Social Innovation Archive
Social Media, Youth and Consumption of Cultural Spaces (LOCUS)
23 June 2023
LOCUS explores young people’s interactions with cultural spaces through the lens of social media consumption. This project investigates to what extent young people’s social media consumption transforms cultural spaces to “performative spaces” and how young people’s engagement with such spaces enacts their digital identities.
Evaluation of the Skill Mill Social Impact Bond (SIB)
26 October 2021
Skill Mill is a social enterprise highly regarded for innovative approaches to addressing youth crime while bringing social and environmental benefits to communities.
Evaluation of Social Impact Bonds that utilise strengths-based, co-created ways of working
22 June 2021
PERU has been commissioned by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships to evaluation two social-outcomes contracts that are tackling homelessness using strengths-based and co-created ways of working with people.
Social Impact Bonds 2.0: exploring the future of SIBs
4 May 2021
To achieve their potential SIBs must be re-configured to become a catalyst for innovation, driving public sector reform and addressing new social and economic needs in the post-Covid world.
The Big Life Group – Multi Modal Practitioner (MMP) evaluation
17 March 2021
In partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the Barrow Cadbury Trust, PERU researchers are undertaking a qualitative study on the views and experiences of participants in the Chance to Change pilots.
Doing gig work: Social implications of platform-based food deliveries
3 June 2020
This research aims to study the platform-based gig economy and its reconfiguration of urban spaces by investigating the management, solidarity and resistance of cycle couriers in three European cities: Manchester, Lyon (France) and Cluj-Napoca (Romania).
Evaluating the Money and Work prototype
8 January 2020
An evaluation of Macmillan Cancer Support’s Money and Work prototype, which was being implemented in Nottinghamshire between April 2019 and April 2020.
Co-creation of Service Innovations in Europe (CoSIE)
29 September 2019
PERU worked with a consortium of 24 partners across Europe on Co-creation of Service Innovations in Europe (CoSIE) from 2017 to 2021. Co-ordinated by Turku University of Applied Sciences, the consortium comprised universities, companies, public agencies and civil society organizations.
Evaluation of Addaction’s Social Impact Bond (SIB) in Cornwall
27 February 2019
PERU are evaluating the Cornwall Frequent Attenders Social Impact Bond being delivered by With You (formally Addaction).
Review of Grandmentors programme
7 December 2017
Young carers are young people who take on significant caring responsibilities for family members, normally parents or siblings.
European Cohort Development Project (ECDP)
10 November 2017
The European Cohort Development Project (ECDP) is a Design Study which will create the specification and business case for a European Research Infrastructure that will provide, over the next 25 years, comparative longitudinal survey data on child and young adult well-being.
Innovative Social Investment: Strengthening communities in Europe (InnoSI)
27 April 2015
PERU is leading a large pan-European research project on Social Investment policies funded by the European Commission.
Rochdale Connections Trust: Freedom Programme Evaluation
21 April 2015
PERU were commissioned by Rochdale Connections Trust to evaluate their Domestic Abuse Freedom Programme.
Justice Reinvestment
31 January 2013
Reviewing the available literature on Justice Reinvestment, interviewing key figures in the Justice Reinvestment movement in the US and looking at projects in the UK that have implemented elements of Justice Reinvestment.
Trafford DAAT Personalised Budgets
27 November 2011
Trafford Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) are piloting personalised budgets for young people with substance misuse issues. A small, randomised control trial (RCT) has been established to evaluate the impact of the pilot.
Hidden Harm
20 November 2010
Salford Drug Action Team wanted to review aspects of its Hidden Harm strategy and to review a service that it had commissioned to work directly with the children of misusing parents.
The costs and benefits of engaging volunteers from under-represented groups
1 September 2010
Gaining a greater understanding of the costs and benefits of engaging volunteers from under-represented groups in the work of voluntary sector organisations through a survey and face-to-face interviews.
Evaluation of Peer Courts pilot
1 February 2010
PERU, commissioned by Nacro, undertook a process, impact and economic evaluation of the Preston Peer Court pilot.
Doing Gig Work – Illustrated Material Published
7 June 2023
Publication aims to raise awareness about the platform-based gig economy
TASO ‘Impact Evaluation With Small Cohorts: Methodology Guidance’ published online
23 September 2022
We have been working with TASO to develop guidance on evaluation with small cohorts and it is now available on their website. TASO’s focus is widening participation and improving student outcomes in higher education but the guidance can be applied to many areas of social policy evaluation.
Are Social Impact Bonds an Innovation in Finance or Do They Help Finance Social Innovation?
7 July 2022
Using data from the Social Finance UK Database and focusing on SIBs in the US and UK, Olson et al. evaluate whether the SIB approach aligns with the theoretical predictions of social innovation.
Public Service Motivation? Rethinking What Motivates Public Actors
30 June 2022
Chris O’Leary looks afresh at the reasons for prosocial work choices in the first substantive critique of Public Service Motivation (PSM).
Theme: Social Innovation in Public Services – Innovating ‘Co-Creative’ Relationships Between Services, Citizens and Communities?
