Corbett, R;
(2008)
Involving communities in the local project evaluation of New Deal for Communities: A case of collaborative planning?
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
"Enhancing the power of communities" (DCLG, 2008: i) through community involvement has become a key policy goal of New Labour. Simultaneously, the requirement for evidence-based policy places an important role on the evaluation of regeneration programmes. These two areas of public policy are understood to be in tension with one another. While evaluation is founded in theories of modernism, community involvement is founded in theories that seek to move beyond modernism and towards pluralism. Collaborative planning is one such theory that seeks to move beyond modernism while also presenting a method for governance processes and "an ethical commitment to enabling all stakeholders to have a voice" (Healey, 2006: 5). The aim of this research project is to assess whether collaborative planning works as a theory in explaining instances of community involvement in evaluation processes. It focuses in particular on instances of community involvement processes in the local evaluation of projects run by New Deal for Communities (NDC) partnerships in London. Surveys and interviews are used to explore the approach to community involvement in evaluation by the staff of NDC partnerships who have responsibility for evaluation practices within their partnership. The research finds that evaluation procedures are fundamentally driven by funding streams, which in turn limit the extent to which community involvement, in a collaborative planning sense, can occur. This suggests that collaborative planning does not adequately describe instances of community involvement in evaluation due to its limited understanding of power. However, it is correct that processes cannot be seen as separate from outcomes, and thus that a code of ethics for community involvement in evaluation processes might be beneficial. Such a code should be built upon a better understanding of power if it is to work effectively.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Involving communities in the local project evaluation of New Deal for Communities: A case of collaborative planning? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. Third party copyright material has been removed from the ethesis. Images identifying individuals have been redacted or partially redacted to protect their identity. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Planning |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1569345 |
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