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Research

Centre for Social Innovation

Centre for Social Innovation

The Centre for Social Innovation collaboratively seeks new avenues for public innovation surrounding contemporary national and international challenges which threaten the physical and emotional security of individuals, communities and societies.

The team explores the complex interplay between social cohesion, public policy and societal change, working collaboratively with a range of research partners. These include the College of Policing, the National Crime Agency, the UK Intellectual Property Office, the Ministry of Justice, Public Health England, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, NHS Digital, Durham County Council, Children North East, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland.

Work spans five research themes:


  • Technology, innovation and civics

  • Communities, education and work

  • Place, change and harm

  • Crime, social exclusion and extremism

  • Co-producing alcohol and public health research.

More about Centre for Social Innovation

Research centre leads

Professor Marty Chamberlain

Professor Marty Chamberlain

More about Marty

Research at Teesside

Dr Tarela Ike

Research is important to me because it helps with understanding complex human behaviours whilst providing solutions that inform policy and address real-world problems we face.

Dr Tarela Ike, Lecturer in Criminology & Policing

Impact case studies

Combatting organised crime

Informing smarter approaches for preventing and dealing with organised crime

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Engaging everyone in public health policy

Highlighting the value of stakeholder participation when developing public health programmes

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The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent source for news and opinions, written by the academic and research community for a general public audience.

What Keir Starmer can learn from the history of Labour leader documentaries

01/06/2021
Christopher Massey

The news that Keir Starmer is considering starring in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, brings back memories of similar endeavours.

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Labour party conference: the dispute around rule changes explained in brief

27/09/2021
Christopher Massey

The Labour party has voted to amend the rules governing how it elects leaders at its 2021 party conference.

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Sarah Everard murder: the problem with the government’s plan to make women ‘feel’ safer

04/10/2021
Tanya Beetham

The murder of Sarah Everard has damaged public trust in the police, and has women in the UK seeking answers about their safety in public places.

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Nigeria’s Boko Haram reintegration process: weaknesses and how they can be fixed

19/01/2022
Dr Tarela Ike

n Nigeria, the advent of Boko Haram terrorism and its wanton destruction of lives and properties has led to untold hardship, especially in the country’s north-eastern region. The devastating impact of Boko Haram activities transcends Nigeria’s borders.

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How your brainwaves could be used in criminal trials

30/06/2022
Michel Funicelli

Law enforcement agencies worldwide struggle with the unreliability of eyewitness identification and scarcity of physical clues at crime scenes. There is a wealth of evidence showing that mistaken eyewitness identification is a contributing factor in wrongful convictions.

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Winter of discontent: how similar is today’s situation?

05/12/2022
Christopher Massey

The UK government is battening down the hatches for a wave of strikes in December and January. Railway workers, nurses, ambulance workers, civil servants and postal staff are all set to take industrial action in the coming weeks in protest at wages not keeping up with inflation, with teachers’ and firefighters’ unions also balloting their members.

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