10 May 2022
The authors report and analyse innovative co-creative initiatives involving marginalized and stigmatized groups (prisoners, urban racialized minorities, rural poor populations including Roma).
Book Review: Local Social Innovation to Combat Poverty and Exclusion: A Critical Appraisal
7 May 2022
This book review by Sue Baines provides an insight into the value that Oosterlynck, Novy and Kazepov's book brings to the field of social innovation.
Social Innovation and Co-creation in Smallscale Renewable Energy: an Asset-based Approach
30 December 2021
This paper makes a novel contribution by turning an ‘asset’ lens onto social and technical innovation in the context of the small-scale generation of renewable energy.
Co-Creating Rehabilitation: Findings From a Pilot and Implications for Wider Public Service Reform
28 December 2021
As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of a programme in England that attempted to operationalise research on desistance, through a model of co-created, strengths-based working. We then evaluated its implementation and impact.
‘Good stories get lost in bureaucracy!’
3 November 2021
Cultural biases and information for co-production
A New Agenda for Co-Creating Public Services
5 October 2021
This paper draws together key findings from CoSIE with a particular focus on what these imply for new policy and practice in public services in the form of a discussion paper aimed at European, national and regional policy-makers.
Making Sense of Information and Evidence for Co-Creation
22 March 2021
A blog for the H2020 project CoSIE, reflecting on ways to navigate tensions between differing views on good information and reliable evidence.
Cycling Societies Innovations, Inequalities and Governance
18 March 2021
Emerging debates and questions around cycling
Social Impact Bonds 2.0? Findings from a Study of Four UK SIBs
13 December 2020
How Social Impact Bonds can facilitate a move to strengths-based service delivery and help drive innovation in public service delivery
Where Next for Co-creating Public Services?
5 October 2020
Emerging lessons and new questions from CoSIE
Implementing Innovative Social Investment: Strategic Lessons from Europe
15 July 2020
This edited collection brings regional and local realities to the forefront of social investment debates by showcasing successes, challenges and setbacks of Social Investment policies and services from ten European countries.
Commissioning and social determinants: evidence and opportunities
8 July 2020
This chapter argues that local authorities can and should use their purchasing power strategically to address the social determinants of health that affect their local area.
Towards a Theoretical Framework for Social Impact Bonds
14 February 2020
Governments in some of the world’s richest nations appear to be caught in a double challenge of declining social budgets even as social needs are increasing.
Innovation and the Evidence Base
10 January 2020
This report explores the concept of innovation and its application to the delivery of probation services.
Procurement and commissioning in the non-profit sector
4 October 2019
Procurement and commissioning in the non-profit sector
Co-creation of Public Service Innovation
20 June 2019
Drawing together ideas about co-creation, social innovation, social investment and individual and collective values that underpin the CoSIE project.
Implementing Innovative Social Investment
12 March 2019
Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. The turn towards a Social Investment approach to welfare implies deploying resources to enhance human capital and mobilise the productive potential of citizens, starting in early childhood.
Evaluating outcome-based payment programmes: challenges for evidence-based policy
12 February 2019
We review the state of evaluation within outcome-based commissioning in the United Kingdom.
Social Impact Bonds: More Than One Approach
8 January 2019
A look at how social impact bonds differ between projects and geographies, and how those differences impact practical implementation.
Innovation and Social Investment Programs in Europe
19 October 2018
There is a lack of empirical research around sub‐national Social Investment programs, and a lack of connectivity with social innovation.
Research Protocol: A cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the Family SKILLS programme
20 April 2018
The Family SKILLS programme for reception year students from families in which English is an additional language
The Economic Inefficiency of Student Fees and Loans
3 May 2017
In this report, published by the Intergenerational Foundation, Kevin argues that the benefits of a young person getting a higher education qualification in England accrue in the ratio 58% to the nation and 42% to the graduate.
The role of social innovation in criminal justice reform and the risk posed by proposed reforms
12 February 2015
The UK government has called for a rehabilitation revolution in England and Wales and put its faith in market testing.
Pay Progression: Understanding the Barriers for the Lowest Paid
19 October 2014
This report, produced in a collaboration between the CIPD and John Lewis Partnership, aims to uncover the experiences of employees on the lowest rates of pay and understand the contributing factors for an individual becoming ‘stuck’ on low pay.
Wealth of Our Nation: Rethinking Policies for Wealth Distribution
1 October 2014
This paper explores the implications for public policy from the new Office of National Statistics (ONS) data source on wealth distribution in Britain, and what we know about future trends in savings, longevity, property prices and inheritance.
Social innovation, an answer to contemporary societal challenges?
16 December 2013
Social innovation discourses see in social challenges opportunities to make societies more sustainable and cohesive through inclusive practices, coproduction and pro-active grassroots initiatives.
Estimating the costs and benefits of an alcohol treatment requirement
12 March 2013
Purpose – This paper seeks to report on a project to estimate the costs and benefits of implementing an Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR) in Stockport.