What would it mean to Thrive?

Sketch of a growing plant, from which a hand extends holding a smartphone.

INCLUDE+ network explores how social and digital environments can be built, shaped and sustained to enable all people to thrive. But what does it mean to ‘thrive’ in this context?

Over the past 6 months, we have been exploring the idea of ‘thriving’ through conversations with Prof. Caroline Bassett and Dr. Edgar Gómez Cruz at the Data School, Cambridge University; through our digital equity and inclusion workshops with Thrive by Design, and through related community work with Space 2 in order to think about what we mean by ‘thriving’, what properties thriving has for us, and how — ultimately — we might build for it.

a [Cautiously] Speculative Take On Digitally Equitable Futures.

A number of stacked blue, yellow and black squares with circular holes containing, variously, an internet icon, leaf, kneeling figure looking at a laptop. A figure is climbing a ladder to a higher square assisted by a women reaching out from above.

Is digital equity a utopian idea? A digitally equitable world would be a place where all people can access and use digital technologies to meaningfully participate in society, democracy, and economy. Just imagine: no systemic barriers and anyone (regardless of their gender identity, race, [dis]ability, and/or social-economic status and other intersectional factors) would have the … Read more

Gatekeeping the boardroom—this is getting a little old, isn’t it?

Plain playing-piece figures

Truly inclusive governance requires going beyond seeking out diverse perspectives—it requires active efforts to foster an inclusive environment. An organisation’s culture needs to be reflected in its advisory board, especially as the board’s role is, in part, to hold the organisation to its values. Unfortunately, boardrooms don’t have a great track record for being inclusive. So creating an inclusive boardroom might mean we have to throw the boardroom out with the bored-water… 

Welcome, INCLUDE+ Research Fellow Alicja Pawluczuk!

Greyscale photograph of the head and shoulders of a woman with short, light-coloured hair. She is wearing a dark top and spectacles.

This month we welcome a new Research Fellow to the INCLUDE+ Management Group. Dr Alicja Pawluczuk has over a decade of experience in co-designing, facilitating, and evaluating digital inclusion, digital literacy and ICT-enabled and/or focused education programmes in the UK and internationally. She brings with her experience working on both high-level digital development programmes as well … Read more

Join our team!

Are you a postdoctoral researcher looking to work for a leading research institute? Do you want to apply your skills, knowledge and expertise to tackle digital inequality in society? Are you a digital practitioner or digital creative with an interest in collaborative and interdisciplinary work? The School of Media and Communication invites applications for a … Read more

INCLUDE+ launch!

Welcome to the website for INCLUDE+, a five year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council! From September 2022 our network will begin to build a knowledge community around in/equalities in digital society that will comprise industry, academia, the public and third sectors in response to the UKRI Equitable Digital Society theme. … Read more