Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Edinburgh

Jenny BrotchieJenny participated in the University of Edinburgh’s Knowledge Exchange Fellowship Scheme.

She worked with Dr Oliver Escobar on a research project which generated new evidence about the everyday experiences of people who have frequent interactions with multiple public services and how these interactions support and/or inhibit individual agency and informal support from friends, family and the wider community.

The overall aim of the project was to explore from the citizen’s viewpoint, the interplay between individual agency, formal and informal support with a particular focus on how formal support can, on a day-to-day basis, enable:

  • greater independence and control
  • informal support from family, friends and neighbours.

Jenny and Oliver worked in partnership with three housing associations to explore where this has been done successfully, where it has been challenging and where there are opportunities to do more.

Jenny’s background and research interests

Jenny is a Policy Officer at the Carnegie UK Trust where she works on the Trust’s Enabling State and Evidence into Policy and Practice work streams. Her research with Oliver Escobar built on the Trust’s Enabling State research which identified a UK-wide shift from welfare state to the ‘Enabling State’ and add to understanding about how widespread  ‘implementation deficit disorder’ due procedural, regulatory and funding barriers can be overcome.

Jenny has a background in sustainability and climate change issues and before joining the Carnegie UK Trust in 2012 she held a variety of positions in the environmental NGO sector.

A scientist by training , she has a BSc in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from the University of St Andrews and has worked on molecular biology research projects at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge.

What Work Scotland publications

What Do Citizens Want?

Published by the Carnegie Trust UK (October 2017)

This research report reveals the profound effect of formal and informal relationships on people’s wellbeing. It looks in-depth at a small number of users of housing services, asking what makes their lives meaningful and exploring how support services fit into their lives.

Contact

Email: Jenny@carnegieuk.org

Twitter: @Jenny_Carnegie

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