'Stay home': rethinking the domestic during the Covid-19 pandemic
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
As a site of self-isolation and lockdown, the home is at the forefront of strategies to save lives in the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed research and its co-created outputs will lead the public debate about home in a pandemic society. Based in London and Liverpool, and in partnership with
The Museum of the Home (MoH) and The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS-IBG), the research combines a nationwide and city-scale approach in three interconnected strands.
1. 'Documenting home' interrogates the ways in which 'stay home' has been represented, reimagined and contested in political debate and media coverage. It also explores and extends MoH's online 'Stay home' collecting project and will co-curate material for display, deposit and
digital engagement.
2. 'Practising home' examines the practices, spaces and meanings of home during the pandemic for migrants, diaspora communities and people of faith in London and Liverpool, both 'hotspots' of Covid-19. Working with adults from different ethnicities, faiths and generations, alongside
migrant/diaspora and interfaith organizations, we will co-create short films, podcasts, an interfaith toolkit and material for the MoH collections.
3. 'Mapping home' explores children's changing conceptualisations of home at a time of crisis. Working with the RGS-IBG, its school networks and initiatives, we will co-curate (i) a nationwide map of home spaces for children/young people (aged 7-16) during Covid-19; (ii) a city-scale project in Liverpool City Region to anlayse children's narratives alongside their maps; and (iii) a virtual exhibition, learning resources (KS2-4) and a policy brief on children at home during Covid-19.
The Museum of the Home (MoH) and The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS-IBG), the research combines a nationwide and city-scale approach in three interconnected strands.
1. 'Documenting home' interrogates the ways in which 'stay home' has been represented, reimagined and contested in political debate and media coverage. It also explores and extends MoH's online 'Stay home' collecting project and will co-curate material for display, deposit and
digital engagement.
2. 'Practising home' examines the practices, spaces and meanings of home during the pandemic for migrants, diaspora communities and people of faith in London and Liverpool, both 'hotspots' of Covid-19. Working with adults from different ethnicities, faiths and generations, alongside
migrant/diaspora and interfaith organizations, we will co-create short films, podcasts, an interfaith toolkit and material for the MoH collections.
3. 'Mapping home' explores children's changing conceptualisations of home at a time of crisis. Working with the RGS-IBG, its school networks and initiatives, we will co-curate (i) a nationwide map of home spaces for children/young people (aged 7-16) during Covid-19; (ii) a city-scale project in Liverpool City Region to anlayse children's narratives alongside their maps; and (iii) a virtual exhibition, learning resources (KS2-4) and a policy brief on children at home during Covid-19.
Organisations
- Queen Mary University of London (Lead Research Organisation)
- National Museums Liverpool (Collaboration)
- Royal Geographical Society (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Collaboration)
- Greater London Authority (GLA) (Collaboration)
- Foundation For Future London (Collaboration)
- Museum of the Home (Project Partner)
- National Museums Liverpool (Project Partner)
Publications
A. Blunt
(2022)
At Home in London During COVID-19
A. Owens
(2022)
Home, Place and COVID-19
in Geography Review
Blunt
(2022)
Home
Blunt, A.
(2024)
Knowing the Pandemic
E. Nightingale
(2022)
Artists, other creative practitioners and COVID-19
Endfield G
(2024)
Mapping COVID -19 at home
in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
G. Endfield
(2023)
Mapping home during COVID-19: children and young people's conceptualizations of home at a time of crisis
in Geography Review
Kathy Burrell
(2021)
At home in Liverpool during COVID-19
| Title | Eid Textile Tales: a film produced in collaboration with Praxis for Migrants and Refugees and artist and facilitator Teresa Hare Duke |
| Description | Eid Textile Tales centres on the making of a narrative textile during lockdown that explores women's untold domestic experiences of Ramadan and Eid. The textile is a co-produced collaborative piece, created during Ramadan 2021, with a group of Muslim refugee and asylum seeker women from Praxis in Tower Hamlets. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The launch event for the film at Praxis was attended by c.100 people, with very positive responses about new understanding of women's experiences of Ramadan and Eid during lockdown. The collaborative work on the film has also led to a new project funded by Queen Mary's Centre for Public Engagement in collaboration between Stay Home Stories, Praxis and the Museum of the Home on 'Home is... with Brighter Futures' (January to July 2023). |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/eid-textile-tales |
| Title | How we Build Home - the GEM Collective at the Museum of the Home |
| Description | Photographic exhibition and interactive installation developed by Azeezat Johnson, Oluwatosin Daniju and other members of the GEM Collective at the Museum of the Home from 25 October 2022 to 15 January 2023, in collaboration with the Stay Home Stories project team. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding about Black women's experiences and imaginings of home, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| URL | https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions-and-installations/how-we-build-home/ |
| Title | Life Under Lockdown: a film with photographers Adam Isfendiyar and Eithne Nightingale on their lockdown photographic projects in London |
| Description | Life Under Lockdown features photographers Adam Isfendiyar and Eithne Nightingale in conversation about their lockdown photographic projects in London, with many examples of the photographs included in their publications. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding about life under lockdown and the role of photography in documenting domestic thresholds (including windows, doors, balconies). |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/film-life-under-lockdown |
| Title | My place my space |
