Nature's Way: Co-Creating Methods for Innovating Nature-based Solutions for Public Health and Green Recovery in a Post-COVID World
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal College of Art
Department Name: School of Design
Abstract
This project aims to co-create Nature-based Solutions (NBS) knowledge to empower communities, organisations, and individuals to innovate NBS as alternatives for healthcare and societal resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic. It will take a human-centred design approach to enable wider collaboration and to integrate otherwise 'siloed' knowledge and expertise.
This project is a joint-effort between the Royal College of Art, the University of Sheffield, Walsall Housing Group, Bradford City Council, Shared Assets, HAS technology, National Association of Voluntary and Community Action, and Intelligent Health.
NBS are actions, e.g. ecological restoration, that work with nature to help address societal challenges. In this proposal, it refers to social innovation actions utilising green space, parks and lakes, for the purpose of health and wellbeing. It is based on the evidence that regular contact with nature enhances physical health and mental wellbeing, and creates social benefits. It expands the concept of 'green prescription' to include wider communities and public beyond patients and GPs.
The main deliverables of the project are:
- An integrated method supported with training webinars enabling people to innovate and improve cost-effective NBS;
- An open innovation platform facilitating NBS development using the integrated method, to link available resources and different stakeholders including commissioners, providers, agencies and voluntary community action groups and individuals;
- The outcome of the pilots - NBS concepts - will be implemented by Walsall Housing Group and Bradford City Council to create immediate benefit to vulnerable people in these two areas, building upon existing approaches in the creation of service directories;
- One journal paper, two conference papers to examine the role of design thinking in NBS innovation.
This project is a joint-effort between the Royal College of Art, the University of Sheffield, Walsall Housing Group, Bradford City Council, Shared Assets, HAS technology, National Association of Voluntary and Community Action, and Intelligent Health.
NBS are actions, e.g. ecological restoration, that work with nature to help address societal challenges. In this proposal, it refers to social innovation actions utilising green space, parks and lakes, for the purpose of health and wellbeing. It is based on the evidence that regular contact with nature enhances physical health and mental wellbeing, and creates social benefits. It expands the concept of 'green prescription' to include wider communities and public beyond patients and GPs.
The main deliverables of the project are:
- An integrated method supported with training webinars enabling people to innovate and improve cost-effective NBS;
- An open innovation platform facilitating NBS development using the integrated method, to link available resources and different stakeholders including commissioners, providers, agencies and voluntary community action groups and individuals;
- The outcome of the pilots - NBS concepts - will be implemented by Walsall Housing Group and Bradford City Council to create immediate benefit to vulnerable people in these two areas, building upon existing approaches in the creation of service directories;
- One journal paper, two conference papers to examine the role of design thinking in NBS innovation.
Organisations
- Royal College of Art (Lead Research Organisation)
- Thrive (Collaboration)
- Urban Design Group (Collaboration)
- Bradford Metropolitan District Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Intelligent Health (Collaboration)
- Wildlife Trusts (Collaboration)
- Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (Collaboration)
- Natural England (Collaboration)
- Shared Assets (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- UK GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- HAS Technology Group (Project Partner)
- Intelligent Health (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- NAVCA (Voluntary & Community Action) (Project Partner)
Publications
He Y
(2022)
Negotiating Complexity: Challenges to Implementing Community-Led Nature-Based Solutions in England Pre- and Post-COVID-19.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
| Description | The majority of challenges we have identified already existed before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Underfunding for green spaces and the third sector, for example, has been a chronic problem in England for at least the last decade. However, our study found that, as well as exacerbating existing issues, the pandemic placed additional pressure on already stretched systems in several ways, such as an increasing need for Nature-based Health Services (NbHS) attributable to the pressures people experienced through the pandemic, reduced volunteer capacity, and increased wear and tear on green spaces. Local Council plays a significant role in supporting the delivery of NbHS to local communities and is fully committed, as evidenced in various self-published documents. However, it is constrained by a range of barriers including lack of high quality and equally distributed nature-based assets (e.g. parks and lakes), and lack of funding and resources. There is, however, a strong third sector fully embedded in the culturally rich communities located in this local authority area. Their commitment, passion, and rich local knowledge constitute an important, while often-ignored, local asset. Opportunities lie in a much closer collaboration between the council and this sector. Improved communication, more streamlined and transparent processes, and greater willingness to invest in the valuable service these organisations and groups provide, will improve the relationship with, and increase the trust from, the sector, potentially leading to greater and more equal opportunities for accessing NbHS. In particular, opening up opportunities for access to unused green spaces allows interested and capable community groups