capturing the social impact of small-scale community projects’ at the Ways of Being in a Digital Age conference in October 2017. The paper was co-authored with Alicja's PhD supervisors Dr Gemma Webster, Dr Colin Smith, and Professor Hazel Hall.
For further information please see: https://hazelhall.org/2017/10/10/centre-for-social-informatics-at-the-ways-of-being-in-a-digital-age-review-conference/People Gemma Webster
Colin SmithOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://hazelhall.org/2017/10/10/centre-for-social-informatics-at-the-ways-of-being-in-a-digital-age-review-conference/
Centre for Social Informatics contribution to ECIL
Sep 18, 2017
Location St Malo, France Description Dr Bruce Ryan presented the paper 'Exploring Information Literacy through the lens of Activity Theory' at the 5th European Conference on Information Literacy in St-Malo, France on Wednesday 20th September 2016. During the presentation Dr Ryan argued that Activity Theory is valuable in projects that investigate group information practices, and can contribute to the generation of findings that relate to existing Information Literacy models.
The full paper, which is co-authored with Peter Cruickshank and Professor Hazel Hall, will be published in due course by Springer in the ECIL conference proceedings as part of the Communications in Computer and Information Science series.
For further details please see: https://hazelhall.org/2017/09/18/exploring-information-literacy-through-the-lens-of-activity-theory-csi-at-ecil-2017-ecil17-ecil2017/People Peter Cruickshank
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://hazelhall.org/2017/09/18/exploring-information-literacy-through-the-lens-of-activity-theory-csi-at-ecil-2017-ecil17-ecil2017/
Centre for Social Informatics contribution to ECKM 2017
Sep 7, 2017
Location Barcelona, Spain Description Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Iris Buunk presented ‘Skills in sight: how social media affordances increase network awareness’ at the 18th European Conference on Knowledge Management in Barcelona at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC).
This work, coauthored with Professor Hazel Hall and Dr Colin Smith, examines the extent to which social media afford new capabilities in the sharing of tacit knowledge.
For further details please see: https://hazelhall.org/2017/09/08/centre-for-social-informatics-at-the-18th-european-conference-on-knowledge-management-eckm2017/People Colin Smith Org Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://hazelhall.org/2017/09/08/centre-for-social-informatics-at-the-18th-european-conference-on-knowledge-management-eckm2017/
Activity theory as a tool for data analysis - School of Computing Seminar Series
Sep 6, 2017
Location Core44, room C44, Merchiston Campus Description This seminar reports on recent research designed to understand how community-level elected representatives (Scotland’s community councillors)
1. learn about their roles
2. gather, process and share information of interest to the citizens they represent and higher authorities such as local authorities (e.g. Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian).
In this presentation, and the corresponding conference paper, Activity Theory is presented as a framework for explaining Information Literacy as a technologically mediated social practice.
This work demonstrates the value of Activity Theory as
· a tool for Information Literacy research that seeks to present information practices in their social contexts
· as a means of highlighting underlying issues within the social environment under review through the identification of contradictions within the activity system.
These aspects of the research are particularly important because Information Literacy is generally conceived as an aspect of individuals, particularly students in higher education. However, work roles involving information gathering, processing and sharing are often collective/social, and mediated by workplace hierarchies and norms.People Simon Wells
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Social Media and Society 2016
Jul 11, 2016
Location Goldsmiths College, London Description Ella Taylor-Smith presented the paper "Non-public eParticipation in social media spaces" at Social Media and Society 2016.
Paper: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2930974
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/EllaTaylorSmith/nonpublic-eparticipation-in-social-media-spaces
Abstract: This paper focuses on the importance of non-public social media
spaces in contemporary democratic participation at the grassroots
level, based on case studies of citizen-led, community and activist
groups. The research pilots the concept of participation spaces to
reify online and offline contexts where people participate in
democracy. Participation spaces include social media presences,
websites, blogs, email, paper media, and physical spaces. This
approach enables the parallel study of diverse spaces (more or less
public; on and offline). Participation spaces were investigated
across three local groups, through interviews and participant
observation; then modelled as Socio-Technical Interaction
Networks (STINs) [1].
