Project Background
Born out of the efforts to resist neighbourhood gentrification, Coin Street Community Builders is a social enterprise and development trust that serves hundreds of homes and local stakeholders on London’s South Bank. Now, in celebration of Coin Street’s 40th anniversary, Mapping for Change has been commissioned to lead research on the perceptions of trust and satisfaction among its residents and service users.
Since the 1980s, Coin Street has grown to serve as a model for urban community development, now offering co-operative housing, green spaces, shops, arts spaces, family and children’s services, sports facilities, and an extensive community programme – all of which benefit a wide array of stakeholders.
Our Role
Bringing our expertise in community engagement and both qualitative and quantitative research, Mapping for Change will connect with the residential and commercial tenants as well as those who use the various services and visit the public spaces, to gain a wider and deeper understanding of the community views. Through a combination of online and printed surveys; focus group sessions; meetings and pop-up events, we will seek to gather data on the following areas:
- Satisfaction: we will measure the levels of satisfaction from a residential and commercial tenant perspective
- Awareness and Knowledge: we will uncover what the different stakeholders know about Coin Street
- Sentiment: we will gauge how stakeholders feel towards Coin Street
- Responsiveness: we will check if stakeholders believe Coin Street understands and meets their needs
- Perceived Passion: we will find out if stakeholders view Coin Street as an organisation dedicated to them
The insights derived from this research will be analysed and reported on by Mapping for Change, along with any recommendations, and the subsequent findings will serve as a cornerstone for shaping Coin Street’s future communication and marketing strategies.
Community Insights Informing Tailored Strategy
Understanding the depth of perspectives in the community is essential in crafting effective communication and marketing strategies. Our work will enable Coin Street to tailor its messaging and initiatives to resonate with the people it serves, ultimately improving engagement and trust. In a rapidly evolving urban landscape, this research will empower Coin Street to remain responsive to the evolving needs of its stakeholders, ensuring that its mission of community development remains relevant and impactful for years to come.
As in all our work, Mapping for Change will focus on capturing a broad range of perspectives from all stakeholder types, as well as making space for the voices of marginalised groups in the community to be heard.
This collaborative effort between Coin Street Community Builders and Mapping for Change represents a commitment to keeping service providers accountable to the communities they serve.
Related Projects
Design for Wellbeing
Design for Wellbeing is a multidisciplinary research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The project aims to investigate ‘community severance’; the concept that major transport infrastructure, such as busy roads, can negatively influence elderly people’s physical and psychological wellbeing, by segregating their community and restricting their mobility.
InSPIRES
InSPIRES is a EU-funded project which aims to address the information gap that vulnerable demographics can hold about the impact that air pollution has on their health. Mapping for Change works with a school in London, whereby parents and pupils will have the opportunity to monitor particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide pollution levels in and around their homes.
Putting Ourselves on the Map
Mapping for Change in collaboration with the Humanities Education Centre (HEC) and local specialist on learning and ‘place’ Maggie Hewitt, worked with three schools in Tower Hamlets (Columbia School Community Map, Arnhem Wharf School Community Map and John Scurr School Community Map) to pilot a brand new process in which Year 4 pupils develop personalised maps of their local area with their own likes, memories and views on change.