Targeting Inclusion, Researching Change: The Stakes and Challenges of Changing Institutional Systems

Across various sectors, organisations and institutions have  generated new laws, new initiatives and new ways of working in an effort to increase the inclusion and participation of various groups. Although some of these processes target ways of engaging with under-represented communities, few look at the role of institutional practice in these processes. Rather than simply calling for better—or fairer—processes, this talk takes a different angle to ‘inclusion matters’ by first confronting how power moves within organisations, how decisions are made and how institutions change. It does this through an examination of research focused on evidence-based policy-making and uses this case study as a model for future inclusion efforts. In offering this perspective, this talk challenges those of us engaged in this work—and those of simply hoping to live in a just society--to research, investigate, critique and understand inclusion in an effort to produce and sustain institutional change.

This is the first lecture in our new 'Breakng Boundaries' Series.  Series is launched by Prof Karen Halliday and hosted by SynthSys -Centre for Synthetic & Systems Biology