and individuals to develop NbHS. Additional opportunities lie in the councils promoting NbHS to the general public to enable wider take-up. Local third sector organisations are varied in foci and operation, an awareness and understanding of nature as an effective means to wellbeing is not equally shared. There is a great opportunity to raise awareness so more organisations join this approach, and more NbHS can be developed to cater to the diverse needs of local communities. Those delivering NbHS experience challenges in capacity, funding and scaling, as do many other local third sector organisations. Our research findings demonstrate that collaboration provides one avenue toward much-needed growth to tackle these challenges effectively, reducing fragmentation, duplication and inefficiency - something of particular concern in this period of post-pandemic recovery, with stretched resources and increased demand for services. Stronger sector leadership is important in facilitating this kind of collaboration. Further, to tackle the challenge of inclusiveness, cultural differences and individual needs need to be fully considered. Rather than using a standardised approach, place-based thinking is highly relevant here to refocus on people and their local context, putting their expertise, experience, passion, and interests in the centre in investing, developing and delivering NbHS. More hyper-local, specialised and tailored NbHS should be developed to offer more diverse options, thereby expanding NbHS's user base to include more vulnerable and ethnic minority communities. Our research, therefore, suggests this mode of service delivery as a potential method of enhancing crisis recovery and ongoing community resilience. The general public have experienced a greater connection to nature and greater awareness of its wellbeing benefits over the pandemic, as shown in 'The People and Nature Survey' by Natural England (UK Government, 2021) which looked at how people's perception of nature changed during the pandemic. Associated awareness of inequality in access has also surfaced. Our research has revealed that a range of issues contributes to the uptake of NbHS; some are practical (e.g. access, green space quality), and some are social (e.g. safety, inclusion), and emotional (e.g. relevance, motivation). The uptake of NbHS is tightly intertwined with the operations of third sector organisations and their engagement strategies. Decisions made by both local councils and third sector organisations directly affect whether NbHS provide a real opportunity for individual wellbeing. Green Social Prescribing is one pathway for people to access NbHS. In addition to the challenges and opportunities outlined earlier, it faces extra challenges as well as greater opportunities. It is challenging for the existing system to respond to the need for better governance beyond individual organisations, better funding pathways and better infrastructure. Existing health infrastructure is a complex of entrenched practices patched with new concepts. Within this, new pathways, which optimise the potential of nature for health, are harder to generate, especially when communication and coordination between stakeholders is lacking. Adding to this complexity, delivery requires collaboration beyond the health sector to include the natural environment and social infrastructure, the absence of which can be a major drawback for delivery. There needs to be a co-operative mechanism that works across all the organisations involved. A holistic approach to understand the complexity of local systems is required, in contrast to a narrow sectoral focus. Greater buy-in is needed from health professionals. The link worker role needs to be fully embedded in local networks and local knowledge to be fully functional, something which requires an investment of time, training and individual commitment. Overall, a more integrated system is a prerequisite for Green Social Prescribing to be rolled out successfully on a wider scale. Our research highlights this critical situation; future research would benefit from investigating and proposing the exact working mechanisms of such a system. Our research demonstrates that the biggest challenge for the overall affordance of NbHS for all is that NbHS operate in complicated ecosystems of overlapping jurisdictions, multiple sectors, uncertain funding and competing interests, which are challenging to navigate. As such, we recognise the importance of a genuinely bottom-up place-based approach that considers the totality of local assets, including the realities of the physical locality and local lived experience. The richness of local knowledge held by grassroots organisations is usually under-valued, and could be used more effectively to connect people with their local natural environments. This is a pressing concern given the huge potential for nature to benefit wellbeing, particularly if equal access is ensured, something that became undeniable during the pandemic. Bottom-up and bespoke approaches toward NbHS, combined with investment from local and national authorities, and significant within- and cross-sector collaboration, can support the wider need to address health inequalities and improve wellbeing, particularly in times of crisis. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on more disadvantaged population groups and has widened health inequalities (World Health Organization, 2021). NbHS can help address such inequalities, by tackling mental health difficulties in more vulnerable groups, for example, as well as supporting wellbeing in the wider population. Local service providers understand the places and communities they serve and, therefore, have the potential to develop and fine tune the outreach and services required by vulnerable groups. It is high time to give them the recognition and resourcing they need to fulfil this vitally important role. There can be no truly effective upscaling and mainstreaming of NbHS until these conditions are met. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on more disadvantaged population groups and has widened health inequalities (World Health Organization, 2021). NbHS can help address such inequalities, by tackling mental health difficulties in more vulnerable groups, for example, as well as supporting wellbeing in the wider population. Local service providers understand the places and communities they serve and, therefore, have the potential to develop and fine tune the outreach and services required by vulnerable groups. It is high time to give them the recognition and resourcing they need to fulfil this vitally important role. There can be no truly effective upscaling and mainstreaming of NbHS until these conditions are met. Our research has highlighted that if the potential affordances of urban nature are to be actualised, the following four conditions must be met: · The value of Nature-based Health Services and the key role of the third sector in their delivery must be recognised in policy and in the knowledge and expertise of stakeholder organisations responsible for commissioning and delivery; · Nature-based Health Services must be adequately resourced, with funding pathways tailored to the specific needs of the third sector; · The provision of the high quality accessible urban green infrastructure, which is the foundation for Nature-based Health Services, must be secured; · Improved mechanisms for stakeholder collaboration are required, to enable effective collaboration and ensure equity in access to resources, knowledge and expertise. |
| Exploitation Route | The project findings have been disseminated through one journal paper, one conference paper, and one book chapter. Further, some of the project outputs have been published in Nature's Way's digital platform. The key audiences envisioned for this platform are individuals already engaged in NbS provision, those interested in initiating new NbS projects, and policy-makers who could benefit from understanding the qualitative impact of these projects for wellbeing. As such, the project aims to influence both top-down and bottom-up provision of NbS for wellbeing. Additionally, all participating stakeholder and partner organisations will be informed as to the project's findings, and two screening events are being held (one in each pilot site) featuring footage of the participating NbS projects captured by the project team. These engagement activities will serve to put a spotlight on nature-based projects and organisations in Bradford and Walsall, instil confidence and inspire further collaboration between organisations, and inform relevant stakeholders on topics of operational benefit. The project outcomes are also being taken forward into a new AHRC-funded research project, Connecting Roots, which will support the development of a productive network of NbS providers and enablers based in Walsall, together with local partner organisations. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://naturesway.rca.ac.uk/ |
| Description | The project has engaged 130 people from 55 organisations, ranging across Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations (VCSEs). Most of them are local NbS providers, social housing providers, councils, volunteers, local residents, academics, students and policy-makers. The impact is achieved in particular through the following pathways: (1) Documentaries and screen events: The local communities we worked with in both Bradford and Walsall showed great passion, commitment, knowledge, creativity and initiative. To promote their work, to support greater connectivity and knowledge-sharing, and to inspire others to initiate their own NbS, this project produced 11 documentaries: 5 focusing on nature-based projects, organisations and community groups in Bradford, and 6 in Walsall. These were launched at two public screening events in both locations. These were also networking events to kickstart enhanced connectivity between NbS providers, and between them and wider stakeholders. A total of over 150 people attended these events, including council representatives, NbS providers, VCSEs, academics and the public. Following the events, the documentaries were made available to organisations, and through this were mobilised for greater knowledge sharing and as a method through which organisations could then promote themselves, such as for funding applications and as evidence for local authorities, through which the wellbeing benefits of NbS were promoted to decision makers. (2) Local capacity / Mindkind Projects CIC: Mindkind Projects CIC was a key partner for the project. Since being part of the project, nature and green has become an important part of The Mindkind Projects' offerings and has allowed the VCSE Wellbeing Organisation to utilise nature for wellbeing as something of a unique selling point to citizens, stakeholders and commissioners. Utilising the experience and knowledge of working with the RCA has allowed MindKind to follow up with various activities within this domain including but not limited to women's bicycle sessions, men's wellbeing walks, camping activities and gardening groups. Around 300 people have attended these groups and more than 1,500 local people have accessed the groups and provisions through special events over the past two years. As part of a nature for wellbeing intervention commissioned by Public Health 105 citizens accessed nature through camping trips and gardening activities at the MindKind Community Garden. Around half of the 105 participants self identified as being from an ethnically diverse background and around 75% of those who took part in the nature focussed projects lived in the top 10% most deprived areas of England. Across all of the nature based projects MindKind were able to show consistent improvements and increased wellbeing scores with an average ONS wellbeing measure increase of 24% per participant. This work is now being forwarded by Public Health for a Small Government Award. The investment by Public Health in the community garden has resulted in a community lacking equitable access to green assets being able to access nature for wellbeing in a safe, accessible environment. This asset has been used for community events and has led to an increase in community cohesion and integration in a highly deprived and culturally and ethnically diverse area. The garden has been utilised to host growing events and introduced children and adults to the concept of growing