Facilitating communities in creating better places: a framework Making better living environments and neighbourhoods
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Reading 1210 Arlington Business Park, Reading RG7 4TY 01189 298 040 Cardiff 4 Stangate House, Stanwell Road, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 2AA 029 2040 8476 Belfast 250 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8GJ 028 9080 6055 soltysbrewster.com ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 A CarbonZeroŽ Company Soltys Brewster Consulting is the trading name of Soltys Brewster Consulting Ltd. Registered Office:- 4 Stangate House, Stanwell Road, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 2AA Registration No. 6262312 Cover image: Š Project for Public Spaces
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Contents
Executive Summary The Process
A Framework
Outcomes
Introduction
Introduction
1. Familiarisation
Outcome One Stronger community cohesion
2. Initial thoughts
Outcome Two Enabling low cost ‘intervention’
3. Using events to engage
Outcome Three Unlocking latent opportunity
4. Linking ideas to spaces
Outcome Four Informing the decision makers
5. Workshops
Outcome Five Influencing environmental renewal
6. Distilling key themes 7. Temporary trials
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Executive summary With growing emphasis on placemaking and creating multifunctional landscapes, community led approaches to design are becoming increasingly relevant. Landscape design is much more than the arrangement of surfaces and objects. It has been long recognised that landscape architecture incorporates dynamic processes involving water, air, light and vegetation... and people, along with our every day activities. Since the formation of the practice in 2000, Soltys Brewster has emphasised that people are at the heart of the design process, as much as technical skills and expertise. It is not so much about designing for people, but designing with people to create, exciting, functional and sustainable places. Too often, beautifully designed and executed spaces are somehow unloved and underused. Often this is due to the top-down process of design and delivery. This publication outlines an approach successfully used by Soltys Brewster and draws on the knowledge and experience 4
of the team, gained within the practice and more widely in previous roles, working within the private, statutory and voluntary sectors. It does not claim to be a definitive guide, but rather outlines a process that has proven successful. Although, a fairly comprehensive process is covered, it is recognised that each situation is unique. The stages, outlined throughout the document and summarised in the graphic on the next page are designed to be self contained and the colours relate to the colour coded document sections. Depending on budget and time available, nature of the site, needs of the community, and the desired outcome, stages can be omitted, the order changed, or other processes added. It is the nature of community led design, that local people take over the process with measurable and positive benefits. However, we hope this framework proves useful in providing a toolkit that can be utilised as needed. As a practice that combines experience in community
The Process engagement alongside the technical and professional skills of chartered landscape architects, we are well placed to provide a whole package of services, from initial engagement, through the formal technical design process (where appropriate) and through to construction. In comparison to more traditional approaches to creating or developing new places, a community led approach can have the following benefits:
“Community led design has the power to create well used and loved places�
The end result is more grounded in the needs of the community It is more likely to be vibrant and well used The process can attract positive media attention The process can help get local politicians on board The resultant place is more likely to be looked after by the people who live in or use it The process can aid community cohesion There is an audit trail, showing how local people and businesses were involved every step of the way Key stages
Alternative stages
Outcomes
Ultimate benefit
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A Framework
Facilitating Community Led Design
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The ideas and practice of community-led design have a long-standing tradition, especially in the context of urban design, planning and architecture. Community-led design goes beyond the one-dimensional process of consultation, helping involve people in decision-making throughout the design process, from visioning to implementation.
Introduction True participation happens when a community and other key stakeholders come together to create socially and economically functional places, that act as stages where everyday life is played out. As facilitators, we can help develop a design processes that allows local people to play a central role in promoting the changes that they want to see in their environment. Working on the basis that people who live in a place are, in different ways, experts in that place, it is important to harness that knowledge to inform decision making as the project evolves. This creates a two way process where design, built environment and other professionals both inform and are informed by the community. This bi-directional, collaborative approach is very different from what commonly occurs, where the professional ‘educates’ the community or presents a series of pre-prepared options. Effective facilitation helps a community actually lead the process, with the professionals in a supporting or curating role. This inclusive approach can help
Gathering thoughts and ideas
energise people within a neighbourhood and encourage active participation, where change starts to come from within. The sense of agency generated reduces the need for external agents to initiate change. Facilitators can contribute to this ownership of the process by providing specialist knowledge and tools, creating structures and helping to challenge and question pre-conceptions about how change comes about; especially where the top-down approach is seen as the only way. The following pages present a practical methodology.
