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The RESPONSIVE project is a European initiative aimed at enhancing the adaptability of social services through citizen engagement, proactive listening, and meaningful change. By promoting participatory approaches, the project seeks to ensure that social services are not just delivered for people but co-created with them. This approach fosters inclusivity, innovation, and improved social policies that truly address community needs.
The primary objective of the RESPONSIVE project is to develop and implement participatory methodologies that make social services more dynamic, inclusive, and citizen-centered. It focuses on three key principles:
Active Engagement – Involving service users in decision-making, co-designing solutions, and evaluating services.
Proactive Listening – Seeking out and valuing the experiences and concerns of people accessing social services.
Meaningful Change – Implementing tangible improvements based on real feedback, making social services more adaptive and relevant.
By fostering these principles, the project strengthens trust between communities and service providers while ensuring that policies remain effective and equitable.
Work packages: WP1 analyze the normative, legal, policy, and organizational contexts for responsiveness to diverse citizens in social services. WP2 is the first of two work packages looking at citizens’ own views and activities to improve social services. It studies citizens’ experiences of participation mechanisms within social services. WP3 focuses on citizen actions outside social service structures, complementing WP2’s work on feedback and participation within those services. WP4 focuses on the responsiveness of social services to citizen input. The research examine the perspectives of frontline workers, managers, and implementers to identify barriers and facilitators of responsiveness. This data inform an Europe-wide questionnaire on factors influencing responsiveness, distributed by IFSW Europe. WP4 will produce an analytical model of responsiveness drivers and constraints, along with a self-assessment tool for social services to evaluate their responsiveness. WP5 will synthesize data from the previous work packages and use a co-creation approach to design and test six innovations aimed at improving the responsiveness of social services to citizen input. WP6 focuses on dissemination, communication, and impact, with activities occurring every two months throughout the project to build awareness and ensure utilization.
The Importance of Responsiveness in Social Services
Traditional social services often operate through top-down structures, where decisions are made by professionals without sufficient input from service users. This can lead to inefficiencies, a lack of trust, and services that fail to meet actual needs. Responsiveness aims to transform this model by:
✔ Making services more effective through direct citizen input.
✔ Strengthening trust between service providers and the communities they serve.
✔ Promoting equity by ensuring marginalized voices are heard.
✔ Encouraging innovation by adapting to real-time feedback.
How the RESPONSIVE Project Contributes
Through research, pilot initiatives, and collaboration across sectors, the project develops practical solutions for making social services more participatory. It provides frameworks, tools, and policy recommendations to ensure services remain adaptable and responsive to the evolving needs of society.
Project partners:

The RESPONSIVE project brings together a diverse group of partners from across Europe, including universities, NGOs, and local government institutions. Each partner contributes its expertise in social services, policy innovation, and citizen participation.
Academic Institutions:
Universität Innsbruck (Austria) – Specializes in research on social sciences and policy development.
Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas – Universidade de Lisboa (ISCSP-ULisboa) (Portugal) – Focuses on social sciences, governance, and policy studies.
Aalborg University (Denmark) – Engages in social innovation, citizen engagement, and participatory governance.
University of Warsaw (Poland) – Conducts research in social policy, civic participation, and institutional change.
Université Paris Nanterre (France) – Expertise in social sciences, law, and public administration.
Civil Society Organizations and Local Governments:
ATD FOURTH WORLD, Sauvegarde de l’enfance et de l’adolescence des SAVOIE
Amadora Câmara Municipal (Portugal) – Leads local government efforts in social inclusion policies.
Yvelines Le Département (France) – Oversees regional social services and community development programs.
Centrum Wspierania Aktywności Lokalnej (CAL) (Poland) – Promotes local activism and civic engagement.
FISPE Europe – Facilitates social participation and policy research.
CFCECAS (Centrul de Formare și Evaluare în Asistența Socială) (Romania) – Provides training, evaluation, and policy development in social work.
IFSW Europe – IFSW Europe – representing social workers, promoting policy, and conducting research.