Multidisciplinary Practice & Inspiration With A Well-being Focus
#insights post : ‘Innovation has brought us to an inflection point; the coming decade will be decisive.’
*At its core, climate change is an interspecies global health and well-being issue that impacts people - their businesses, governments and societal needs. *
Last week presented more opportunities for multidisciplinary action & inspiration for well-being-based practice across #Government #Industry #Community #Theory&Education:
🔶1.Health in Design by Homes England; Department of Health and Social Care @Office for health improvement and Matter.Space.Soul Brent Council – Municipal Processes
#well-being design focus #health outcomes #interdisciplinary policymaking
Attended with others from local government, health professionals, planners and design professionals into discussion around what healthy, human-oriented designed environments looked like including ways design coding and visioning could provide parameters to instil a direct focus on well-being. Key calls to action:
There is no shortage of design for health tools, frameworks and approaches – ensure the ones used are informed by clear research
Deconstruct slogans and buzzwords
Involve qualified health professionals to validate a designers claim about health places visions and development
Experiment together and evaluate over long term
Lessons from Place Quality Framework by Matter.Space.Soul tested in Brent Council:
Reframe design quality to quality of life outcomes
Prioritise people-focused outcomes like physical and mental wellbeing, integrated communities, intergenerational mixing, belonging, ownership
Work closely with communities
Approach, method and requirements – put impact first
*Ultimately – its useful to have a clear national commitment and legislation to health and design*
🔶2. Herzog and de Meuron at the Royal Academy of Arts – Practice Experience
#well-being design principles #design communication #process focus
Attended with other design practitioners to unpick the process behind communicating and embedding health focussed design strategies based on user needs – building as part of community landscape - but the real questions remain:
How can we ensure all designers utilise such design principles and do it within efficient budgets, realistic delivery frames, smaller teams and for existing building stock?
What leadership mindset, what client approach?
What contracts, what procurement routes emphasise well-being and climate?
What team dynamics and team strategies work best – reshape management?
Some examples of well-being focussed design strategies as found in Kinderspital Zurich:
Indoor courtyards as backgardens/yards providing direct connection to nature, intimacy and identity
Varying department room clusters as neighbourhoods along a main street – potential to expand over time if needed
Low level building with open staircases along the main street to promote walking instead of elevators – movement for health designed
Materiality soothing for comfort and well-being for staff & patients; natural elements
🔶3. CIVIC Square + Centric Lab, Ecological Health in neighbourhoods – Community Knowledge
#participatory approaches #well-being and innovation #systems change learning #data knowledge
Engaged in launch week with designers, community members, creative groups, health professionals, urban professionals, academics and researchers coming together to expand mindsets, shift processes and work towards collaborative action of ecological health within the built environment. The focus was placed on neighbourhood scale innovation and empowerment to catalyse wider systems change.
CAT – Innovation Lab discussed technological innovation in the path towards net zero, test bed for new relationships with tech. and climate impact
Centric Lab – Data for health justice, expanding knowledge pools, revisiting urban systems and deeply connecting research + practice
🔶4. Centre for Alternative Technology Innovation Lab – Delivering Zero Carbon Britain: How can UK get to net zero with technology - Research in Practice
#leadership transformation #well-being and innovation #strategic shifts
Discussed the importance of transforming leadership to unlock barriers for systems change with the fantastic Anna Bullen. To those who can, worth attending this innovation lab: https://www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/event/transformational-leadership-lab/.
Also check out Leadership Matters & Why We Need Good Leaders And Good Businesses For System-based Climate Action
🔶5.Knowledge share - Education & Theory
📣Published articles:
‘The Relationship of Well-being, Nature and Design.’ - Symbiotica
‘The Relationship of Education, Strategic Thinking and Climate Action.’ - Age of Awareness
‘The Relationship between Well-Being and Pro-Active Climate Action/Behaviour.’
💥In-Practice:
#helping practice #future design #re-imagining process
Designing Our Futures – Invitation Paper – Dark Matter
Municipal Imaginations – Council Exemplar – Moral Imaginations
Well-Lab - Brink