“A process through which local people are engaged in developing their environment, including buildings, open spaces and neighbourhoods”
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1. Familiarisation Photos, drawing, mapping, listening, observing and carrying out surveys
Use of door to door or on-street surveys elicits valuable data
Before directly engaging communities in the design process, it is very useful to get a baseline picture of a street, public place or neighbourhood. Establishing an initial sense of how things are and how people perceive their environment can help structure the early phases of the project. Simply walking about, or sitting and observing how people interact with a place at different times of day can provide valuable insight and orientation. Taking photographs, mapping features, taking notes or making quick sketches can also help reinforce the understanding of a place. Looking at a place in it’s wider context, analysing pedestrian flows, exploring key linkages and open space provision are also 8
Getting to know a place and how people use it at different times of the day
initial feedback on what people do and don’t like and initial ideas they might have. This baseline picture also helps with reporting and evaluation. It also helps to provide an overview of the demographic and a sense of where might be best to intervene and where there is a high level of interest or most urgent need for intervention.
Mapping pedestrian flows
Experiential mapping example
useful. Experiential mapping can also be used to spatially capture subjective experiences, such as feelings of safety, smells, vibrancy etc. Pre-monitoring using carefully designed, questionnaires, ideally tailored to the particular locality can also be invaluable, providing a benchmark, against which to measure progress. This can be useful in evidencing the positive impact of changes which could be used to win over stakeholders, politicians and win funding or investment. The initial survey can also get some quick
“Getting a sense of a place, prior to engaging a community will help establish orientation�
The wider context might include local green space and corridors
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2. Initial thoughts Gathering ideas, views, thoughts and opinions from a wide a public as possible
The initial stages, especially the survey work should have established a broad idea of who makes up the community, who are those that live, work, shop, socialise and play in a locality. This initial scoping exercise can then form the basis for strategies that can access the initial thoughts and ideas of the widest cross section of the population as possible. A good early approach, is simply to set stall at a busy node, and invite people to participate by briefly explaining the purpose of the project, provide information leaflets and get feedback to questions such as: what do you like about this place? what do you dislike, what would you change? What’s missing, what ideas do you have to make this space better? etc. This is a form of crowd-sourced brainstorm. The feedback gathered isn’t 10
Collecting thoughts, opinions and ideas on postcards
guided or filtered or categorised, rather it becomes a mass of raw data. It is very much being open to the good, the bad and the ugly.
Visiting local businesses to get their input
In terms of capturing a broad cross section of the community, this approach has its limitations and is only really effective when it is part of a raft of approaches. It tends to miss a lot of people due to factors such as time of day, the location chosen and how busy passers by are and their willingness to participate. A more targeted approach is usually needed in addition.
Under represented groups might be encouraged to participate by working with organisations or community leaders who work with a specific demographic rather than attempting to approach them directly. The use of social media can also be a powerful means of reaching a broad spectrum of people, and in particular young people. Setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts for the project can prove effective allowing users to post comments, see what others have said as well as receive information about the project. A separate blog or website that acts as a central repository and point of
contact can be useful in holding all the other elements together. It becomes the online equivalent of a project hub. A physical pop-up community space dedicated to the project, utilising an empty shop, for instance could also provide a permanent presence within a neighbourhood. In terms of capturing ideas, a wide variety of approaches could be used such as big blackboards, postcards, luggage labels, posted materials, social media (as
described), filming or recording people as well as feedback gathered on more formal surveys or questionnaires. The mainstream media are also an important way of getting attention and capturing the views of a wide range of people. People coming together to improve their locality can be very newsworthy, attracting the press and broadcast media. The media can help facilitate a positive feedback where the publicity brings in more people and more people bring more publicity. A win-win situation.