| Description | 'My place my space' is a film produced in collaboration with young writers at Write Back, based in Barking and Dagenham, following workshops led by Jacqueline Waldock. The film was launched at an online event as part of the Being Human Festival in November 2021. A screening event was held for the young writers at the Museum of the Home. See https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/myplacemyspace and https://www.write-back.org/mapping-stories. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | The key impact has been the enabling the work of young writers at Write Back to reach wider audiences for their work through the online launch event, the event at the Museum of the Home and the presence of the film on the Stay Home Stories and Write Back websites. The experience of participating in the workshops and film also helped to develop the young people's skills in communicating their work and learning about the process of film-making. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/myplacemyspace |
| Title | Our Homes, Our Stories |
| Description | A series of short films with Stay Home Stories artist-in-residence Alaa Alsaraji, including on the installation at the Museum of the Home and her response to the Robert Geffrye statue at the Museum. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The films will be archived at the Museum of the Home, alongside material from Alaa Alsaraji's installation, ensuring a long-term legacy of her collaborative work with the Stay Home Stories project. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/artist-in-residence |
| Title | Our homes our stories |
| Description | - Installation by project artist-in-residence Alaa Alsaraji at the Museum of the Home entited 'Our homes our stories' from October 2021 to January 2022, with c.21K visitors. See https://alsarajialaa.co.uk/our-home-our-stories. - 'Our homes our stories' drew on material in the Stay Home collection at the Museum of the Home, interview testimony collected by the Stay Home Stories AHRC project and collaborative workshops with members of the project team. - The project team has produced two short films about Alaa Alsaraji's work on 'Our homes our stories' and is developing a longer film, which will include visitor responses. See https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/artist-in-residence. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | - creation of a space to enable visitors to reflect about home and COVID-19 in the Museum of the Home, with positive feedback from visitors and the Museum. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/artist-in-residence |
| Title | Podcast 1: Museum of the Home 'Stay Home' Collection |
| Description | A podcast featuring testimony from contributors to the rapid response 'Stay Home' collecting project at the Museum of the Home, reflecting a wide range of experiences of life at home during lockdown. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | New public understanding of people's lived experiences at home during lockdown. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-1 |
| Title | Podcast 2: Religious belief and practice at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Description | Podcast featuring project researchers and participants from a wide range of faiths reflecting on their experiences of religious belief and practice at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding of the impact of the pandemic on religious belief and practice at home. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-2 |
| Title | Podcast 3: Migration, COVID-19 and commnunity support in London and Liverpool |
| Description | Podcast featuring members of the Stay Home Stories project team and testimony from participants about migration and community support during the COVID-19 pandemic in London and Liverpool. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding of lived experiences of migration and community support during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-3 |
| Title | Podcast 4: Sounds of Lockdown with artist Calum Perrin |
| Description | Podcast featuring sound artist Calum Perrin and his work on lived experiences of disability at home during lockdown. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding of the impact of lockdown on people living with disabilities and the ways in which sound art can convey their experiences. |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-4 |
| Title | Podcast in Denean Rowe's series 'The place you call home' |
| Description | Episode 5 in Denean Rowe's series 'The place you call home' on Museum of the Home, featuring Alison Blunt (PI AHRC Stay Home Stories) and Sonia Solicari (director, Museum of the Home) - both co-directors of the Centre for Studies of Home. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | Reaching a wider public audience about collaborative research at the Centre for Studies of Home, a partnership between Queen Mary University of London and Museum of the Home, including the AHRC project 'Stay Home Stories.' |
| URL | https://open.spotify.com/show/1sKTLJNEiBxj6os9EEdUu4 |
| Title | Podcast in RGS-IBG 'Ask the Geographer' series: The Stay Home Stories Project |
| Description | Podcast on children's maps submitted to the Stay Home Stories project as part of the 'Ask the Geographer' series at the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers). |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | New public understanding, including for geography teachers alongside teaching resources and the animated video, about children's experiences of home during the COVID-19 pandemic and the mapping methodology used in the Stay Home Stories project. |
| URL | https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/the-stay-home-stories-project/#.Y2tRNfzdvcQ.twitter |
| Title | Stay Home Stories: mapping what matters - an animated video |
| Description | This animated video features some of the children and their maps who contributed to the 'Mapping home' strand of Stay Home Stories. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | New public understanding about children's experiences of home during lockdown, alongside learning resources on mapping for schools. |
| URL | https://www.rgs.org/about/the-society/what-we-do/teachers/stay-home-rethinking-the-domestic-during-t... |
| Description | Stay Home Stories has collected and analyzed a rich body of interview and visual material to understand how people have experienced home in profoundly different and unequal ways during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore how home might change - for better or worse - into the future. This material includes interviews with 100 adults aged from 18 to 73 from a wide range of ethnic, migration and faith backgrounds alongside the analysis of over 500 maps of home during the pandemic drawn by children and young people aged 7 to 16 and over 500 written and photographic contributions to the 'Stay Home' rapid response collecting project at the Museum of the Home. Across the three key strands of the project - documenting, practicing and mapping home - the key findings of the research include: 1. Home and housing - participants' experiences of home during COVID-19 were shaped by their housing conditions and (in)security of tenure. These circumstances are related to wider and pre-existing housing inequalities; - people in overcrowded housing conditions experienced difficulties in combining work, education, care and leisure activities. The lack of space often caused tensions within family and household relationships; - people in precarious housing described feelings of isolation and did not feel that the home was a safe or secure place during the pandemic; - people living alone were particularly vulnerable to loneliness during lockdowns. While people living with family members or friends faced different challenges, they often emphasised the home as a place of care and support; - neighbourhood networks and community organisations offered crucial support throughout the pandemic, and involvement in voluntary activities helped people to feel more at home in the community. However, access to support, amenities and opportunities to participate were also impacted by long-standing inequalities. 