INCLUDE+ is inviting proposals for projects that seek to enhance digital equity through collaborative forms of civic action. We are interested in projects that continue to develop our central themes of wellbeing, civic culture or precarity, but would consider other themes and topics fit to the call.
We invite Project Proposals up to the value of £50k, to begin no later than April 2025 and lasting no more than 9 months. We aim to fund 3 to 5 projects in this round and will co-develop projects with investigators, following an initial review process of submitted Project Proposals (i.e. Sections 1 and 2 of our application form). Proposals will be peer reviewed by a floating panel drawn from the Network+ community, and others recruited as required, to represent the scope of INCLUDE+ expertise. The panel will assess Project Proposals in accordance with our INCLUDE+ Process, INCLUDE+ Principals and fit to call.
Following the Project Proposal review, successful projects will be invited to further develop their proposal through discussions with Network+ Investigators, project partners and our Advisory Board. The aim of this approach is to mitigate against exclusion by enabling applications from all sectors; connect projects with relevant partner organisations and experts; ensure meaningful outcomes and work; and to connect projects to our core values and Network+ Process, which prioritises inclusive and reflexive approaches.
Projects need to be interdisciplinary, represent a range of expertise from within and without academia, work actively with organisations outside of the Higher Education sector, and seek to generate (either as an outcome or as part of the process) digital form(s) of civic action that are co-produced with communities. Forms of civic action are digital outputs or processes that are generative and aim to do work in the world beyond the lifetime of the project. Examples of civic action from previous horizon scanning activities are: an interactive exhibition, a co-produced community chatbot, alternative wearables, form-filling bots, blueprints and guides for builds. We are keen to receive Project Proposals that connect our themes of wellbeing, precarity or civic culture or develop them into new areas. Proposals will need to show how they embed our IN+ Principles into the structure and design of the project.
Project Proposals should be emailed to Rosie Wilkinson (INCLUDE+ Co-ordinator: r.h.wilkinson@leeds.ac.uk) no later than 22nd November 2024, with the subject line ‘Application Submission’. Projects will start no later than April 2025 and run for no more than 9 months.
Background to INCLUDE+
INCLUDE+ is a network exploring how social and digital environments can be built, shaped and sustained to enable all people to thrive. The five-year programme of activities (2022-2027) builds 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. We ask how wellbeing, precarity, and civic culture feed and are generated by, wider structural inequalities (bureaucratic, algorithmic, data-driven, discursive, normative). Secondly, we ask how those socio-technical structures are negotiated, lived, felt and intervened into by the communities we work with. Third, we explore and build alternatives through digital forms of civic action that intervene into the world. Our intention, together with a diverse range of collaborators, is to [co]dissect and [co]create digitally equitable futures and provide practical outputs, recommendations and methods that might get us there.
INCLUDE+ PRINCIPLES
At INCLUDE+, we value all forms of expertise (professional and lived) and aim to offer an equitable platform for this to be shared. We expect projects to embed and take up the INCLUDE+ Principles in the design and structure of the projects, including the funding structure, methods of engagement and processes of inclusive reflection (to name a few). We aim to seek a diversity of perspectives and allow all voices to be heard, particularly those which tend to be suppressed. We aim to ground all our work , including the work we fund, in the INCLUDE+ Principles.
Learn more about INCLUDE+ PrinciplesWhat are we looking for?
This funding call follows previous funded activities exploring civic culture, wellbeing and precarity. We are looking for projects that:
- Will take up questions and develop work form previous funded work
- Will work in community settings and value all forms of knowledge
- Will generate (digital) forms of civic action that will intervene in the world
Who can apply?
Ultimately, we are looking to fund collaborative and, potentially, cross-sectoral partnerships but recognise finding a partnership might be difficult. We will support the development of Project Proposals to a full proposal and this can include connecting project partners.
Funding Available
The projects will be funded for up to a maximum of 9 months with £50,000 available. This is funded at 100% of direct costs to both Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and all other organisations. Overheads are payable on core staff time for non HEI organisations. All HEIs can claim appropriate FTE for DA staff time for PIs and CoIs. Please see the Costing Template for further information.
How Project Proposals will be assessed
We will assess your application in terms of
- Your proposed project idea and its link to the themes of INCLUDE+
- How your proposal responds to INCLUDE+ Principles.
We will be hosting an online workshop on Monday 28th October, 1-2pm, to guide prospective applicants on how IN+ Principles might be applied to proposals. For further details, please see the workshop listing in our Events calendar.
Eligible costs
Resources that can be requested under this call, and subject to UKRI funding regulations, include:
- Investigator and researcher time, including participants. For the latter, please refer to the NIHR payment guidance for researchers and professionals). In keeping with these NIHR guidelines, Consultant or day-rate costs for self-employed researchers are capped at £300 per day unless a clear and evidenced rationale is offered otherwise.
- Travel and subsistence appropriate to delivery of the project
- Equipment
This is not an exhaustive but rather, indicative, list of eligible resources. If you have any questions about costing eligibility, please contact Rosie Wilkinson (r.h.wilkinson@leeds.ac.uk).
Process of Application:
- Project Proposal submitted by 22nd November 2024
- Outcome of review w/c 13th January 2025
- Working with INCLUDE towards full proposal, for submission by 14th February 2025
- Projects Start March/April 2025
- Midway event/reflect Sept 2025
- Projects end January 2026
Additional Grant Terms and Conditions:
Awards will be made under UKRI standard terms and conditions. Please note that this award is a contribution towards the incurred costs of a project activity from an existing UKRI award.
Please ensure that no commercial in confidence information is provided as part of your proposal.
Project leaders will be required, as a grant condition, to produce 5 outputs:
- Produce a preliminary report identifying how their project will extend the Project Proposal and develop themes appropriate to the INCLUDE+ [Section 3 of the Project Proposal]. Due 14th February 2025.
- Contribute to the IN+ Process, resources and blog through participation, content and dialogue (such as blog posts, interviews, short summaries, to be negotiated): ongoing
- Produce an interim report (or alternative) at the mid-way stage reflecting on the methods, practices and approaches to be delivered during an INCLUDE+ organised event. Deadline: September 2025.
- Produce a final report detailing the future questions and areas (format is negotiable) within 2 months of the project end date. Due: March 2025.
- Provide evidence of civic action and reflections methods and process (outputs to be determined by project). Due: March 2025.
These reports will be published on the website.
Project leaders are also required, as a grant condition, to attend and present at the annual event in September 2025 (at the University of Leeds). Support for attendance will be provided on a case-by-case basis.