Big blackboards are a classic way to collect ideas
Thoughts and ideas written on colourful luggage labels
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3. Using events to engage Music, food and participation in arts and sport can help draw people in
“By engaging people who live and work there, we make spaces that are more, exciting, robust and grounded in community� 12
Rather than the dry exercise of simply asking people what they would do to change their neighbourhood, it can be particularly effective to set up an event or series of events and activities. This draws people in and can encourage people to stop a while, meet, gather together and generally get involved. A colourful gazebo, bunting, balloons, flags and interesting images etc. is a good start. Add in tea, coffee and soft drinks, tables and chairs and it becomes more appealing. Take it further and include food, music, games and other activities and the more likely people will gather, stay longer, get more involved
Active participation helps draw people in
and be more receptive to the possibilities of the project. Where animating space is a potential outcome of a project, the act of setting up events that engage on a popup basis also suggest a longer term, more permanent change of use. In its own right this becomes a form of placemaking and can bring people together and create a sense of shared ownership of a neighbourhood or public space. Through Placemaking, community places not only become more active and useful for the people who help to create them, they can become more welcoming to people of all ages, abilities,
income levels and backgrounds. Since public spaces can both reflect and shape the communities they serve, they become incredibly meaningful places for people working to create more equitable cities. Many under-served communities have been systematically excluded from the prosperity and vibrancy that their city continues to generate for its wealthier residents. When neighbours come together to improve their public spaces, results can be tangible and immediate, and this process itself amplifies the sense of inclusion that great places can generate. It is the little pockets or bursts of community cohesion that can act as powerful catalysts for greater involvement down the line and an opportunity for people to quickly express their opinions and ideas, who would not otherwise do so. Where these events occupy the same spaces over time, the cumulative engagement can grow and commitment can begin to materialise. Those with particular interests and skills may emerge and become facilitators from within the community. The more the facilitator can initiate community leadership the more effective the outcomes are.
Music, art sport and play directly involve people in the placemaking process
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4. Linking ideas to spaces Using maps, ‘Post-its’, models and walking tours to connect ideas to places
“The act of placing a written proposal or image in a particular location becomes a form of urban design”
When ideas become attached to particular places, we begin to get involved in the world of spatial design. The very act of placing a post-it note with a particular proposal on a map, walking around a neighbourhood, standing in a particular spot and making a suggestion, moving elements around in a physical or computer generated model all become acts of urban design. By setting up situations where members of a community can start to physically design their own neighbourhood, we as facilitators, provide tools that can empower people to make decisions that can be translated into more formal design proposals. It is these proposals, generated from within the An outdoor drop-in mapping event
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community, that provide the vehicle for communication with individuals, agencies and organisations that can help realise ideas through statutory authority, investment capital and professional expertise. The combination of the creativity, knowledge and expertise of local people, combined with a de-mystification of the design process and the provision of tools to express and deliver communal vision can be extremely powerful.
Walking tours also allow participants to explore and feed back ideas in real space
“By engaging people who live and work there, we make spaces that are more, exciting� Mapping ideas at an indoor workshop
Simple models can be less abstract than plans and maps
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5. Workshops Exploring ideas in more depth through drop-in and structured workshops
Formal workshops are one way for users of a space or members of a community to become partners. Moving beyond the initial thoughts and ideas stage, participants in workshops can more thoroughly input into the design process, working actively with designers to shape the definition and direction of the project. Participation can include sharing personal experiences and perspectives, contributing to the generation of new design concepts, the evolution of those concepts, analysis, interpretation, decision making, evaluation and more. When taking a community led design approach it is our role as designers to
An invented local currency
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facilitate that participation. At the beginning of the design process we work with users to understand the design project in relation to their everyday lives including their habits, rituals, dreams, attitudes and experiences. These then become resources for inspiring design concepts and direction. In order for people to actively and effectively participate in the design process they must be able to imagine, access, and express their experiences and expectations. As with any workshop, the specific activities will differ depending on
Formal workshops can really help focus ideas
“Workshops can provide the structure and space to really drive ideas forward�
the topic being investigated and the nature of the participants and the place. However there are several qualities or principles that underpin most co-design activities that help to make people’s everyday experiences available and create a platform for sharing and the generation of ideas. Formal workshops can make use of visual materials as a way to assist people to make and communicate associations and experiences. This is because images are more accessible and quick to use and participants are able to attribute their own meaning to them. Random images can remind people about significant things they might not have considered or can act as metaphors to represent complex concepts. Images are also evocative and help to provide multiple frames and ways of seeing and expressing. They can be ambiguous enough to allow creative and unusual connections to be made and leave space for people to explore their own interpretations. The process of selecting images can also act to generate valuable discussion between participants and create a shared understanding and shared language between participants and designers.