2. Living in a hostile environment - Popular and (social) media responses to COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing racial tensions and triggered new anti-Asian racist abuse; - The pandemic had an immediate and negative impact on administrative and logistical migrant support services, making it more difficult to reach and help those most in need. However, civil society organisations, migrant-led organisations and faith groups provided vital support to migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum. These organisations were well-placed to understand the needs of migrant and minority ethnic populations, but often lacked capacity or resources; - 'hostile' or 'compliant environment' immigration regime regulations left the most vulnerable in society especially exposed to the worst dangers of the pandemic; - these factors deepened an already entrenched mistrust of the police, the NHS and other authorities among some migrant and ethnic minority populations, impacting on the reach of government communication and health initiatives and access to health services when required. 3. Religion and home - Faith organizations provided vital local support but had uneven access to technical resources and skills when worship moved online. Lack of funding for technical resources and training posed a risk of closure for some faith communities; - the most difficult outcomes of the pandemic hae been coping with death and mourning when people have been unable to visit their loved ones, say goodbye, attend funerals or receive face-to-face pastoral support; - faith leaders reported that supporting their communities, particularly in their pastoral role, has come at a great personal cost. Some retired early or changed jobs because of tiredness and stress. Few had institutional support structures in place, especially lone faith leaders; - despite these challenges, online religious worship during the pandemic provides examples of resourcefulness, creativity and inclusivity. 4. Access to green space - access to outside - and particularly green - space has (i) improved physical and mental health and well-being; (ii) deepened neighbourhood, social and family connections; and (iii) enhanced local environmental competencies and a sense of place, including for children and young people; - uneven access to green space (whether private gardens or public spaces) reflects wider structural inequalities. Parks, for example, are neither accessible nor able to offer sanctuary for everyone; - maps by children and young people reveal their resilience in finding and creating 'special places' within the home (including gardens and other green outdoor spaces) to express spatial autonomy. 5. The impact of COVID-19 on artists and other creative practitioners - the COVID-19 pandemic was deeply disruptive not just of the lives of individual artists, but also of the creative ecology of the entire country; - alongside significant challenges, the pandemic also presented new opportunities for creative reflection as the pace of life slowed down and as challenges such as social inequalities, racial injustice and the climate emergency came into sharper focus in the midst of a global crisis; - for some artists, the pandemic led them to diversify practice, use alternative technologies and media, be creative in unfamiliar spaces, and disseminate their work in new ways; - the past few years may come to be seen as a unique moment of significant artistic innovation where creativity became a powerful way of confronting and responding to a public health crisis; - there are opportunities to build back better by addressing some of the material needs of a precarious sector and learning from experiences of the pandemic. |
| Exploitation Route | The project has developed a range of outputs for different audiences to take forward its findings and achieve impact. Reports on the impact of the COVID-19 at home in London (Blunt et al 2022) and Liverpool (Burrell et al 2021) and the impact of COVID-19 on artists and other creative practitioners (Nightingale et al. 2022) and musuems (Nightingale et al. 2023) provide key policy insights and recommendations. The resource guide for people of all faiths (Lawrence et al 2022) provides a wide range of opportunities for the future informed by the pandemic experiences across different faith communities. A series of films and podcasts from across the project aim to deepen public understanding of people's experiences of home during the pandemic. The online gallery of maps by children and young people and associated teaching and learning resources for Key Stage 1 and 2 provide extensive material for educational use. Three follow on projects have been funded: (i) by Queen Mary University of London (with Praxis for Migrants and Refugees, Museum of the Home and artist and facilitator Teresa Hare Duke) on 'Home is ... with Brighter Futures'); (ii) by the University of Liverpool (with the Greater London Authority on 'Mapping what matters: children's environmental competency through engagements with green space'); and (iii) by Queen Mary University of London (with London Borough of Tower Hamlets) on 'Designing Tower Hamlets' Green Grid: how gender inclusive design can reshape urban green spaces.' See 'collaborations and partnerships' for further information about these projects. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/ |
| Description | 1. Museum of the Home - the project supported the appointment of a Documentations Assistant at the Museum of the Home and the development of new participatory documentation methods. 150 collections from the museum's Stay Home rapid response collecting project have been added onto the collections database. The documentation policy and procedures have been rewritten to reflect the dynamic and participatory nature of the material. A team of five volunteers were recruited to assist and direct the documentation and create a zine explaining the museum's documentation processes to engage wider audiences and make curatorial work more accessible. - Project artist-in-residence Alaa Alsaraji drew on material from Stay Home Stories and the rapid response collecting project at MoH, alongside collaborative workshops with members of the project team, to develop the installation 'Our Homes our Stories' (at MoH, October 2021 - January 2022). Alaa's work features in a series of short films produced by the Stay Homes project team. The installation drew on people's experiences of home during lockdown and new rituals of care, alongside ways of creating healthier, more equal homes in the future. - 'How we build home': a photographic exhibition, installations and programme of workshops inspired by the late Azeezat Johnson's work and developed in collaboration with Oluwatosin Daniju and other members of the GEM Collective (September 2022 - January 2023). This installation focused on the home lives of Black women and featured quilts made by the Women's Group of the South London Refugee Association during lockdown. - project events brought new audiences to the Museum, including the two-day project conference (November 2021); film screening of 'My place, my space' with young writers at Write Back; book launch for Blunt and Dowling 'Home' (2022, Routledge) (September 2022); and launch events for Nightingale et al (2022) 'Artists, other creative practitioners and COVID-19) (November 2022) and 'Faith, home and COVID-19' (December 2022). 2. Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) - online gallery of maps from the Stay Home Stories project and follow on project 'Mapping what matters' with the Greater London Authority; - development of new online teaching and learning resources for Key Stages 1 and 2 with Dr Paula Owen (Highly Commended award from the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers, 2021; finalist for the Education Resources Awards and Teach Primary Awards in 2022). 3. Greater London Authority - follow on project funded by the University of Liverpool 'Mapping what matters: children's environmental competency through engagements with green space' is generating content (140 maps) for the new Community Insights Hub for Policy for the GLA. - through the engagement of policy officers, the project will provide the basis for training on the value and use of creative methodologies for place-specific community engagement and environmental policy development. 4. Praxis for Migrants and Refugees - co-production of the film 'Eid Textile Tales' featuring the quilt created by women at Praxis working with artist and facilitator Teresa Hare Duke; - film launch event and panel discussion at Praxis (May 2022) attended by c.100 people; - follow-on project funded by Queen Mary University of London 'Home is...with Brighter Futures' involving creative workshops on overcrowded and temporary accommodation and an event at Museum of the Home in June 2023 (attended by c.90 people) that launch Brighter Futures' campaign work in this area. We are continuing to develop the impact from the Stay Home Stories project by engaging different audiences (public, policy, museum and cultural sector) with our films, podcasts and reports, including the report on the impact of COVID-19 on artists and other creative practitioners (Nightingale et al. 2022); the faith resource guide for people of all faiths (Lawrence et al. 2022); and a report on museums and COVID-19 (Nightingale et al. 2023). 5. London Borough of Tower Hamlets: follow-on project on the Green Grid and gender inclusive design, funded by QM's Centre for Public Engagement (2024), involved work with 18 community researchers who completed 54 walks, reflective walking journals, and uploaded >600 photographs on an app designed by the Council for the project on their experiences of green-blue space in the borough. The project involved two workshops with community researchers and a half-day design charette, attended by 50 Council officers, voluntary and community sector organizations, and architects, planners and urban designers, which resulted in the publication of gender inclusive design guidance by LBTH in September 2024. A further follow-on project on 'A Green City for All: co-designing gender inclusive public spaces with London's boroughs and communities' (funded by QM HSS Collaboration and Strategic Impact Fund, 2025) will develop the impact of the design guidance (i) within Tower Hamlets with VCS organizations focused on green-blue space, health and well-being and (ii) across London with other boroughs and city-wide stakeholders. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Education,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Publication by London Borough of Tower Hamlets of This is for the Majority - from theory to practice. Guidance for implementing gender inclusive design in Tower Hamlets. |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The design guidance was co-created by the project team with community researchers and participants at a half-day design charette at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in June 2024 attended by c.50 people (Council officers from different teams and VCS organizations). The design guidance was launched at an event at the Town Hall in September 2024, attended by c.50 people from different Council teams (including planning, public health and regeneration), urban architects and designers, housing associations and VCS organizations. The project raised public awareness about the Green Grid policy in Tower Hamlets and gender inclusive design through workshops, project events, and the launch of the design guidance. Feedback from participants at workshops and events demonstrated increased knowledge for organizations across different sectors (including local authority; VCS; architecture, urban design and planning; and housing), with identification of ways that participants could take forward the design guidance in their own work. The design guidance has been nominated by the W Awards 2025 (category Prize for Research in Gender and Architecture). The nomination summarises the impact of the design guidance: 'The key concepts in the design guidance flow from consensus built through co-production which show women and girls have rich, multifaceted relationships with their built environment. This new knowledge insists that inclusive design is expansive creating places that are welcoming and that when we listen to women users we also create places that are healthy, bio-diverse, child friendly, climate resilient and socially prosperous.' For Natalya Pali, Plan-making Manager at LBTH, 'This project is trailblazing in drawing attention to this hugely important issue, in a locally specific way - with simple real world practical proposals that can lead to change that has tangible positive impacts on the lives of women in Tower Hamlets.' |
| URL | https://freight.cargo.site/m/F2026477714837252853369405705541/Gender-inclusive-design-guidance-copy.... |
| Description | Home is ... with Brighter Futures |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Queen Mary University of London |
| Department | Centre for Public Engagement |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | University of Liverpool QR Policy related funding: 'Mapping what matters: children's environmental competency through engagements with green space' |