food for physical and mental wellbeing. (3) Platform One of the major outputs of Nature's Way is a digital platform (www.natureswayproject.org). This platform seeks to be a co-created living library of experience-based local knowledge. This will bring together knowledge from the diverse experiences of people working with nature, communities, and health and wellbeing, in bite sized, accessible and engaging formats to encourage anyone wanting to start or improve NbS projects. Content includes case studies, resource recommendations, informative blogs, and 'top tips' for initiating NbS. Some of the project outputs have been shared on the platform, including the documentaries about local VCSEs working on NbS both in Walsall and Bradford; bitesize talks from our experts; and blogs etc. This platform is maintained by a project partner, the MindKind Projects CIC, since the project ended. The CIC has since invested considerable time and resources to promote the platform to local communities. This platform is currently being utilised to support citizens to blog about their nature based experiences to support the raising of awareness of nature based activities across Walsall. It is expected to be one of the main pathways for impact in the coming years. (4) Research Capacity and Connecting Roots The project has supported the PI and the team to develop design research capacity in health and wellbeing through nature. This project was an important milestone for the PI to establish her expertise and reputation in the interdisciplinary approach to health and community engagement. The PI has successfully secured funding for a new research project 'Connecting Roots: Co-creating a green social prescribing network in Walsall for health and wellbeing' which is part of a £1.5 million AHRC programme for levelling up health and wellbeing in the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Connecting Roots: Co-creating a Green Social Prescribing Network in Walsall for Health and Wellbeing |
| Amount | £178,637 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/X000060/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| End | 01/2023 |
| Description | BUD : Nature's Way |
| Organisation | The Wildlife Trusts |
| Department | Yorkshire Wildlife Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Site visits were conducted to gain insight into he local barriers for Nature-based community group providers. Interviews were conducted by the research team to gain insight to inform the project research direction. Workshops were conducted via online video conferences to review the project direction and allow an opportunity for feedback. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators were interviewed and provided expert insight into the subject area of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for wellbeing and the areas they would like addressed to support them in excelling as a provider of NbS. Additionally, they took part in regular workshops and guest critique opportunities to ensure that they were having a voice in representing their local communities/organisations needs. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Centre for Sustainable Healthcare: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Centre for Sustainable Healthcare |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expert interviews were conducted to gain further insight into process of Nature-based Solutions and prescribing an organisational level. This was conducted through informal and formal interviews which were hosted and reviewed by the team. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in informal and formal interviews providing personal expertise and experiences regarding the barriers for Nature-based Solutions providers. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council : Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Bradford Metropolitan District Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | - Hosting live workshops with local community groups. - Presenting project research and finding to experts for feedback. - Developing a strategy for impact within the case study areas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Steering committee (city planning). - Supporting the delivery of a pilot which focuses on how to involve local people in developing safer and healthier places, particularly families and children to play and walk, increasing their access to outdoor spaces in inner city Bradford. |
| Impact | Outputs of this collaboration have been in the form of engagement activities on site with potential users of the project as well as information dissemination to raise awareness. Information dissemination has been in the form of non-academic seminars, live workshops and consortium meetings. This collaboration is linked to the Bradford Case Study that has been developed for this project to inform the platform created to address the barriers raised in the research process. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Intelligent Health: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Intelligent Health |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | - To provide workshops to allow engagement with the subject matter and for experts to inform the direction. - Hosting consortium meetings for experts to critique the project findings and direction. - Site visits are condicted to follow up on any recommendations made by partners with regards to persons of interest to the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Steering committee (social prescribing). - Recruiting & engaging the public. - Developing steering groups of local partners. |
