In the research area “Inclusion and Participation,” in addition to classical program evaluation and impact-oriented research in cooperation with service providers, funding agencies, and groups eligible for services, establishing participatory research approaches is a key focus. Moreover, the aim is to investigate the perspectives of addressees and users regarding support constellations and to make these insights applicable for the development of practice and social policy. This also involves further developing democratic structures, for example, in the education, social, and health sectors. In particular, the very design of the projects can contribute to this aim, as participatory approaches in both practice and research can directly influence people’s experiential worlds by making them feel recognized, seen, and heard in their lived reality. The projects are situated within the fields of education, health, and social affairs.

• Basic research on organizational development in various fields of action (inclusive structures, inclusive practices, and inclusive cultures)
• Basic research on the utilization and non-utilization of social services and barriers to their uptake
• Basic research on the design of everyday life in precarious living situations as well as on dealing with stigmatization
• Strengthening the participation of addressees of personalized services in researching and transforming service delivery
• The analysis of the effectiveness of service offerings for people with support needs
• The development of new approaches to socio-spatial offerings
• The development of needs-oriented support arrangements
• The evaluation of social policies from the lifeworld perspective of the addressees

For research and transfer activities in this research area, the following colleagues from EHB can be contacted:

• Bauer, Lena (Research Associate): bauer@eh-berlin.de
• Bergschmidt, Viktoria (Chair of Health-Related Social Work): viktoria.bergschmidt@eh-berlin.de
• Dick, Judith (Chair of Social Law): judith.dick@eh-berlin.de
• Glaeser, Janina (Chair of Social Policy): janina.glaeser@eh-berlin.de
• Grieshop, Melita (Chair of Midwifery Science): melita.grieshop@eh-berlin.de
• Hinken, Florian (Chair of Social Work, Focus on Child and Youth Welfare): florian.hinken@eh-berlin.de
• Jarosch, Ralf (Chair of Social Medicine and Social Psychiatry): ralf.jarosch@eh-berlin.de
• Komorek, Michael (Chair of Inclusion & Inclusive Organizational Development): michael.komorek@eh-berlin.de
• Koval, Alla (Chair of Methods in Social Work): alla.koval@eh-berlin.de
• Lübeck, Dietrun (Chair of Psychology): dietrun.luebeck@eh-berlin.de
• Steffens, Birgit (Chair of Social Work): birgit.steffens@eh-berlin.de
• Streck, Rebekka (Chair of Social Pedagogy): rebekka.streck@eh-berlin.de
• Zeller, Rabea (Research Associate): rabea.zeller@eh-berlin.de

The following research and transfer projects have already been realized in this research area at EHB:

• The Significance of Experiential Knowledge: Self-help, Experience-Involvement & Approaches Controlled by Affected Persons (2023, Lübeck)
• Biographical-Analytical Comparative Policy Analyses on Care Work in Germany and France (2018, Glaeser)
• Evaluation of the ESF Federal Program “Together for Quality: Involving Children in All-Day Programs” (since 2022, Komorek)
• Evaluation of the “Freie Werkstatt” – Igniting Passion | Discovering Talents (since 2021, Hinken)
• Evaluation of the Model Project “Berliner Koordinierungsstelle” (2020–2022, Bergschmidt, Hinken, Schwabe & Wunsch)
• Evaluation of the Berlin Participation Instrument (2019, Komorek)
• Lifeworld and Professional Support Services from the Perspective of Refugee Mothers from Ukraine (since 2024, Koval)
• Self-help and Social Work in Addiction Support and Community Psychiatric Care (since 2023, Lübeck & Streck)
• Social Inequality (since 2022, Steffens)
• Benefits and Utilization of Streetwork (2022–2023, Streck)
• Lifeworld Understandings of Addiction (2022–2023, Streck)
• Future Viability of Therapeutic Shared Housing from the Perspectives of Residents and Staff (since 2022, Lübeck)