| Amount | £12,192 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Liverpool |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Greater London Authority - Mapping what matters: exploring children's environmental competency through engagements with green space |
| Organisation | Greater London Authority (GLA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Building on an emerging theme from all three strands of the project work and specifically focusing on access to green space and environmental competency, follow on pilot research has explored children and young people's engagement with local parks and green spaces in a context of i. growing popular environmental consciousness and ii. new ways of living and working with COVID. Working with Community Engagement Officers for Greater London Authority (GLA), the researchers have coordinated a series of school-based workshops with primary school children in years 5 and 6 in Chobham Academy to explore children's environmental awareness, and understanding and use of green spaces in the London Boroughs using the same mapping methodology deployed in the ongoing UKRI project. Children and young people have been invited to draw maps of their local area, while discussing what they understand about the environment where they live and how they make use of different spaces. The purpose has been to explore how children and young people understand, navigate, renegotiate and articulate their local environment and use of green spaces and to use this information to inform policy and practice with the GLA. The work will provide content for the new Community Insights Hub for Policy in the GLA and, through the engagement of policy officers in the work, will provide the basis of training on the value and use of creative methodologies for place-specific community engagement and environmental policy development. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Community Engagement Officers from the Greater London Authority (GLA) have worked with researchers from Stay Home Stories to coordinate a series of school-based workshops with primary school children in years 5 and 6 in Chobham Academy. The work will provide content for the new Community Insights Hub for Policy in the GLA and, through the engagement of policy officers in the work, will provide the basis of training on the value and use of creative methodologies for place-specific community engagement and environmental policy development. |
| Impact | The 134 maps collected so far (and associated narrative accounts of map making) will provide content for the new Community Insights Hub for Policy in the GLA and will provide the basis for training on the value and use of creative methodologies for place-specific community engagement and environmental policy development. The maps will also form part of our existing online gallery coordinated through our partnership with the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) (see: https://www.rgs.org/geography/news/stay-home-stories-mapping-home/) and will also support the development of map-based geographical and environmental educational resources to build on the award-winning resources already produced in conjunction with the RGS-IBG as part of the existing project. Key themes emerging from the early analysis of the maps in this pilot reinforce the value placed on green spaces, and particularly local parks, and also place emphasis on air quality and concerns over pollution and road safety among other themes. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Service, and Future of London: A Green City for All: co-designing gender inclusive public spaces with London's boroughs and communities |
| Organisation | Foundation For Future London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This project builds on underpinning research by the project team on AHRC 'Stay Home Stories' and the QM Centre for Public Engagement funded project in 2024 on 'Designing Tower Hamlets' Green Grid: how gender inclusive design can reshape urban green spaces.' Recognition of the importance of green and blue space to Londoners' mental and physical well-being was highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, where access and use was shown to be highly uneven (Blunt et al. 2022). In Tower Hamlets, 15.8% of households live in overcrowded housing and 88% of residents have no access to private outdoor space (LBTH 2024). Collaborative research by Alison Blunt, Alastair Owens and Elsa Noterman at QM, urban designer Jennie Savage at LBTH, and a team of local community researchers, demonstrated ways that women and gender diverse people, especially those of younger ages, feel particularly excluded from green-blue public spaces in the borough. Following a design charette with residents, community groups, architects, planners, urban designers and others, new design guidance was co-created to address these exclusions (Savage, 2024, with QM project team). This project will develop the impact of the design guidance to make green space more welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all: (i) within Tower Hamlets with voluntary and community organizations focused on green space, health and well-being (with LBTH and THCVS) and (ii) across London with other boroughs and city-wide stakeholders (with Future of London). The project involves workshops, community-led projects, and partnership on the Future of London programme 'Happy Places: places that make us feel better.' |
| Collaborator Contribution | LBTH, THCVS and Future of London have been centrally involved in shaping the focus of the funding application, supporting the application, and in project delivery. Their roles to date have included promoting the gender inclusive design guidance to a wide range of voluntary and community organizations in Tower Hamlets, participating in a workshop and a funding panel to select community-led projects that will put the design guidance into practice. A fieldtrip co-designed with Future of London as part of the 'Happy places' programme will visit these projects. All partners will be involved in the final knowledge and practice sharing event 'London: A Green City for All,' which will be held at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in June 2025. |
| Impact | To date: workshop at QM on 'Creating Green Spaces for All in Tower Hamlets,' with 35 participants from a wide range of organizations interested in green and blue spaces that are part of the Green Grid in Tower Hamlets on 27 February 2025. These organizations have been invited to apply for community-led project funding to put the design guidance into practice in their work. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Service, and Future of London: A Green City for All: co-designing gender inclusive public spaces with London's boroughs and communities |
