Our Work

DIMENSIONS OF PLACE

QCAP currently has four individual research dimensions of place. Click on the image or text links below to find out more information on each dimension.

Social Economics and Community Wealth Building

In this dimension of place, QCAP has helped to regenerate communities and support social enterprises to create alternative approaches to economic inclusion and local development.

Growing Up in The Market

This dimension of place is following children, young people, and their families over three years to better understand the persistent challenges identified by our partner community.

Education and the Knowledge Economy

Through this dimension of place, QCAP is collaborating with community stakeholders to explore place-based approaches for addressing educational inequality and the barriers that preclude their participation in a knowledge-based society.

Community Health and Wellbeing

QCAP works with the community to identify and prioritise challenge areas to improve health and wellbeing. Current examples are through innovative responses to prevalent community concerns linked to food insecurity, and engaging with relevant statutory agencies to co-ordinate rapid in-place responses to mitigate harm and substance use.

CURRENT COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS (CAPs)

Click the links to find each project's home page and further details.

You're Home (East Belfast)

Managed by a local social enterprise called East Belfast Mission (EBM), the You’re Home project will address the current gap in provision for the homeless or other vulnerable populations looking to transition from hostels into private rented accommodation.

The Pantry Community Supermarket (North Belfast)

The Pantry is an example of a community supermarket that provides support for individuals and local North Belfast families experiencing food insecurity as well as other issues stemming from the cost-of-living crisis.

BUILD Shankill (West/North Belfast)

BUILD Shankill is a community-led partnership and social action project which is working to address issues around vacant and derelict land in the Greater Shankill area of Belfast.

Teacher Professional Development Programme

The Greater Shankill Partnership Board and Children and Young Persons’ Zone has been working with the primary and post-primary schools serving the Shankill community to identify areas for support, with proposed programmes co-designed by the schools, community and University.

UKRI-FUNDED PROGRAMMES

AHRC Community Innovation Practitioners

Queen’s is one of five Higher Education Institutions across the UK to be awarded a Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) Pilot by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative Communities programme. The CIP Pilot award will support the CIPs to work in collaboration with cross-sector partners to tackle shared challenges and opportunities faced by their local communities. The five research themes address the key pillars of the UK government levelling up agenda: education and skills, health and wellbeing, environment and climate, civic identity and pride in place.

Smart City-zens

Smart City-zens, a multidisciplinary project developed by QCAP, the Market Development Association (MDA), and colleagues from the Institute of Electronics, Communications, and Information Technology (ECIT).

Local Policy Innovation Partnerships Hub (LPIP)

Queen’s Communities and Place is part of the successful team led by University of Birmingham in a UKRI competition for £3.6m for a Strategic Co-ordination Hub for Local Policy Innovation Partnerships (LPIP) across the UK. Queen’s joins colleagues from seven other UK universities as well as colleagues from Involve and the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement. The hub seeks to address nationwide issues through local partnership and place. The LPIP Hub is developing a programme of capacity-building activities looking at the thematic challenges places face and what works in place partnerships.

Children, Learning and Inclusive Places (CLIP)

Funded by the ESRC, the Children, Learning and Inclusive Places (CLIP) project aims to bring together and learn from two of our largest research-led community focused activities - Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland (CNS) in Glasgow and Queen’s Communities and Place in Belfast.