Deliverables
INSPIRE is dedicated to producing high-quality and actionable deliverables, policy briefs, and reports.
Safe(r) Spaces Playbook
July 2026
How can we make democratic participation safer without pretending that any space is free from harm or unequal power? INSPIRE’s Digital Safe(r) Spaces Playbook helps organisers, facilitators, and institutions design more inclusive and accountable participation online and in person. It sets out eight conditions to consider before, during, and after participation, from autonomy and agency to relational power, care, and accountability. Its practical toolbox includes a health check, a participant pre-survey, and guidance for hybrid meetings. Explore Safe(r) Spaces Crash Care Course to move between the framework, individual conditions, and tools.
Policy Report: You’re fried! The realities of youth unemployment
April 2026
This policy report documents and reflects on the systemic gap in equitable access to work experience and employment for young people in the West Midlands, alongside INSPIRE's participatory process response to these challenges. The report distils practical lessons for policymakers and practitioners on how participatory approaches can be adopted, adapted and embedded in future policymaking, strengthening youth voice and making participation more inclusive, sustained and impactful.
Cultural Strategies & Devices for Hybrid Dialogic and Deliberative Spaces
March 2026
This report examines how hybrid participation can move beyond simply combining online and in-person activities to become more inclusive, relational and consequential. It explores how time, space, culture, emotion and digital infrastructure shape who can participate and influence decisions. The playbook included contains practical insights into cultural strategies and arts-based methods for designing dialogic and deliberative spaces.
Democratic Capabilities Framework:
Strengthening inclusive public
participation in democratic life
March 2026
This report presents the Democratic Capabilities Framework (DCF): an analytical tool for strengthening meaningful participation in democratic life. It is aimed at officials, organisers, funders, researchers and democratic innovators who seek to enable public participation that is inclusive, impactful and sustainable.
“You’re Fried”: The Uprising of Fifteen” A tale of youth, truth, and transformation of youth employment in the West Midlands
September 2025
This report presents 'Intersectional Spaces of Participation: Inclusive, Resilient, Embedded' an INSPIRE project led by the University of Birmingham alongisde the Young Combined Authority and Youth Focus West Midlands. This project explores young people's experience of youth employment through legislative theatre, starting with their lived experience to influence policy change in the West Midlands.
Policy Report: Embedding Intersectionality & Participatory Democracy in Policymaking
June 2025
This report presents the summary findings of the INSPIRE Policy Roundtable held at the University of Birmingham on 2nd June 2025. The roundtable brought together policymakers, practitioners, and academics focused on embedding intersectionality and participatory democracy into policymaking.
Exploring the Intersection of E-Democracy Platforms, Urban Development Models, and Political Cultures
June 2025
This report offers a conceptual foundation for understanding digital participation platforms as civic infrastructures shaped by political cultures and spatial logics. Developed as part of Work Package 4 (WP4), this phase of research draws on desk-based analysis to generate critical insights aimed at guiding the design of more inclusive, adaptive, and resilient participation systems across Europe.
Policy Brief: Advancing Inclusive Participatory Policy Making through an intersectional lens
June 2025
INSPIRE's policy brief offers practical recommendations for policymakers on designing inclusive policy processes and advancing intersectional data practices. It draws on INSPIRE's research to illustrate effective, arts-based participatory methods that empower marginalized communities and guide equitable policy reforms.
Arts-based and creative approaches for inclusive participation: A Scoping Review
December 2024
This report explores the use of arts-based and creative approaches in participatory processes to promote inclusive policymaking and intersectional equity. The review highlights the effectiveness of methods such as Photovoice, participatory filmmaking, theatre, and storytelling in fostering inclusive participation, particularly among marginalised groups.