| Organisation | London Borough of Tower Hamlets |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This project builds on underpinning research by the project team on AHRC 'Stay Home Stories' and the QM Centre for Public Engagement funded project in 2024 on 'Designing Tower Hamlets' Green Grid: how gender inclusive design can reshape urban green spaces.' Recognition of the importance of green and blue space to Londoners' mental and physical well-being was highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, where access and use was shown to be highly uneven (Blunt et al. 2022). In Tower Hamlets, 15.8% of households live in overcrowded housing and 88% of residents have no access to private outdoor space (LBTH 2024). Collaborative research by Alison Blunt, Alastair Owens and Elsa Noterman at QM, urban designer Jennie Savage at LBTH, and a team of local community researchers, demonstrated ways that women and gender diverse people, especially those of younger ages, feel particularly excluded from green-blue public spaces in the borough. Following a design charette with residents, community groups, architects, planners, urban designers and others, new design guidance was co-created to address these exclusions (Savage, 2024, with QM project team). This project will develop the impact of the design guidance to make green space more welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all: (i) within Tower Hamlets with voluntary and community organizations focused on green space, health and well-being (with LBTH and THCVS) and (ii) across London with other boroughs and city-wide stakeholders (with Future of London). The project involves workshops, community-led projects, and partnership on the Future of London programme 'Happy Places: places that make us feel better.' |
| Collaborator Contribution | LBTH, THCVS and Future of London have been centrally involved in shaping the focus of the funding application, supporting the application, and in project delivery. Their roles to date have included promoting the gender inclusive design guidance to a wide range of voluntary and community organizations in Tower Hamlets, participating in a workshop and a funding panel to select community-led projects that will put the design guidance into practice. A fieldtrip co-designed with Future of London as part of the 'Happy places' programme will visit these projects. All partners will be involved in the final knowledge and practice sharing event 'London: A Green City for All,' which will be held at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in June 2025. |
| Impact | To date: workshop at QM on 'Creating Green Spaces for All in Tower Hamlets,' with 35 participants from a wide range of organizations interested in green and blue spaces that are part of the Green Grid in Tower Hamlets on 27 February 2025. These organizations have been invited to apply for community-led project funding to put the design guidance into practice in their work. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | London Borough of Tower Hamlets: designing Tower Hamlets' Green Grid: how gender inclusive design can reshape urban green spaces |
| Organisation | London Borough of Tower Hamlets |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This project team includes Alison Blunt and Alastair Owens (PI and CI on AHRC Stay Home Stories), Elsa Noterman (Geography, Queen Mary University of London) and colleagues in the Place Directorate at London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Funded by a large award from QM's Centre for Public Engagement, the project considers how gender inclusive design can enhance the development of green infrastructure and planning in Tower Hamlets. It engages with young women aged 18-30 who live, work and study in the borough about how they understand and use green/blue spaces on Tower Hamlets' Green Grid, via workshops, participatory mapping and a design charrette. The project focuses on young women because they often feel excluded from public space and designed out of the city, with teenage girls in particular 'largely excluded and excluding themselves from parks and green spaces because they don't feel safe, included or welcome' ('This is for the majority: gender inclusive design creating a safe, inclusive and restorative borough,' LB Tower Hamlets draft policy report, October 2023, p.55). As the Make Space for Girls ParkWatch Report (2023) notes, 'most parks have more facilities for dog waste than for teenage girls.' The project's public engagement activities will underpin the development of a public Green Grid 'kit', designing scalable gender inclusive infrastructure for different areas across the borough. We will also work with participants and an artist to develop a visual identity for the Tower Hamlets Green Grid to enhance public recognition and encourage educational institutions, businesses and individuals to help cultivate and expand the Green Grid across the borough. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The project has been co-designed with Jennie Savage and Anna Gibbs from the Place Directorate at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The team is working closely together to recruit community researchers, plan two workshops, reflective walks, design charette and an activity at QM's Festival of Communities. The project is closely aligned with wider work in the Place Directorate on gender inclusive design. |
| Impact | Funding secured from QM's Centre for Public Engagement for two workshops, reflective walks by a team of community researchers, design charette and an activity at QM's Festival of Communities (all to be completed by July 2024). |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | National Museums Liverpool |
| Organisation | National Museums Liverpool |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | - work with National Museums Liverpool on Research Strand 3 Mapping Home (mapping project with children and young people about home and COVID-19); - mapping workshops led by CI Georgina Endfield and PDRA Jacqueline Waldock with children and young people at National Museums Liverpool. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - support for Research Strand 3 Mapping Home, including through hosting mapping workshops for children and young people. |
| Impact | - mapping workshops with children and young people at National Museums Liverpool as part of the Liverpool City Region focused research on children's narratives around their maps. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
| Organisation | Royal Geographical Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | - Research Strand 3 Mapping Home has developed a nationwide mapping project for children and young people on home and COVID-19 in partnership with the RGS-IBG; - Members of the project team on RS 3 (Georgina Endfield and Jacqueline Waldock) have worked closely with the RGS-IBG on (i) the online gallery of maps (>100 submitted) - see https://www.rgs.org/about/the-society/what-we-do/teachers/stay-home-rethinking-the-domestic-during-the-co/mapping-home/ and (ii) the development of learning resources for KS1 and 2 targeted to primary school teachers. These learning resources won a Highly Commended Award from the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers 2021, with the following citation: 'The judges thought very highly of younr online (Stay Home) resource, a real go-to for Geographers who are learning from home.' See https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/stay-home/. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - The Head of Education and Outdoor Learning at the RGS-IBG, Steve Brace, attends project team meetings, has played a significant role in promoting Research Strand 3 through teacher and school networks and by working with Dr Paula Owens and the project team to develop the learning resources for KS1 and 2. He has also written a blog post for the project website on children's maps during the pandemic- see https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/mapping-home-a-childs-view-on-the-pandemic and an article for Teach Primary on Map Skills for KS1 and 2 which profiled the Stay Home project and included a selection of the maps and a link to the gallery - see https://www.teachwire.net/news/primary-geography-mapping-skills-for-ks1-and-ks2; - The RGS-IBG website hosts the online gallery of maps and the learning resources. There have been >52K views of the RGS-IBG Stay Home webpages and social media coverage of the Stay Home project. |
| Impact | - online gallery of maps by children and young people - see https://www.rgs.org/about/the-society/what-we-do/teachers/stay-home-rethinking-the-domestic-during-the-co/mapping-home/ - learning resources for KS1 and 2 on mapping - see https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/stay-home/ - article in Teach First on mapping skills by Steve Brace - see https://www.teachwire.net/news/primary-geography-mapping-skills-for-ks1-and-ks2 - blog post on children's maps during the pandemic by Steve Brace - see https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/mapping-home-a-childs-view-on-the-pandemic |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | 'Home is...with Brighter Futures' - creative workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Creative workshops with members of Brighter Futures (young migrants aged 18-30) at Praxis for Migrants and Refugees, with artist and facilitator Teresa Hare Duke. Brighter Futures' members created pots, platters and boxes which were displayed at an event at Museum of the Home in June 2023, attended by c.90 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.praxis.org.uk/news/our-home-our-rights-with-brighter-futures |
| Description | Being 'at home' in Liverpool during COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Led by CI Kathy Burrell, the event was funded as part of the Being Human Festival in November 2021 to (i) present work done by community researchers in Liverpool; (ii) launch the Liverpool report from the project - see https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fe1c5eb26d69a59d2511576/t/61976fe77948e828f85ae9ed/1637314538322/At+Home+in+Liverpool+During+COVID-19.pdf; and (iii) for participants to share their experiences in a wider discussion. The event was held in-person and live streamed at Toxteth Library and was attended by members of community organizations, participants in the research and community researchers from Liverpool. The presentations stimulated a wide ranging discussion, particularly about the significance of community organizations in supporting people during the pandemic and ways in which such organizations could be supported to develop further links between each other. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fe1c5eb26d69a59d2511576/t/61976fe77948e828f85ae9ed/163731453... |
| Description | Book launch event for A. Blunt and R. Dowling (2022, 2nd edition) 'Home' (Routledge). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The book launch event was held at the Museum of the Home in September 2022 and was attended by c.80 people. Both co-authors gave presentations, followed by wider discussion and a reception. The presentation by Alison Blunt (PI on Stay Home Stories) drew out material in the book about research on the Stay Home Stories project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429327360/home-alison-blunt-robyn-dowling |
| Description | Creating Green Spaces for All in Tower Hamlets |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | In 2023 London Borough of Tower Hamlets became one of the first boroughs in the UK to include a Gender Inclusive Design Policy in its local plan. The evidence for this policy included research with over 500 women, girls and non-binary people in the borough. This research showed that shaping places through a gender lens can help us design inclusive, healthy, child friendly, climate resilient places that are socially and economically prosperous. LBTH collaborated with geographers from Queen Mary University of London and a team of community researchers to produce design guidance that provides a road map to implementing gender inclusive design. The workshop was part of the QM HSS CSIF funded project on 'A Green City for All: co-designing gender inclusive public spaces with London's boroughs and communities' in partnership with Tower Hamlets Council, Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Service, and Future of London. The workshop at QM involved c.40 participants from a range of organizations and groups involved in green-blue space in the borough. Through a range of talks and activities, the workshop introduced: - the gender inclusive design guidance and practical steps to implement it in different green and blue spaces across Tower Hamlets; - other initiatives across the borough; - how to apply for a funding opportunity for community-led projects in Tower Hamlets to implement the gender design guidance in their work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://freight.cargo.site/m/F2026477714837252853369405705541/Gender-inclusive-design-guidance-copy.... |
| Description | Design workshop on 'Creating inclusive green spaces.' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | This half-day cross-sector design workshop was co-designed and facilitated by the QM / LBTH team working on the CPE funded project 'Designing Tower Hamlets' Green Grid: how gender inclusive design can reshape urban green spaces.' The workshop was held at Tower Hamlets Town Hall and was attended by c.50 people, including community researchers, Council officers from different teams, VCS organizations and local residents. The workshop introduced the project and key themes, and then involved a rotation across themed table discussions and activities. Visual artist Beatrice Baumgartner-Cohen captured discussion and ideas through a series of drawings during the workshop. Key themes, photographs and drawings from the design workshop were included in the gender inclusive design guidance led by Jennie Savage with the QM project team and published by LBTH. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://freight.cargo.site/m/F2026477714837252853369405705541/Gender-inclusive-design-guidance-copy.... |
