Further to the article in the April 2010 edition of Generations Review (Volume 20/ Number 2), the I'DGO research consortium has now published the monograph from its one-day workshop, A Built Environment for All Ages, hosted on behalf of KT-EQUAL on Friday 19th March. Reporting on key speeches from local and national government, academia and advocacy, the publication examines how policy, research and practice can combine to create truly inclusive places, from local neighbourhoods to entire cities. The monograph is organised into a series of questions – beginning with what is understood by the term “a built environment for all ages” – and details the proceedings of three break-out forums, as well as the formal presentations from the event’s opening session. Introduced by Robin Harper MSP, it makes the case that inclusive design principles should be embedded in all built environment policy, practice and professional accreditation processes, supported by a strong evidence base, top-level support for new forms of user engagement, validation of innovative methodologies and promotion of multi-disciplinary working.
In the KT-EQUAL monograph, Glenda Watt of the City of Edinburgh Council and Helena Scott of AgeUK talk about the links between policy and supportive built environments, stressing the importance of research in underpinning initiatives such as A City for All Ages – Edinburgh’s Plan for Older People and the World Health Organization’s Global Age-Friendly Cities programme. It is precisely because it nourishes this “useful and useable” evidence base that Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors has been chosen for inclusion in Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Ageing, the second in a series of reports on the value and impact of research by the Academy of Social Sciences. I'DGO is among one of 14 projects featured in the publication, which looks at how ageing research supports effective policy making and is partnered by AgeUK and the British Society of Gerontology. Set within the context of recently announced tax changes and public expenditure reductions, the case studies illustrate the growing evidence base on the socio-economic challenges of ageing and how policy can redress wide discrepancies in life expectation, income, health and wellbeing.
Officially launched at a ministerial event on Tuesday 20th July 2010, Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Ageing was given a sneak preview at the 39th Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology at Brunel University (6th to 8th July 2010), during which I'DGO researcher, Rita Newton of the SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre (University of Salford), presented on the theme of “The Street Where I Live”.
The Built Environment for All Ages monograph is available to download in pdf format here...http://www.idgo.ac.uk/useful_resources/Presentations/Built_Environment_monograph_MPC_FINAL_100609.pdf
Presentations from the morning session of the workshop can be downloaded from the resources area of the I'DGO website (http://www.idgo.ac.uk/useful_resources/presentation.htm)
About I'DGO (Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors)
I’DGO is built around a core group of international academics in three leading research centres: the Edinburgh-based OPENspace; SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre at Salford; and the WISE (Wellbeing in Sustainable Environments) research unit at the University of Warwick.
We are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and play an active role in its flagship knowledge transfer consortium, KT-EQUAL (www.equal.ac.uk).
Our focus is on identifying the most effective ways of shaping outdoor environments inclusively. We support the needs and preferences of older people and disabled people, always seeking to improve their independence and overall quality of life.
Our multi-disciplinary consortium is a virtual centre of excellence, involving a wide range of partners engaged in older people's issues. We use innovative research tools and ‘joined-up’ quantitative/qualitative methods.
We are committed to maximising the accessibility of our research; our findings have already had a significant impact on the decision makers and designers who influence our built and natural environments.
For further information, please visit www.idgo.ac.uk or follow us on www.twitter.com/idgoresearch.