| Impact | The collaboration as informed several workshops and seminars that have disseminated information about the project as well as engaging potential users. The this collaboration has benefitted the project in the form of guiding the research development for the publications. They have provided expert insight and guidance to inform the direction of the final outputs of the Natures Way project. The participation has been within workshops taking part in the conversation and consortium meeting to reflect on project progress. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Natural England: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Natural England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expert interviews were conducted to gain further insight into process of Nature-based Solutions and prescribing an organisational level. This was conducted through informal and formal interviews which were hosted and reviewed by the team. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in informal and formal interviews providing personal expertise and experiences regarding the barriers for Nature-based Solutions providers. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. Additionally, this collaboration is linked to the Bradford Case Study and the Walsall Case Study that has been developed for this project to inform the platform created to address the barriers raised in the research process. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Shared Assets: Natures Way |
| Organisation | Shared Assets |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | - To host workshops with guest speakers around the project themes with Q&A sessions for discussion - To develop workshops to test design methodologies used to form the project outcomes - Providing consortium meeting presentations to share project progress and the status of the research - To take any feedback to inform the research and design direction |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Providing perspective on Nature-based Solutions led by community businesses, social enterprises and other civic society initiatives - Ensuring the voice of these "common good land users" is heard in the project, and that their needs and the opportunities they offer are taken into account - Contributing to the design of a process that ensures substantial community participation through facilitation, compensation and follow up - Bringing expertise on land use for the common good and our sense of what works in terms of local interventions to the team - Bringing our experiences of working with local authorities as they seek to create new governance and management models for their parks, and understanding where NBS methodologies may fit in. - Participating in Nature's Way project led workshops - Producing content for the project in the form of blogs and educational videos |
| Impact | The this collaboration has benefitted the project in the form of guiding the research development. They have provided expert insight and guidance to inform the direction of the final outputs of the Natures Way project. The participation has been within workshops taking part in the conversation and consortium meeting to reflect on project progress. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Thrive: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Thrive |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expert interviews were conducted to gain further insight into process of Nature-based Solutions and prescribing an organisational level. This was conducted through informal and formal interviews which were hosted and reviewed by the team. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in informal and formal interviews providing personal expertise and experiences regarding the barriers for Nature-based Solutions providers. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | UDG: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | Urban Design Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expert interviews were conducted to gain further insight into process of Nature-based Solutions and prescribing an organisational level. This was conducted through informal and formal interviews which were hosted and reviewed by the team. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in informal and formal interviews providing personal expertise and experiences regarding the barriers for Nature-based Solutions providers. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | UKGBC: Nature's Way |
| Organisation | UK Green Building Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expert interviews were conducted to gain further insight into process of Nature-based Solutions and prescribing an organisational level. This was conducted through informal and formal interviews which were hosted and reviewed by the team. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in informal and formal interviews providing personal expertise and experiences regarding the barriers for Nature-based Solutions providers. |
| Impact | The output of this collaboration has been in providing expert insight to feed into the publications developed for this project. This insight has featured and directed the publications and public talks presenting the project findings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | 25 Voices from London National Park City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presenting at "25 Voices from London National Park City" (Attended by 24 members of London National Park City Rangers programme, and 25 members of public, 50 participants) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://m.facebook.com/londonnationalparkcity/videos/25-voices-from-london-national-park-city/359416... |
| Description | 4th International Social Prescribing Network Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Presented at the 4th International Social Prescribing Network Conference: Green Social Prescribing - A Walsall Case through Design-led Research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Amps Conference: Environments by Design |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Presented at Amps Conference: Environments by Design |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CONFERENCE-PROGRAMME-Environments-by-Design_Rec... |
| Description | Bitesize Seminar Event: Setting up a community nature project: Lunchtime learning webinar |
| 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 | We were incredibly pleased to host a lunchtime learning webinar on setting up a community nature project on May 6th. Bringing together four fantastic speakers, the 1.5 hour session shared both practical advice and inspiring personal stories stemming from their diverse perspectives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://spaces.rca.ac.uk/naturesway/2022/05/19/lunchtime-webinar/ |
