Flora Samuel and Eli Hatleskog have won the 2020 Cities and Community Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Award for Research for their project Mapping Eco Social Assets based on an estate in Reading.
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The University of Reading and Stantec are working collaboratively on an exciting Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to create an approach that quantifies social value outcomes to enable informed decision-making, so that better strategic land development projects are delivered with better community, climate change and commercial outcomes.
The position is a 24-month fixed term contract based full-time at Stantec in Reading, Berkshire. Remote and flexible working is supported. It is possible for x2 part-time job-share positions for this role, with salary pro-rata accordingly.
For further details, click this link.
A study for ACE Architects’ Council Europe the report was authored by Rosalie Callway, Lorraine Farrelly and Flora Samuel at the University of Reading, UK, March 2019.
This aim of this strategic report has been to consolidate existing knowledge across Europe and develop next steps to be addressed by ACE in demonstrating the value of design and the role of architects.
A call for evidence on methodologies for evidencing the value of architects and architectural design distributed through ACE networks in July 2018 resulted in a patchy and thin response despite considerable efforts to communicate it to colleagues in education and practice. The conclusion is that very little is currently known about work on evidencing the value of architects in Europe and that strategy is needed to provide joined up thinking in this area.
Going forward the triple bottom line of sustainability: social, environmental and economic value and the relationships between them is a useful and common way of framing design value that has some traction with policy
By Violet Sheppard, Our 2019 MESA UROP Summer Intern
The mapping workshop at the fun day gathered a great response from the community; everyone was very enthusiastic about getting involved.
For our contribution to the day we set up our mapping stalls and a table tennis table, along with balloons and stalls. There were four other stalls, a stall about recycling, the police, RIS Reading and the local counsellors. The counsellors displayed the designs for the Orts road playground, so the community members could vote on which design they preferred. Meanwhile, the imaginationplayground and bouncy castle were set up along with an ice cream van. The MESA group from the Philippines came along to the day and were a great help in encouraging people to join in.
The first people to take part were a mother and her son who proved to be very sociable through the mother’s response to the question, ‘Where do you stop and speak to friends?’, which she responded with ‘everywhere’. It was great to get feedback from such a sociable individual from the area. Her son stated how they love spending ‘their free time’ at their local church, which unfortunately has poor maintenance after events which is what he wanted to be improved.
We spoke to a woman with a baby who was very interested in being involved in the mapping despite being rushed off her feet. Her involvement showed how everyone has different lifestyles, as she responded to the question about hobbies and free time with I don’t have hobbies or free time because I have a baby.
A woman joined in and spent quite a long time deliberating on the questions as she lives in the area around orts road but works and her child goes to school in a different area, so she was less familiar with the site. She had strong opinions on the fact that she would love a new swimming pool in the area as the existing pools have limited opening times and no longer have public diving board. Although, she is ‘proud’ of the River Kennet as her and her son throw bread to the ducks. They also spend time at a polish church which is on the outskirts of the site.
Most people chose their local community centres and churches as placed they are proud of and feel happiest. Overall, we got very positive responses to all the questions even what you would like to improve people had to really think about it; nothing sprung to mind, and some people even said nothing. Most people just ended up stating that they would like to improve Orts Road with one of the proposed play parks. The day was a success and we gathered lots of information and spoke to many people. We also managed to get quite a few people signed up for further discussions about the area and people to make further comments on the index cards.
On the 22nd of June MESA joined a community celebration at Orts Road. As part of the activities we set up open air mapping activities and table tennis. A wide range of people took part to discuss what they valued most about the area. There was ice cream and children’s’ activities and Reading Council staged a public vote on options for the proposed play area.
This year there was an opportunity for Prof Lorraine Farrelly to work with the School of Biological Science, Dr Alastair Culham and his PhD student Tomos Jones. Their research is on invasive plant species and their impact on gardens in the British Isles.
(Photo Credit: Lorraine Pearce)
“I worked with them to design an exhibition stand for the Chelsea flower show . The design concept of the stand was to reflect invasive species , it is an interpretation of the Gunnera or Giant Rhubarb plant. The stand is made from birch faced plywood that has been cut into pieces which were slotted together on site. The structure was made by timber craft specialists Xylotek, who have worked with us to build our Urban Room structure on campus. Beneath the structure are range of examples of invasive plants. The interpretative boards describing the research were designed by BA Graphic Communication students as part of their course. The design and project was selected for the Chelsea Flower Show 2019, and also was awarded a gold medal at the show.This project represents the possibilities of inter and cross disciplinary working with staff and students across the University.”
Prof Lorraine Farrelly
(Photo Credit: Lorraine Pearce)
On 7 January 2019, the local government of Sta. Rosa, Laguna formalised its support to the Newton Fund Institutional Links project by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), providing access to the City’s communities as study site for the project. The MOU also allows the project researchers from the University of Sto. Tomas and University of Reading access to the city’s data maintained and managed by its Planning Office.
The Newton Fund Institutional Links project, “Eco-social Surveying: Mapping social assets, green infrastructure and the connections between them in rapidly changing cities” selected Sta. Rosa, Laguna as its research site due to the City’s rapid urbanisation and development. The goal of the study is to map the ecological-social assets of Sta. Rosa and create and urban living lab that is innovative, inclusive and based on real life research for the multiple stakeholders in the city.
The project will utilise knowledge exchange across researchers of University of Sto. Tomas and University of Reading as an opportunity to develop planning policy guidance that will preserve and enhance eco-social assets. The LGU of Sta. Rosa sees this as an opportunity to have robust scientific basis for its policies and programmes that will address the effects of rapid urbanisation of the area.
This project is led by Dr. Leah Dela Rosa of UST and Dr. Flora Samuel of UoR, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
https://www.britishcouncil.ph/about/press/collaborative-mou-institutional-links
An ecological and social approach to converting old-style industries in urban areas may well contribute to a new eco and social friendly development path for the European Union. This prospect was a prominent conclusion of the workshop on ‘Reconversion of industrial areas in the framework of regional policy‘, organised by the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) on 26 February 2019 at the European Parliament (EP), and proposed by Rosa D’Amato (EFDD, Italy), member of the EP Committee on Regional Development (REGI). Fifteen experts from twelve EU Member States, including five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), representatives of other European institutions, universities and local authorities, attended to discuss the topic from various angles, highlighting the challenges and proposing solutions based on policy strategies, legislative proposals and specific case studies.
Lorraine Farrelly presented to the workshop: Policy perspective: institutional strategies
The presentation can be found here:
