Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development
Our work focuses on social change.
Social change means that society is changing. Change can be observed on many levels: social structure (macro-level); institutions and organisations (meso-level); individuals and their life-situations (micro-level). We address these changes and their consequences in our core working areas: social planning, organisational change, and urban development. Our consultancy and further training are closely related to our state-of-the-art research and its cutting-edge findings.
This area of expertise explores and further develops social planning practices from the perspective of social work. One key focuses are administrative behaviour, social reporting, and situational analyses. Our social policy reports focus on social problems and on the social security system. Our team provides expert advice on how its research findings might be best implemented in practice.
Our work in this area focuses on organisations and on the influence of organisational structures on professional action. One key interest is how far the shaping of organisational contexts depends on political guidelines, market logics, and leadership concepts. Our team supports organisations with change processes, develops concepts, and supports working teams with managing change projects.
Cities undergo constant change and are subject to highly diverse interests. Our work in this area explores how social work professionals can position themselves within urban and neighbourhood development. Our social-environment and life-world analyses, as well as our participation in urban development competitions, are aimed at ensuring the socially and territorially fair distribution of opportunities in life.
The FHNW School of Social Work attaches great importance to research and development. The Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development undertakes commissioned and self-initiated research and development projects.
Our research and development is based on a robust theoretical foundation, a critically reflected methodological approach, stringent exchange between theory and practice, and scientific independence.
On behalf of clients, institute staff describe and analyse social change, provide advice on change processes in organisations and in local communities, develop concepts and support working teams with implementation. Our clients benefit from the expertise of our interdisciplinary team, which is dedicated to continuous self-development and further training.
Contact us! — Our priority is to tailor projects to your specific needs. We take the greatest care to establish your needs, in order to help you achieve your objectives.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Drilling, Head of Institute