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Who is taking part?

Thirty citizens from the neighbourhood of Hamra in Beirut.

ORGANISERS

The RELIEF Centre is a UKRI funded project looking at pathways to prosperity in the context of mass displacement in Lebanon, a country that has experienced the influx of millions of refugees over the course of decades. The RELIEF Centre has been operating as a multi-university partnership in the UK and Lebanon since 2017, and its work on energy is being supported by the United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The AUB IFI Issam Fares Institute

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (IFI) is an independent, research-based, policy-oriented institute. ​​​​​​​​Inaugurated in 2006, the Institute aims at bridging the gap between academia and policymaking by conducting high quality research on the complex issues and challenges faced by Lebanese and Arab societies within shifting international and global contexts.

AUB Neighbourhood Initiative 

The AUB Neighborhood Initiative was established in 2007 to lead AUB’s engagement with its neighborhood. The Initiative encourages AUB faculty and students to become engaged with issues of concern to our neighbors in Ras Beirut through a mix of research, outreach and advocacy activities. The Initiative team works collaboratively across the university with faculty, students, staff and administrators, and also with neighborhood residents, businesses, and public sector decision makers. 

FUNDERS

UKRI

UK Research and Innovation works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. It operates across the whole of the UK with a budget of more than £7 billion. “This is one of 53 pilot projects that we have funded, all using exciting ways that researchers and innovators can involve the public in their work. In 2020 and beyond, we will build on the lessons we learn through funding these pilot projects to help us achieve our ambition of making research and innovation responsive to the knowledge, priorities and values of society and open to participation by people from all backgrounds.” – Tom Saunders, Head of Public Engagement, UK Research and Innovation.

Evaluation and research

Find out more why Hamra is the site of this pilot citizens’ assembly on Energy.