The I’DGO consortium is directed by Catharine Ward Thompson and includes Susana Alves and Peter Aspinall in the team. It combines the skills and experience of three research centres and academic colleagues across five academic institutions (Edinburgh College of Art, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh University, Oxford Brookes University and the University of Salford). It brings this expertise together with that of a range of collaborators from different organisations, agencies and groups, ranging from the Department for Communities and Local Government, CABE Space and Greenspace Scotland to the RIBA and Age Concern, who are keen to use the findings of the research and benefit from it.
The I'DGO (Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors) research consortium has a continuing overall aim to identify the most effective ways of ensuring that the outdoor environment is designed inclusively and with sensitivity to the needs and desires of older people, to improve their quality of life.
I’DGO 1 (2003-2006) aimed to investigate how and why outdoor environments affect older people’s quality of life and to identify the aspects of design that help or hinder older people in using the outdoors and achieving a good quality of life. I'DGO TOO (2007-2011) focuses on particular policies and strategies that are currently being promoted by government as part of the sustainability agenda (urban renaissance, integrated communities and inclusive environments) where the potentially important, practical implications for older people's lives have not fully been explored and tested. It investigates how well outdoor environments in certain types of development, built in line with these policies, contribute to older people's health and wellbeing. It does so through research at three different levels of detail. It explores the implications of denser urban living on open space in housing, pedestrian-friendly approaches (such as Home Zones) in street environments and the practical consequences of using tactile paving in the urban environment. A range of innovative methods, some of which have been developed in earlier research by the consortium, will be used to examine in detail how design, and older people's perceptions of the designed environment, make a difference.
A range of innovative methods, some of which have been developed in earlier research by the consortium, will be used to examine in detail how design, and older people's perceptions of the designed environment, make a difference.
The voices of older people themselves are a key element in this research. I'DGO TOO recognises the great diversity and range of abilities, disabilities, aspirations, expectations and needs that are encompassed in the population of people over 65 years of age. From the beginning, older people will be involved in expressing what is important to them and in shaping the development of the programme. A number of different methods is used to ensure that diverse perspectives and evidence is collected to throw light on the questions and objectives of the research. The main issues to be addressed are: how residential outdoor space in higher-density 'urban renaissance' housing can best be delivered to optimise older residents' quality of life; whether Home Zones provide a good design solution in the context of an ageing population, and the implications of the design, siting, laying and use of tactile paving for older people. In focusing on the changing needs of older people, the consortium will address issues that are relevant to a much wider range of people in society as a whole, including disabled people, frail or vulnerable people and those who care for them.
The implications of the findings will be important for policy-makers, planners, designers and other professionals working in the urban environment, as well as users of that environment. The research collaborators will help ensure that the outputs are useful and useable for the range of people and groups for whom this work is important. Guidance will be published in a range of formats and media, including attractive and accessible printed booklets as well as web-based publications targeted to suit the needs of different expert, academic, professional and lay audience.
Aberdeen City Council
AGE Concern England
CABE Space
Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Transport
EDAW
EDI Group
Elwood Landscape Design
English Courtyard Developments Ltd
English Heritage
Greenspace Scotland
Health and Safety Executive
Help The Aged
Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers
Jacobs Babtie
JMU Access Partnership
Marshalls Mono Ltd
Mayer Brown
Peabody Trust
Peter Brett Associates
Phil Jones Associates Ltd
PRP Architects Ltd
Royal Institute of British Architects
Sustrans
Swindon Borough Council
The Housing Corporation
The Orders of St John's Care Trust
TRANSform Scotland
OPENspace is one of 31 partners who have won a major research project under the EU 6th Framework of Research. The project, called PLUREL is being coordinated by Copenhagen University and includes partners from many European countries. Around 80 researchers are involved in total.
The aim of the Integrated Project PLUREL is to develop new strategies and innovative planning and forecasting tools that are essential for developing sustainable rural-urban land use relationships. These strategies and tools, generic in nature, will support the analysis of urbanisation trends in the EU so that ways can be identified to support this process and mitigate its negative impacts. In this way they will help improve the quality of life of the population living in cities as well as in the peri-urban and rural surroundings. PLUREL will evaluate costs for the implementation of these strategies, and aid stakeholders to better understand, plan and forecast the interactions between urban, peri-urban and rural areas.
PLUREL’s main subject of study is the Rural-Urban Region (RUR), based on the concept of Functional Urban Region as an urban core and its surrounding commuting ring which can extend to include both the rural and peri-urban regions. The RUR, however, extends beyond today’s rings of intense interaction with the core city and include areas of recreational use, food supply and nature reserve functions in predominantly rural areas. As well as generic Europe-wide research the project will also focus on 6 case study areas representing different urban situations.
OPENspace is involved in several aspects. Simon Bell is the overall social science coordinator for the project, responsible for seeing that all the aspects where social science is involved. More direct research includes the developments of social or quality of life indicators as part of scenario modeling of different possible outcomes.
The project extends over 47 months starting in January 2007. The value of the complete project is some €8 million while the share for OPENspace is €250k over the life of the project.
The Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) initiative aims to increase the contribution of woodland to quality of life in Scotland’s urban and post-industrial areas. This project awarded to OPENspace in 2006 is creating a baseline dataset of people’s attitudes, perceptions and values towards their local open space and woodlands, within selected communities in areas of multiple deprivation in Scotland. This is to provide the baseline against which the impact of WIAT programme investment on target communities, in terms of changes to the quality of their local environment and their attitudes to the WIAT programme and the local environment, can be measured. The project is the first phase of a longitudinal study that will contribute to the overall evaluation of the WIAT programme. The research team includes Susana Alves, Jenny Roe and Peter Aspinall and is led by Catharine Ward Thompson
This project awarded to OPENspace in 2006 is providing information and tools to improve the understanding and delivery of the requirements and expectations of the forest sector in respect to recreation goods, facilities and service provisions under the 1995 and 2005 Disability Discrimination Acts and wider government policy. The work takes into account future requirements to promote diversity and equality in the recreational use of Scottish woodlands (e.g. requirements under the Equality Act 2006). It will help Forestry Commission Scotland to better understand these duties and expectations and assess and build the capabilities of the forest sector to provide equal access for disabled people to recreational goods, facilities and services. It will help maximise opportunities for continuity and shared learning across the forestry sector and in particular will be useful to forest managers in the public, private, community and NGO spheres. The project is led by Simon Bell with Penny Travlou, Alicia Montarzino, Jenny Roe, Peter Ingram-Monk, Sally Ann Hoyne and Amanda Beech Wilson
The aim of this project is to develop and pilot a methodology which can be used to assess the contribution of forestry grant schemes to equal access to recreational goods, facilities and services for disabled people in Scottish woodlands, taking into account the findings of the project (see above, also undertaken by OPENspace) to understand these duties and expectations and assess and build the capabilities of the forest sector. The project is led by Simon Bell with Penny Travlou and Alicia Montarzino.