| Description | Event for 'Home is...with Brighter Futures' project at Museum of the Home |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The 'Home is...with Brighter Futures' project culminated in an event at Museum of the Home in June 2023 co-created with members of Brighter Futures and attended by 90 people. It featured a display of the pots, platters and boxes made in the project's creative workshops, a poetry performance and panel discussion. The event launched two publications titled 'Our Home, Our Rights: Brighter Futures Housing Manifesto' and 'Our Home, Our Rights: a Poetry Collection by Brighter Futures.' The project supported members of Brighter Futures to advocate on a critical issue affecting their community. The event was an opportunity for members of Brighter Futures to showcase their artwork and share key insights on temporary accommodation with policy makers, charities in the housing sector, academics working on home, housing and migration, and a wider public interested in young people and the immigration system. As a result of the project, Brighter Futures and Praxis have joined a collective with other housing and migration campaigners to tackle asylum accommodation and to respond to the government's work to move asylum seekers to barges and mass accommodation centres. The project also helped young members of Brighter Futures to develop their creative and communication skills. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.praxis.org.uk/news/our-home-our-rights-with-brighter-futures |
| Description | How we Build Home: GEM Collective at the Museum of the Home |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'How we Build Home' was a photographic exhibition and interactive installation at the Museum of the Home from 25 October 2022 to 15 January 2023, created by Azeezat Johnson, Oluwatosin Daniju and other members of the GEM Collective in collaboration with the Museum of the Home and Stay Home Stories project team. The project was initially developed in response to the Museum's Rooms Through Time, and evolved into an exploration of how Black women build home. Alongside photographic and other installations, the exhibition also featured a large-scale patchwork quilt and zine created by the Women's Group of the South London Refugee Association during lockdown. Three creative workshops were delivered as part of the project: - 'What makes home where we are?' Photography talk and weaving workshop led by Jess Rowley (30 November 2022); - 'Dreaming our way home.' Writing workshop led by Olumide Popoola (5 January 2023); - 'Being at home.' Zine-making workshop led by Stay Home Stories artist-in-residence Alaa Alsaraji (13 January 2023). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions-and-installations/how-we-build-home/ |
| Description | Launch event for 'Eid Textile Tales' film at Praxis for Migrants and Refugees |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Launch event for the 'Eid Textile Tales' film produced by the Stay Home Stories project team in collaboration with Praxis for Migrants and Refugees and artist and facilitator Teresa Hare Duke (see https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/eid-textile-tales). The launch event was held at Praxis in Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, London, and was attended by c.100 participants in the film and members of other groups at Praxis, and employees at Praxis and other third sector organizations. The launch event included a screening of the film, panel discussion (including women who were interviewed in the film) and a lunch. The event was a wider celebration of Eid at Praxis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/eid-textile-tales |
| Description | Launch event for 'Faith, Home and COVID-19: insights from the pandemic and opportunities for the future' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A launch event for the guide 'Faith, home and COVID-19: insights from the pandemic and opportunities for the future. A guide for people of all faiths' was held at the Museum of the Home on 7 December 2022, with faith leaders and members from a range of communities. The event included presentations from co-authors Miri Lawrence and Alastair Owens, small group and wider discussion, and a reception. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/faith-resource-guide |
| Description | Launch event for gender inclusive design guidance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The gender inclusive design guidance developed by QM / LBTH following the half-day design workshop was launched at an event at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in September 2024 attended by c.50 people from different Council teams (including planning, public health and regeneration), urban architects and designers, housing associations, voluntary and community organizations and researchers. The event included a presentation about the design guidance and underpinning research and workshop activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://freight.cargo.site/m/F2026477714837252853369405705541/Gender-inclusive-design-guidance-copy.... |
| Description | Launch event for report on 'Artists, other creative practitioners and COVID-19.' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The launch event for the project report 'Artists, other creative practitioners and COVID-19: personal experiences and policy insights' was held on 3 November 2022 at the Museum of the Home and attended by c.60 people. The event included a presentation by the lead author, Eithne Nightingale, a panel discussion, wider discussion and reception. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/art-report |
| Description | Podcast: Stay Home Stories |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project's first podcast is entitled 'Stay Home Stories' and includes compelling voices of experiences of staying home during the pandemic from the Museum of the Home's Stay Home collection. Eithne Nightingale, a PDRA on the project, talks to Danielle Patten and Veronique Belinga from the Museum of the Home. The podcast and transcript are available at: https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-1. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.stayhomestories.co.uk/listen/episode-1 |
| Description | Regional news report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A news story 'Revealed: the Liverpool communities, which felt the unequal impacts of COVID-19' featured an interview with CI Kathy Burrell and the project report 'At home in Liverpool during COVID-19,' was broadcast by ITV North West on 19 November 2021. See the broadcast and a written summary at https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2021-11-19/revealed-the-liverpool-communities-which-felt-the-unequal-impacts-of-covid-19. This reached a wide regional audience in the North West of England. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2021-11-19/revealed-the-liverpool-communities-which-felt-the-unequa... |