Techniques to challenge preconceptions
Although designers as facilitators have certain knowledge or expertise, in terms of placemaking in community led design, it is only partial. Workshops encourage the designer to both step back and to intervene. Ultimately, however workshops are about the immersion, dialogue, creativity and perspective of those who will use and experience the final outcome.
Short presentations as well as direct participation
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6. Distilling key themes Identifying the broad themes that have emerge from the previous stages
The mass brainstorm or crowd-sourced thought at the early stages of the design process can at first seem to produce an overwhelming and incoherent mass of information. Imaginative visions, particular ideas, perspectives, complaints, hopes and perspectives on a whole host of topics related to the space or neighbourhood tend to emerge. Where formal workshopping is able to take place, for example, when there are enough people and a representative enough group, this mass of information can form the prime matter to start working together to develop creative outcomes. However, with or without the formal workshop approach, broad themes soon become apparent. Putting all of the collected comments and ideas into the 18
Encouraging participation by capturing particular interests
‘Wordle’ app can be immediately revealing. It creates a text graphic that makes words bigger according to their frequency of use. A manual review of all the gathered information will also most likely see much of the gathered data coalesce or constellate around big themes (with a few outliers). By identifying these themes, the ideas can be presented back to the community in a more focused way. The next round of events and workshops can then look at how these ideas might be prioritised and then taken forward and further explored. This, along with linking ideas to particular places can become a powerful resource in the development of early design proposals.
A ‘Wordle’ can quickly highlight key themes
Separate boards or work areas concentrating on separate themes can help with this. This is where ‘community leaders’ with specific interests or expertise can be invaluable in taking the lead in developing those particular areas; e.g. someone who is a keen gardener, historian, market trader, café owner etc can bring invaluable expertise and passion. Although the clarity of themes is helpful, the connections between them and a holistic approach is important in creating multifunctional, well connected places.
“Themes tend to naturally form as constellations of ideas”
Exploring the idea of multifunctional places
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7. Temporary trials Cheaply, quickly and simply putting ideas on the ground to test them out
Events that involve the occupation of a space in some ways are the beginnings of a temporary trial. But these trials go further. They aim to create in a quick, affordable way, an approximation of the potential future use of a space. For example, painting a vehicular surface in a way that is at odds with highway conventions instantly changes the perception of that piece of road, both for pedestrians and drivers, in favour of the pedestrian. Drivers tend to treat it with more caution as it is unfamiliar. Inexpensive, temporary painting of part of a road can become a proxy for a raised table or a change of surface material. Placing planters with shrubs, fruit and vegetables or even semi-mature trees can quickly suggest how a space can become greener. This is particularly powerful in a strong urban context. Similarly, placing temporary seating, setting up market stalls, 20
Occupying a space with temporary features
“Temporary interventions help identify opportunities and potential problems� Blank frontages animated with paint
bandstands and cafés within underused spaces or even on roads (either through temporary closure or using parking bays) can quickly enliven a place and invoke a possible future in a more immediate and experiential way. Simply closing a street and letting children play there can be powerfully transformative in terms of perception and can help make a case for more permanent interventions. The organisation ‘Playing Out’ has had a great deal of success with this approach. Addressing blank frontages using paint, planting or other means can also effectively change the experience of a place. At night, lighting can also act as a quick and effective way of making a space less threatening. Another approach is to set up an event where people can literally draw a ‘design’ on the ground using chalk, ribbons and hay bales etc. With this approach new paths, road alignments, building frontages, seats and other features can be drawn in real space. All these interventions can potentially be adopted more permanently or form the basis for future development.
