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Intersectional Spaces of Participation: Inclusive Resilient Embedded

Intersectional Spaces of Participation: Inclusive Resilient Embedded (INSPIRE) is a Horizon Europe-funded initiative (April 2024–2027), co-led by Dr Sonia Bussu at the University of Birmingham and Professor Brigitte Geissel at Goethe University Frankfurt, working with academic and civic partners across Europe.

To reimagine democracy through creative, inclusive, and community-driven participation to rebuild trust in democratic processes. We co-design policymaking spaces with people historically excluded from decision-making, such as people with disabilities, migrant women, refugees, youth, older adults, people with housing needs.

We embed participation within its political-economic context, apply an intersectional lens, and use creative methods, such as legislative theatre, photovoice, game-like interactions to foster agency and solidarity across diverse communities.

You can join our INSPIRE participatory platform

How we work

Seven pilot projects, spanning the UK, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Ireland, and the Czech Republic, are co-designed with local communities. Activities include:

  • Participatory Theatre on youth employment and disability rights; photovoice for social inclusion; performance lectures on polarisation and the manosphere
  • Collaborations with local governments and community partners to embed participatory outcomes
  • Diverse formats in person, online and hybrid to support 254+ participants, diverse processes and events, and concrete proposals

Three guiding pillars

  • Political economy of participation – acknowledging socio-economic barriers to participation to cocreate more inclusive spaces
  • Co-design with communities – partnering with participants as co-creators of inclusive participatory spaces
  • Assemblage theory – understanding participation as dynamic configurations of people, places, tools, and processes

  • Dr Sonia Bussu

    Associate Professor in Public Policy

    Sonia studies and teaches public policy. Her main research interests are participatory governance and democratic innovations, and creative and arts-based methods for research and public engagement.