| Description | Bradford and Walsall Screening Event |
| 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 | Connecting people and organisations at our documentary screening events in Bradford and Walsall. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | CPD event on Health,Wellbeing and PLance for the Landscape Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Chairing CPD event on Health,Wellbeing and PLance for the Landscape Institute |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://campus.landscapeinstitute.org/event/li-cpd-health-wellbeing-and-place/ |
| Description | Case Study Site Visits: Bradford, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Regular site visits have been conducted to build a relationship with the local community groups providing Nature-based Solutions in the area of Bradford, UK. These visits have been conducted over the period of 12 months. The site visits have been in the form of casual introductions between local community groups, policy makers and relevant organisations. These visits have enabled us to include the community members in the discussion around what the Nature's Way project should be focusing on and solving. This has created new collaborations between local community members and has provided us with invites to meet other inspiring groups to reference in our project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Case Study Site Visits: Walsall, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Regular site visits have been conducted to build a relationship with the local community groups providing Nature-based Solutions in the area of Walsall, UK. These visits have been conducted over the period of 12 months. The site visits have been in the form of casual introductions between local community groups, policy makers and relevant organisations. These visits have enabled us to include the community members in the discussion around what the Nature's Way project should be focusing on and solving. This has created new collaborations between local community members and has provided us with invites to meet other inspiring groups to reference in our project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Climate Action and Visual Culture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presenting at "Climate Action and Visual Culture" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/ceada/ourprojects/climate-action/exhibition/ |
| Description | Engagement conversation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Meetings, informal discussions, and introductions were carried out with stakeholders to establish collaborations and facilitate discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Filmed Interviewed for "Natural Environment Research Council" |
| 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 | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | One of the Co-Investigators on the project, Anna Jorgensen, was asked to be filmed for the Natural Environment Research Council. The topic of this filming was regarding the promotion of Nature Based Solution Health and Wellbeing. This filming took place on the 19/02/2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | How to make people feel better in nature |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation focusing on GI and Health and IWUN findings to international participants at the 'Increased recognition of the impact of GI on health' workshop organised by the Town and Country Planning Association as part of the PERFECT project funded by Interreg |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.interregeurope.eu/perfect/news/news-article/13639/increased-recognition-of-the-impact-of... |
| Description | International Social Innovation Research Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 09/09/2021 - Presenting at the International Social Innovation Research Conference - Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Introducing Green Social Prescribing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | 25/05/2021 Presenting at "Introducing Green Social Prescribing" organised by Active Derbyshire: Presented by the Royal College of Art team and resulted in an expanded network of potential collaborators and interviews. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | MindKind presents Nature's Way |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | MindKind presents Nature's Way, Participants: Nature's Way Project team, MindKind, whgrp, OneWalsall. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Consortium meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The consortium meetings are regularly hosted events bringing together all the partners on the project to be presented the current research findings and future opportunities for engagement. It is an expert panel of professionals that support the project research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Designer Roundtable |
| 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 | Part of our investigation has also involved talking to the design community - especially those with experience working in social innovation around nature. Following on from the student reflection workshop in June, we invited a group of service designers, social design practitioners and landscape architects to an online 2 hour roundtable workshop in July 2021. Of the 16 attendees who kindly volunteered their time, we had a mix of recent graduates, practicing professionals and academics. A lively discussion was had on the differences and similarities of approach between the two disciplines, stemming from student projects and from the participants' prior experience. Some felt that service design and landscape architecture have differing starting points: people and the social system for the former, the site and its characteristics in the latter. Differences in focus for design intervention was also noted. Service designers appeared more concerned with what people do in a space and their barriers to access, designing often technological interventions that tackled societal, behavioural or belief based obstacles to engagement. An example of such obstacles included the fear of being perceived as lazy if going to a greenspace during work hours (a key challenge addressed by NatureBreak). Landscape architects, on the other hand, generally focussed more on tangible elements of the site's environment. They may aim to encourage people to engage with nature through the specific ways the site is designed, but tend not to ascribe activities. However, this is not to say the two disciplines are so cleanly divided - the most successful shows a deep, holistic consideration of the social, technological, environmental and cultural entanglements that affect how people engage with the nature that surrounds them. Thus, the participants agreed there are opportunities for mutual strengthening through collaboration, learnings and integration between the two. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://spaces.rca.ac.uk/naturesway/2021/08/30/roundtable-discussion-with-critical-friends-the-role-... |
