This month, the team has been busy getting started on a new project across Scotland that builds on the insights gained through our DSIT-funded trial into Behavioural Systems Mapping. Working with the Digital Inclusion Alliance, we’re applying the methodology to find new solutions…
Across Scotland, digital exclusion remains a persistent and entrenched challenge. From our recent work on the issue, we know that this is driven by complex human behaviours, structural barriers and informal system dynamics, so placing the onus on the individual to change doesn’t always work.
To help tackle this, DG Cities is partnering with the Digital Inclusion Alliance, an independent, multi-sector body that coordinates activity alongside the Scottish Government, and strategic partners CoFink. Together, we aim to turn local systems insights and a deeper understanding of lived experiences into practical policy interventions and repeatable frameworks to ensure long-term impact.
By applying a participatory behavioural systems mapping approach, our project moves beyond behavioural ‘nudges’ to uncover why people behave as they do within these intricate networks. CoFink leads the foundational policy and structural mapping, which integrates directly with DG Cities' behavioural research led by Ed Houghton, Leanne Kelly, Dr Lara Suraci and Gabriela Mihaylova. The team will combine desk-based analysis with qualitative research and layered mapping across seven regional third sector networks. To give a broad picture, these span urban, suburban and rural communities, giving stakeholders a clearer sense of how digital exclusion manifests in people’s lives.
The project makes visible the interconnected factors that sustain digital exclusion at local and national levels, working directly with partners on the ground to highlight 'shadow practices’. By this, we mean the informal workarounds, tension points and unofficial gatekeepers that often disrupt traditional interventions.
““We believe that in pinpointing the structural and behavioural leverage points that can have the most impact, there’s a real opportunity to bring about the more systemic change needed to shift the needle on this issue.””
The project is designed to help Scotland's TSI network to learn about the actions needed to shape their local systems over the long term, and to support local authorities and the third sector to collaborate and develop digital inclusion strategies that create lasting change. Learning across the project will help to support charity partners to embed the practice, and ensure they continue to build momentum well into the future.
We’ll be sharing more as the project develops, but right now, we’re excited to get started! In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about our recent DSIT-funded project trialling Behavioural Systems Mapping, you can read each neighbourhood case study on the dedicated website.