This research provides an alternative and richer picture of social
media use, within eParticipation, to studies solely based on public
Internet content, such as data sets of tweets. In the participation
spaces studies most communication takes place in non-public
contexts, such as closed Facebook groups, email, and face-to-face
meetings. Non-public social media spaces are particularly
effective in supporting collaboration between people from diverse
social groups. These spaces can be understood as boundary
objects [2] and play strong roles in democracy.People Ella Taylor-Smith
Colin SmithOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built EnvironmentURL https://socialmediaandsociety.org/
PhD students present their work at the school of computing post-graduate research conference
May 11, 2016
Location H5 & H9 Merchiston Campus Description This years post-graduate research conference will be held Wednesday (11th of May) on H-floor.
Presentations and the keynote will be in H5, the poster session, breaks and the reception will be in H9.
We are proud to welcome Dr Wendy Moncur from the University of Dundee as this years keynote speaker.
The programme schedule, the running order of all sessions, presentation titles and abstracts and can be downloaded here:
http://www.soc.napier.ac.uk/~zz388/soc-pgrc2016/SoC-PGRC2016-Programme.pdf
The conference is organised and chaired by student volunteers and Dr Kevin Chalmers.People Frances Ryan
Andreas Steyven
Baraq GhalebOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Academics from the Ionian University of Corfu visit the School of Computing
Apr 11, 2016
Description Dr Petros Kostagiolas and Dr Christina Banou, both from the Ionian University of Corfu took part in an Erasmus exchange with the School of Computing in the week beginning 11th April 2016.
Their visit was organised jointly by Brian Davison, who hosted a research seminar at which both speakers presented, and Hazel Hall, who invited the visitors to contributed to a two-day ESRC-funded training event for students undertaking doctoral studies in Information Science and other related disciplines.
Davison will be making a reciprocal trip to Greece in October 2016.People Brian Davison Org Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
digiCC workshop, Glasgow
Mar 4, 2016
Location 22 March at Banqueting Hall, Glasgow City Chambers, George St, Glasgow G2 1DU Description Peter Cruickshank and Bruce Ryan will run a workshop on digital engagement for community councils in Glasgow this month. This workshop will bring together community council members from Glasgow and environs to learn and share knowledge on how CCs can use the internet to engage with their citizens. It will enable CC members to learn of support for CCs from the Scottish Government and the Improvement Service, and to learn about the Democratic Society's work on participatory budgeting.
The workshop is funded from Edinburgh Napier University's public engagement stream and hosted by Glasgow City Council Democratic Services team.People Peter Cruickshank
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Digital engagement report published
Jan 27, 2016
Location 27/01/2016 Description Peter Cruickshank and Bruce Ryan today publish their report on workshops on digital engagement for Community Council and Registered Tenant Organisation members. Key findings include CCs’ frequent lack of human resources, without which digital engagement their citizens is a non-starter. Suggested solutions include planning around the needed human resources, tailored training and demonstrations of the benefits of digital engagement, improving contact channels for CCs and RTOs, and promotion of the KnowledgeHub and national website for community councils, so that skills and knowledge can be shared and grown.
Marco Biaggi, Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment welcomed the report, demonstrating the continuing practical value and positive impact of CSI’s research.People Bruce Ryan
Peter CruickshankOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
IIDI researchers will host a series of digital engagement workshops for community councillors
Jun 3, 2015
Location Autumn 2015 Description We will be facilitating four workshops around digital engagement for community councillors (CCs) across Scotland.
The primary purpose of this programme is to use a community of practice model to extend networking, problem elucidation and solving opportunities to more CCs. It will also provide a route to create positive engagement between CCs and their local authorities, and for young people to become aware of how joining a CC can help them.
They will be single-day events, with agendas focussing on facilitated small-group sessions, interspersed with guest talks relevant to digital engagement.People Peter Cruickshank
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Digital engagement workshop for community councillors
Jan 27, 2015
Location Glassroom, Merchiston. Friday 30 January 2015 Description Peter Cruickshank and Bruce Ryan will host a workshop on digital engagement for community councillors. This one-day workshop, on Friday 30 January, is aimed at finding solutions to major problems around Community Councils’ internet communication. It will build on recent projects such as Hyperlocal Government Engagement Online and the 2012 and 2014 surveys of Community Council internet use.