| Description | Nature's Way: Digital Mapping |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a series of workshops hosted by the Royal College of Art research team to address the digital mapping proposed within the platform concept design. It was a workshop with experts in the Nature-based Solutions to hear about about social prescribing initiatives and projects from Walsall Council team particular in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing an overview of some of the key potential points of intervention as well as identifying identifying key barriers we could/should be focusing on within the platform design. The impact of this has been informing the project direction and what areas we should be focusing on to provide intervention. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Formal Interviews |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project, we are interviewing people working, volunteering, being involved or related to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for wellbeing and community engagement, including volunteers, academics, practitioners, policy makers, senior leaders and students. The aim of these interviews is to learn more about the support available for nature-based solutions for health and wellbeing in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Formal interviews were conducted with a range of practitioners within the theme categories of healthcare, governance and organisation working within nature prescribing, this includes national funding bodies. This interviews were recorded and reviewed by the research team to allow reflection and analysis of the findings. Companies that have participated in this includes: Intelligent Health, Nature Therapy Online, The Mindkind Projects, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, NASP, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Copleston Centre, Walsall Government, The Landscape Institute, Natural England, National Parks UK, National Voices, Thrive, One Walsall, BUD-Bradford, NHS England, NHS Improvements and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This newsletter was produced to give the participants an update on the project progress and he direction the project has taken with their feedback. It was praised by those that received it and further request for engagement were made following its distribution. Attached to this page is the website published version of the project progress. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://spaces.rca.ac.uk/naturesway/2021/11/03/natures-way-project-update/ |
| Description | Nature's Way: Peer Review |
| 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 Nature's way platform have been wrapping up on the design research at the end of last year and are moving swiftly into design, development and delivery. This workshop was focused on getting external perspectives on our progress, and to get some critique from some of the designers we have collaborated with. The event was held remotely in January 2022, and provided an opportunity to hear their thoughts. This workshop sparked conversation around how we can apply the research problem identified into a usable platform to allow access to the target users. Collectively, opinions and advice regarding methodologies were share that have been used to develop these solutions. Attendees of this event were: Royal College of Art Professors and MA Service Design Students |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Resilient Communities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The event was hosted by The MindKind Projects CIC, with attendees being asked by their employers to attend on their behalf. The primary purpose of the event was to help develop a terms of reference for a new group as well as introducing them to the Nature's way project. We aimed to develop the terms of reference for a new group in Walsall, co-designing the aims, purpose and scope with social housing tenants, local residents and employees. This event raised awareness with key stakeholders at the Walsall Housing Group and One Walsall that requested to have further input in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This seminar provided an opportunity for students to gain insight into the research process of a funded social innovation project as well as participate and engage with the subject matter. We encouraged engagement and participation from all that attend. Guest speaker, Natalie Ganpatsingh from Intelligent Health, discussed the Nature's Way project and the vision for the outcome. This was focused on the use of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for the benefit of health and wellbeing informed by case studies. Students had an opportunity to ask an industry leading expert about her experience in Nature Based Design methodologies and applications. Students were invited to take part in the interviews through the chat function and to engage with the subject matter. Questions relating to students' projects are welcomed in relation to Natalie's seminar. This seminar with students raised many questions around the practicalities of having an impact within this industry and the barriers to entry. These questions were collected by the research team to raise with relevant industry leaders identified for formal interviews. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Student Reflections |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The Nature's way research team hosted a digital workshop with students from MA Service Design, reflecting on their group projects that explored how to help people better connect with nature. As part of our larger research project, first year students were given a brief in January to develop projects that aimed to use service design and human-centred approaches to innovate place-based services as options for social green prescribing, supporting people and communities to rebuild relationships with nature for better health and wellbeing in a post-COVID world. Over the last two terms, the students explored a diverse range of societal issues that could be addressed by a better connection to nature, such as prenatal depression and loneliness, developing thoughtful services and interventions. For the 2-hour remote session, our design associate, Nina Cutler, created an illustrated park on Miro. She and project co-ordinator Madelaine Dowd, guided the participating students on a contemplative 'walk' through facilitated exercises and discussions. Through these and project presentations, we learnt about their process, what tools and methods were used, how effective these were, their successes and challenges, and what value they think service design could bring to Nature-based Solutions. These rich and nuanced insights will be invaluable evidence as we progress in our research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://spaces.rca.ac.uk/naturesway/2021/08/24/what-role-can-service-design-play-in-nature-based-sol... |
| Description | Nature's Way: User Journey Mapping |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | These workshops were focused on gaining insight from Nature-based Solution (NbS) providers and developing an understanding of the barriers they face in starting and running their businesses. The candidates that were invited to these 1:1 workshops were from The MindKind Projects, Intelligent Health and Butts Community Garden. These sessions allowed the candidates to explain the whole process of setting up their businesses in detail through graphic mapping giving indications of times, relevant companies, laws and factors to be aware of. These have helped the research team get an overview of the areas of information that need to be researched and developed on to provide guidance to others who may wish to set up as a NbS provider. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Walsall Co-Creation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Within a week, a series of workshops were conducted with the Walsall organisations that have contributed to the Nature's Way research. Introduction and overviews of the current findings were presented as well as activities for the group to share their thoughts and opinions. This was an exploratory session to collect collaborate with member to inform the direction or our research and let us know what we need to be addressing. This changed the direction of the project research and has led to positive changes in the application of the findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nature's Way: Weekly Project Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | These are regularly conducted meeting for the project partners and the research team to come together and share their research findings. Additionally, these sessions provide an opportunity to align the research taking place as well as the project direction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Nature's way: Blogs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Blogs are regularly uploaded to ensure that we are sharing our project progress with the communities that have supported the project to date. In addition to this, we have found that other researchers have benefitted from the research shared as we have received positive feedback on our outputs. These have led to further conversations and in several cases collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://spaces.rca.ac.uk/naturesway/blog/ |
| Description | One Walsall Community / Environment Forum |
| 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 | 02/02/2022 Participants: One Walsall, Butts Community Garden, WMCA, Severn Trent community fund, Goscote, Winterley Lanes, Walsall Council, Bumblebee Conservation Trust... |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | One Walsall Networking Themed Community Forum - Environment and Green spaces |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 24/06/2021 Presenting at "One Walsall Networking Themed Community Forum - Environment and Green Spaces" Presented by the Royal College of Art team and resulted in an expanded network of potential collaborators and interviews. As well as this, we have been invited to present the project at a community forum event in the area of Walsall that will be hosting 30+ different voluntary groups and community-based projects. (One Walsall - Themed Forum - Environment and Green Spaces, 12/8/2021) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Pandemic and Beyond: Developing the Communications Strategy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Attended Pandemic and Beyond: Developing the Communications Strategy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Shared Assets and Intelligent Health feedback meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 10/2/22 & 24/2/22 Expert Panel: Shared Assets and Intelligent Health in separate events: These sessions were informal presentations of the current findings and ideas to gain expert feedback to inform the formal application of the service design concepts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Town & Country Planning Association Workshop |
| 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 | Presented at Town & Country Planning Association Workshop |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/perfect/news/news-article/13639/increased-recognition-of... |
| Description | Tsinghua forum: Service design for people's wellbeing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Presenting at Tsinghua forum: Service design for people's wellbeing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |