Uncovering new audiences

September 2016

As rollout of the ARCC programme continues, new and exciting collaborations have emerged as we push for EPSRC-funded infrastructure and built environment research to be further used across the policy and practice communities.

ARCC has a well-established network of policymakers and industry connections however with new research and new impacts, it is critical to establish links with new groups.

Knowledge Exchange Manager Briony Turner says that by working with the Feeling Good Foundation, ARCC are examining how people’s sense can be affected by the design of public spaces and building frontages through a series of seminars.

“The changing climate will have significant impacts on people’s health and wellbeing, with expected increasing temperatures, and more frequent and severe extreme events,” she says.

“Feeling good in public spaces is too often only attributed to tangible objects like green infrastructure or sociable gadgets, the things that we can see and directly influence through design.

“Less attention in the field of urban design has been given to the public health impacts of public space and the ‘hidden’ affects that impact on health and wellbeing, like the impact on our senses of smell, sound, vision and touch, as well as the effects of urban places on people’s feelings, thoughts and behaviour.

“ARCC and the Feeling Good Foundation set about creating a series of dialogue events to enable stakeholders, industry and researchers to discuss the potential impacts on health and wellbeing, particularly for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, very young and those with existing health issues”.

The working group led by ARCC has brought in expertise from urban design, neuroscience and design consultants, and has been supported by the European Cultural Foundation in its early stages. This broader mix has brought in new workshop participants, keen to explore this emerging field of research and how it can be applied in urban design.

This series is due to be completed in December 2016.

Find out more on the series.