RELIEF 2

Since 2017, the RELIEF Centre has worked with citizens, NGOs, and other stakeholders to deliver a programme of research and action towards social inclusion, sustainability and better quality of life for communities in Lebanon. During this time, however, Lebanon experienced a number of radical changes and tragedies: destabilisation of government following the 2019 political protests; the horrendous blast in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020; an economic collapse and currency devaluation; widespread failure of public services and infrastructure; and a series of Covid-related lockdowns that have exerted further pressure on the economy.

In this context of compounded crises, RELIEF's work proceeds from the view that future recovery in Lebanon must follow principles of inclusive growth and prosperity, whereby the starting point and primary focus is not aggregate GDP-growth but the things that people need for better quality of life -secure livelihoods, clean and affordable services, good education, and safe, healthy and inclusive environments. In the Lebanese context of economic and political turmoil, however, 'bottom-up' initiatives are essential for developing solutions.

RELIEF's work thus focuses on the sustained development of capabilities that can help citizens and communities acquire skills and organise into communities of practice that address emergent challenges. Over the next 5-years, the second phase of the RELIEF Centre (RELIEF II) will focus on strengthening existing capabilities for citizen-led research, action, and transformation.

RELIEF II will build on five types of capability that were established in the first phase of the project (see Appendix Table 1):

- Partnerships for prosperity - a trans-disciplinary ecology of stakeholders, brought together by a shared commitment to research and action for positive change, underpinned by a citizen-led prosperity index (PI).

- Theories and concepts - conceptual frameworks for understanding prosperity in context, adapting new pedagogies for challenging environments, and making sense of the vitality of cities facing prolonged crises. - Methods - new approaches to citizen-led research, data analysis, MOOC development, and urban intervention design.

- Data - quantitative and qualitative data sets, including household surveys on quality of life, surveys on quality of housing and neighbourhood infrastructures (energy, water, waste, food and transport), and interviews and focus groups about priority areas for prosperity.

- Funding - streams of additional funding to support research and interventions on the key themes of infrastructure, livelihoods, education, entrepreneurship and liveable and inclusive cities.

RELIEF II will continue to expand these capabilities and use them to create impact activities/outputs, including publications, capacity building, urban interventions, creation of educational resources, and innovative policy initiatives. These outputs will be disseminated to wider audiences both in Lebanon and internationally through outreach events and activities, and by a prosperity platform.

Impact will be delivered and embedded through five work packages (WPs), each with its objectives, deliverables, and beneficiaries: (WP1) development, visualization, and application of a Prosperity Index for Lebanon; (WP2) the continuation, updating, and expansion of RELIEF's online courses, as well as its research and policy work on participatory approaches to online education; (WP3) the use of participatory mechanisms for public service design as the basis for advancing a Green New Deal for Lebanon; (WP4) the creation of a Citizen Science Academy, which will be a global leader in methodological innovation for citizen-led research and training; and (WP5) the creation of an online platform to deliver innovative knowledge sharing, policy design and pathways to policy change on key challenges of livelihoods, public services, health and education in Lebanon.