Across three reports, Neighbouring Data has drawn together, animated, and analysed place-based data on pride, culture, heritage, health, and wellbeing. By analysing different types of quantitative, qualitative and creative data, collected from projects including Towns and the Cultural Economies of Recovery and Feeling Towns, we offer insights into the kinds of data that local authorities and communities need to inform their place-based decision making.
We have since sought to understand how qualitative and quantitative data can be generated, connected, and visualised, expanding this work into a think piece for the Local Government Association (LGA) on the role of lived experience in addressing data silos. Our three reports are intended to help researchers, policymakers, and communities use and understand qualitative data in the context of place, intervening in urgent national debates about cultural data observatories.
1. Opening the Observatory
The first report explores the creation, use, and representation of hyper-local qualitative data in place-based decision making. The project has built on several research projects that were concerned with using qualitative data. It is part of a national conversation seeking a more joined-up approach to place-based data, and it understands the qualitative data observatory as a mechanism for these discussions.
2. Understanding the Observatory
The second report expands on the analysis of observatory portals. It samples twenty data observatories to better understand their purpose, architecture, and presentation. From this survey, the report describes what observatories look like, how they display their data, and how this data is maintained.
3. Transforming the Observatory:
From Archive to Engine
The third report connects our previous findings to a three-part research collaboration that includes commissioning creative responses and hosting an artists’ workshop, consulting with professional data users on their aspirations for qualitative data, and developing prototypes for the Neighbourhood Insight Engine. We find that an engine model is better suited than an archive or observatory for addressing the needs of places.
Please get in touch with the And Towns team to discuss this work.