Planting and seating ‘tried out’ in a formerly underused space
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Outcomes
Five key categories of outcome
1. Stronger community cohesion 2. Enabling low cost ‘intervention’ 3. Unlocking latent opportunity 4. Informing the decision makers 5. Influencing environmental renewal
Introduction The outcomes of community engagement in placemaking can be varied. The end result is determined by a number of factors. This will depend on the original brief and the requirements or aspirations of the client. It may be that the process is used to inform some form of built development or infrastructure where funds have been allocated. Or at the other end of the spectrum, the process may be more about community cohesion and social interaction where the end goal is about how people interact with a place and each other. In this
Influencing local planning policy
document we have identified five possible outcomes. This recognises that there will be outcomes that may not fall within these categories and that the result may be a combination of several or all of the outcomes. They are not mutually exclusive. Outcome One Stronger community cohesion This is not about physical change but all to do with a change in relationship to a place and its people. The community engagement process brings people together, helps foster communication and social networks. It can reduce prejudice and change people’s
Community-led design leading to high quality built outcomes
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perception of their neighbours and their neighbourhood. New groups can form and
people become more aware of their social and community environment. People can feel safer, sense stronger connection and take greater pride in the place. Outcome Two Enabling low cost intervention In today’s climate of limited budgets, positive outcomes need to consider low cost options that can deliver visual and transforming results without a need for major public investment or major construction. Public art, murals and light installations can all transform blank frontages. Greening using planters or raised beds can transform spaces without physical construction into the highway. Temporary markets, seasonal cafés
Social cohesion and neighbourhood pride
New businesses and cultural activities
and seating can transform an underused thoroughfare to an inviting public space. Outcome Three Unlocking latent opportunity Significant change can be achieved by the facilitation of community generated initiatives through raised awareness, improved communication with enablers and the unlocking of opportunities and latent ideas from within. This has happened in towns and cities across the UK and around the world without the need for substantial public expenditure. This outcome might involve the establishment of new shops or other
“Proper engagement of a community will almost always enrich and strengthen outcomes, whatever form they take”
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businesses initiated by new connections between people in the local community to realise private investment led opportunities. Outcome Four Informing the decision makers The voice of the community should be a valuable resource to inform decisions made about the future of a place. Community engagement allows people to express opinions that can assist local authorities in future prioritisation and informing policy development. Community aspirations may be incorporated into design briefs, supplementary planning guidance and used to inform the statutory planning process where engagement takes place as part of the plan development cycle. People can properly contribute to, influence and steer policy that will frame and control future development in their neighbourhood, effectively embedding local knowledge and expertise within the planning process. Outcome Five Influencing environmental renewal Unlike ‘token’ consultation exercises which are often divisive, proper community engagement can be a powerful tool in shaping future development, public space 24
Temporary transformation of public space
and infrastructure, particularly where a ‘codesigned approach’ between developer and local community is adopted. Community insight during the design process can profoundly influence and enrich a project design and make a specific development or whole scale urban renewal more successful, whether by a local authority or a private developer, and less exposed to objection and criticism.
“What all of the outcomes have in common is the potential to create a better living environment”
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Reading 1210 Arlington Business Park, Reading RG7 4TY 01189 298 040 Cardiff 4 Stangate House, Stanwell Road, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 2AA 029 2040 8476 Belfast 250 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8GJ 028 9080 6055 soltysbrewster.com ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 A CarbonZero速 Company Soltys Brewster Consulting is the trading name of Soltys Brewster Consulting Ltd. Registered Office:- 4 Stangate House, Stanwell Road, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 2AA Registration No. 6262312
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