Consortium Meeting: Looking at the first 6 months of IMPROVE

On 21–22 March 2023, the IMPROVE project consortium met online to discuss the project’s progress and upcoming tasks. We are happy to report that some of the core project tasks for the further development of the project were already completed in the first months. The main work took place in work packages (WP) 1 and 2.

First successful steps taken

In WP1, “Identifying victims’ needs and potential for improvement in frontline responders’ organisations”, the partners have been researching and analysing factors leading to low reporting of domestic violence and factors restricting access to services in their specific countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and Hungary). The results will be made publicly available when finished. Additionally, the partners have been working to identify victim’s/survivor’s’ mental maps of institutional response to domestic and their needs regarding the AI Chatbot. In the coming months, further research will be conducted on the factors influencing the effectiveness of the frontline response to domestic violence and potential solutions and the influence the Covid-19 pandemic had on the response to and victims of domestic violence.

WP2 is titled “Conversational AI tool prototype to support DV experiencers”. Our partner, the impact start-up We Encourage (WE), is leading the tasks which recently officially started. The work involves the pre-development data analysis, based on the work in WP1, to define the requirements for the chatbot, and a feasibility check. WE also started the UX/UI design process of the chatbot and will design a prototype mock-up. 

Additionally, the communication, dissemination and stakeholder engagement basics were set up in WP5, WP6 set up the necessary project and data management framework and WP7 has been taking care of the ethics requirements of IMPROVE.

IMPROVE Practitioner Group

On Wednesday, our partners working practically had the chance to exchange project-related experiences with each other in a dedicated session. The practitioner group includes:

• the Valencian Local Police (PLV), the Finnish Police University College (POLAMK),

• the Portuguese and French Ministries of Internal Affairs (MAI-PSP and MININT),

• the Finnish institute for health and welfare (THL),

• the impact start-up We Encourage (WE),

• the NGOs Asociación Askabide Liberación and S.I.G.N.A.L. e.V. (ASKABIDE and SIG)

• and Foresee, a non-profit company working as an interdisciplinary think tank of social scientists (FORESEE).

This exchange is established in the IMPROVE project and serves to give the practical experience of the partners the weight it deserves.

On both days, break-out sessions were used to discuss some of the topics in smaller groups, such as how to engage the stakeholders best and connect with the media and the professional community around domestic violence.

We are looking forward to the cooperation in the months to come and will keep you updated on the progress!

Next time, we are hoping to be able to provide you with more results and an in-person group photo.