Can't read this email?            news   E-News, issue 3, April 2010

The third sector and the 2010 election

The Third Sector Research Centre (just like many other organisations) is busy preparing for the upcoming election. Throughout the campaign period TSRC will be exploring how different voices and interests (of the sector, political parties and the media) shape and reflect policy agendas. How do third sector organisations and agencies make their voices heard at election time, and are some more successful at this? Which tools are being used for campaigning? How do the main political parties approach the sector? Our research aims to explore these key questions and more

Research focus     Latest research         The personalisation agenda The underlying philosophy of personalisation is aligned with the type of values that many in the sector have been fighting for.  Yet, research shows that many third sector organisations are not fully aware of the implications of this reform, or how they should prepare for it. One of the major drivers of this confusion is that personalisation is not in itself a model, but a concept. Discussions about personalisation often focus on specific methods for achieving this, such as direct payments or personal budgets. If personalisation is to bring real benefit to users, the sector will need to play a strong role in developing a full range of reforms. To do this, the implications of this agenda must be understood and thought through at some length. This paper lays out some of the key implications of personalisation for policy and practice. More     Paper 31: Black boxes in the wreckage? Making sense of failure in a social enterprise      ------------ Paper 30: The personalisation agenda      ------------         Making sense of failure in social enterprise Organisations in the third sector are largely seen in a positive light, and social enterprise itself has been attributed with a great, almost limitless, potential. Yet what happens when they fail, and why do they fail? Failure is not often part of the discourse on social enterprise, and studies tend to focus on key individuals and their attempts to reconcile ‘social’ and ‘enterprise’ goals. Using an in depth case study, this paper grapples with research ‘black boxes’, and the problems involved in making sense of failure. The black box metaphor is used to explore the varied usefulness of field research, and suggests that changes in research approaches might be necessary. More     Paper 29: Below the radar: A summary review of the literature      ------------ Paper 28: The growing workforce in the voluntary and community sectors       ----------- Paper 24: A strategic unity Working in the voluntary sector TSRC’s workforce stream has begun conducting research into the people, relationships and characteristics that define third sector employment. Working in partnership with NCVO and Skills Third Sector, we will provide timely statistics on the size and composition of the workforce. An initial briefing paper highlights the growing workforce in the voluntary sector from 1993 - 2009. More            ----------- Paper 22: Social enterprise and the environment          ------------   Knowledge exchange   What do young people think about the third sector? As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, TSRC and youth charity Envision held a ‘Question Time’ style event for young people in Birmingham. They had the chance to attend workshops and debate questions with a range of third sector organisations, learning about the work they do and ways they could get involved. Many had not heard of the third sector before the event, and were certainly beyond TSRC’s usual audience reach. The young people involved were highly enthusiastic about the issues they discussed, and TSRC had the opportunity to measure their knowledge and opinions of the sector. We will be producing a research report soon – watch this space   All this research and more  is available to download online. see publications   Sector news   Voluntary Sector Review launches The Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN), in conjunction with The Policy Press, has launched its new journal, Voluntary Sector Review. This is the first European-based journal of its kind, publishing high quality, accessible papers on third sector research, policy and practice. The first issue includes some high profile authors from the UK and international field, including TSRC’s Director, Pete Alcock. Pete is also Assistant Editor of the journal. The journal will be free of charge during its first year. More   Upcoming   What does our research mean for practice? TSRC is planning a variety of events throughout the year to explore some of our key research findings, and how they relate to policy and practice. These will open up discussions around topics such as impact measurement and evaluation, third sector housing and the ethics of knowledge exchange. More information on each of these will be made available soon. If you have a particular interest in any of these topics, or would like to work with us to explore other areas of our research, please contact the Knowledge Exchange Team.   Partnerships for Service Delivery The sector is now a major force in public service delivery, working in partnership with public sector commissioners, and providers in the public, private and third sector. TSRC will be conducting research to increase understanding of how partnerships and collaborative relationships actually work, what they offer to service commissioners, and what implications they have for the future of the third sector. More   Events Social enterprise: what lies beneath the big tent?, 20th April, Birmingham The role of financial and social capital in social enterprise development, 5th May, Southampton Alternative forms of non-governmental organisation: Lessons from the Commonwealth of Independent States and East Asia, 17th June, Birmingham Speaking Truth to Power: Participatory Action Research, 1st July, Birmingham More information on these events.   Forwarded by a friend? join our mailing list

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