Social and spatial inequalities between and within core and peripheral regions have re-emerged as a major economic and political issue in developed economies. Such divisions have generated economic and social discontent and growing levels of political support for populist and nationalist parties in peripheral regions, particularly certain old industrial areas. This turmoil fuelled the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump in the US as well as support for the Rassemblement National (National Rally) and Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) in France and the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany. In response, researchers, commentators and politicians have voiced concerns about the places ‘left behind’ by globalisation, technological and economic change. While welcome in increasing the political visibility of social and spatial inequalities, the ‘left behind’ category risks hiding and over-simplifying the different experiences and development paths of people and places. The aim of the project is to develop a new understanding of demographic and socio-economic change in peripheral regions, examining the circumstances and prospects of places and people currently categorised together as ‘left behind’. It will advance understandings of peripheralisation as an on-going process driven by the geographical concentration of people and prosperity in large urban centres alongside the decline or stagnation of other regions. The research is concerned with inner peripheries defined by their disconnection from external territories and networks, particularly urban regions and intermediate areas close to cities experiencing demographic and socio-economic stagnation or decline. Taking an approach that compares the experiences of France, Germany and the UK in their western European context, the research has four objectives: i) To understand the distinctive circumstances and development pathways of peripheral regions, overcoming the tendency to subsume different kinds of places beneath the broad category of ‘left behind’; ii) To assess the relationships between the population dynamics of peripheral regions and socio-economic, health and political outcomes, covering both people staying within, and moving from, peripheral regions to address the existing research bias towards migration between regions; iii) To examine the livelihood activities and practices of residents in peripheral regions, remedying the neglect of how ‘ordinary’ people deal with peripherality; iv) To identify new policy responses that combine conventional and alternative perspectives, moving beyond the reliance upon growing larger cities and spreading their prosperity to surrounding regions. Using a range of research methods and a cross-national research design, the research team will address these objectives by undertaking the following tasks: i) Identifying and categorising peripheral regions across western Europe to identify their different pathways of development and the key dimensions and processes of concentration and peripheralisation, drawing upon international and national secondary quantitative data; ii) Investigating the different experiences and outcomes for people moving from, and staying in, peripheral regions in France, Germany and the UK using secondary quantitative data; iii) Examining people’s everyday livelihood strategies and practices in peripheral regions through six neighbourhood case studies (two per country) based on semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, livelihood infrastructures mapping, and focus groups; iv) Assessing current and informing future policy approaches to address the varied situations of peripheral regions through analysing secondary documentation and key actor interviews. v) Synthesising findings, relating them to the overall project aim and objectives, and writing up the project’s research outputs (8 international journal articles, 1 monograph) and policy report.

Social economy organisations play a crucial role in tackling social exclusion. However, the development of social economy governance frameworks and their impact on social inclusion remains insufficiently explored. The DICES project aims to bridge this gap with a threefold objective: (i) Enhance understanding of Europe's social economy and identify factors driving its uneven development; (ii) Evaluate the role of social economy organisations in addressing social exclusion and improving services and workplaces; (iii) Recommend policy measures and governance frameworks to unlock the social economy's potential, including strategies for identifying and promoting best practices. DICES, first, establishes a conceptual and empirical framework and conducts a mapping, examining the social economy's integration into welfare governance frameworks. Second, DICES uses 'deep dives' to investigate contributions at local, including in left behind places, and organisational levels, including in the provision of care. This work builds on case studies and pilot actions, a survey, small-scale experiments and other innovative methods. This approach is connected through the identification of conditions that would allow organisational experiments to scale up into institutional experiments. DICES uses interdisciplinary methods across EU and non-EU countries. The project engages stakeholders through co-design of pilot actions and peer review cycles, complementing quantitative and qualitative studies. Stakeholder input helps develop concrete policy proposals. DICES disseminates findings through research papers policy briefs, a digital storyboard, webinars, and toolboxes for policymakers and practitioners to maximise impact on policymakers, stakeholders, and the public.

The project aims to understand the society shaping capacities of digital technologies for mobility, investigate their effects on processes of spatial transformation and recognise social and political values that play a role in changing transportation infrastructures and urban travel through investigating Mobility as a Service [MaaS] platforms. Studying mobility platforms responds to challenges of digitalisation, sustainable transformation, urban modernisation and social equality. The research addresses the gaps in the studies on digital platforms, infrastructures and mobilities and responds to rapid socio-technological changes. It contributes to studies at the intersection of digitalisation and mobility justice. The research elucidates how platforms are set to operate (Objective1. Infrastructuring), how they interact with existing transportation systems (O2. Interaction), how they reinterpret the role of the user/citizen in the system (O3. User/Citizen) and how they shape future urban mobility (O4. Mobility Futures). Two MaaS systems operating in Berlin and Warsaw will be studied through the mixed methodology including sociological, visual, digital and mobile methods and techniques such as visualisation and mapping, interviews, mobility diaries, field visits, application analysis and workshops. The results of the project will be published in the form of academic articles and disseminated through workshops, lectures and teaching, creation of media content with the purpose of impacting mobility transformations for sustainability and increasing role of citizens in digitalisation of mobility. Leibniz-IfL supports the project through its international and interdisciplinary expertise, institutional networks and excellent research infrastructure. The researcher will achieve academic goals in the areas of research development, leadership and international profile, and acquire skills and knowledge necessary to take on permanent and leading senior roles in European academia.