The workshop is supported by the Scottish Government's Community Empowerment unit and digital engagement team, the Improvement Service and The Democratic Society, and has been funded by the IIDI public engagement budget.
Envisaged follow-up work includes seeding a Community of Practice to support Community Councils’ digital engagement work, via match-making community councillors’ internet skills and needs, hosting development via the KnowledgeHub, and research and practical action to support knowledge management around CCs’ digital engagement.People Peter Cruickshank
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Presentation of Community Council project results to Local Authorities' Liaison Officers
Oct 22, 2014
Description As part of the bi-annual Scotland-wide Community Council Liaison Officer meeting, Peter Cruickshank and Bruce Ryan made a presentation on their findings on the low use of the internet to engage with their citizens by Community Councils as found in the 2012 and 2014 surveys. The CCLOs were asked to help prioritise responses to the recommendations made.
The follow up research ('Hyperlocal Engagement') was also presented - it is hoped that a strategy to build up a community of proactive for sharing knowledge and skills in online communication could be part of the solution.People Peter Cruickshank
Bruce RyanOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
Faculty Research Conference 2014
May 13, 2014
Location Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart Campus Description Research students and staff from the 3 FECCI schools (SACI, SEBE and SOC) gathered on Tuesday for the annual faculty research conference.
Professor Annette Markham delivered the keynote: Remix(ing) methods, remix(ing) disciplines: Provocations for grappling with complexity in digitally-saturated research contexts. This was the inspiration for lively conversations throughout the day and into the following week.
In a first for the conference, the day was punctuated by 2 musical interludes, provided by students from SACI, including a piece composed specially for the day.
Post-doctoral researchers presented a current project from each school and then formed a panel, for Q&A, with a focus on applying for and implementing funded research.
Eleven first year students, from the 3 schools, each presented a 20x20 style introduction to their research.
Three students in the equivilant of their second year presented their work and answered questions, followed by the same format for three students (one from each school) from 3rd and later years. Posters were displayed over lunch.
More information about the presentations and music is available on the conference webpage.
The day finished a reception and prizes.
This was one of the most successful faculty conferences of recent years, with a good attendance and positive feedback.
Tweets form the day may be available using the hashtag #FECCI14.People Aurelien Ammeloot
Ella Taylor-Smith
Michael Smyth
Oli Mival
Brian Davison
Imed RomdhaniOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
FECCI Research Conference 2014
May 13, 2014
Location 09:30, Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart Campus. Description The faculty research conference will take place on Tuesday 13th May 2014 at the Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart Campus.
Please register on eventbrite (for catering).
Professor Annette Markham will deliver the keynote: Remix(ing) methods, remix(ing) disciplines: Provocations for grappling with complexity in digitally-saturated research contexts.
Annette Markham teaches within the Department of Informatics, Umeå University, Sweden, the Department of Aesthetics & Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark and the School of Communication, Loyola University, Chicago, U.S.A.
A researcher from each school will then present one project, followed by a panel focusing on research funding.
A selection of research students from each school will then present their work.
There will be musical interludes, posters and prizes.
The conference will run from 9.30am - 5.15pm followed by an evening reception.
There are more details, including the full program, on the conference webpage.People Michael Smyth
Aurelien Ammeloot
Imed Romdhani
Ella Taylor-SmithOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment
From centre to community – Reclaiming local democracy
Apr 5, 2014
Description Bruce Ryan will be taking part and acting as a note-taker in From centre to community - reclaiming local democracy. This follows on from submissions by Bruce and Peter to the Commission for Strengthening Local Democracy and the Scottish Parliament's Inquiry into the Flexibility and Autonomy of Local Government. At this event, as in the submissions, Bruce will argue that Community Councils do not yet have the strength and resources to communicate with their citizens. Hence more training and raising the profile of Community Councils are among necessary first steps if they are to take part in a modern, participatory democracy. People Bruce Ryan
Peter CruickshankOrg Units School of Computing
School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment