Dianne Smith

Navigating Community Engagement

What it is about community involvement that attracts some professionals to adopt ways of working that embrace the community members as partners? Which aspects make community work rewarding for a professional, and more importantly, successful from a community member’s perspective? The theoretical constructs—community engagement, capacity building, and community empowerment—will be discussed in order to demonstrate how theory and practice are relevant to the development of ways to be involved in communities. A framework that we consider is of value has evolved that enables us to map or describe the attributes of community based projects; that is, an approach which aims to move beyond simply bringing people together from a variety of disciplines, to one which is transdisciplinary and applicable across cultures and genres of projects. Although a transdisciplinary approach is not new in itself, by making it explicit as an aspiration, we highlight the possible limitation of those projects that only bring together differing contributors at core moments for their expertise, without reflecting or planning for the potentially new ways of conceptualizing and of actioning what needs to be done. Such interactions are discussed in relation to participation and engagement. By constructing a project as transdisciplinary, all people—including the community—are ongoing contributors, who are able to wander into others’ discipline-specific arenas and vice versa.

An Introduction to Social Sustainability and Interior Architecture

Interior architecture is a field that has much to contribute to the discussion and practice of social sustainability. Its potential is not often made explicit, although there are many sources which discuss the design and usage of interiors in relation to material specification, energy consumption and the like; that is, to the relationship to the broader sustainability debate. In contrast, social sustainability captures the human dimension of the sustainability discourse and gives emphasis to people and communities. It is this focus that resonates with interior architecture. We believe that social sustainability is the ability of a society or an individual’s lifestyle to continue in a way that suits their needs and those of subsequent generations. The values and spiritual aspirations of the people should be complemented in their interior environment, and the processes and activities involved should respect their history, current needs and future potential beliefs and rituals. We identified that there are three key areas thin social sustainability where the discipline can meaningfully contribute: community engagement, social justice and cultural heritage. Each area is critical to understanding the relationship between social sustainability and interior architecture in the twenty-first century.

Interiors can Address Social Justice: Fact or Fiction?

Interior architectural designs can influence the quality of a person’s day-to-day life. However, there is an apparent absence of such professionals practising within projects and policy development that relate to environments for members of our community who are considered to be without, or who are marginalized in either local or international contexts. Therefore issues of Social Justice are raised and the concept defined. People may be disadvantaged due to conditions beyond their immediate control—whether these conditions be medical, political, cultural or geographical. The key characteristics of interior architecture are discussed to demonstrate how practitioners and educators could contribute to improving the quality of lives of such people. As background to this proposition, a study to ascertain whether interior architecture is involved in socially sustainable projects and debates was undertaken in 2010. The question posed was: ‘what is the nature of the profession’s involvement and impact?’ This was answered in three ways. Firstly, the positioning statements of major professional design bodies were reviewed. Secondly, interior-based projects and the people involved were sought. Finally, literature from other fields was sourced to gain insights. The findings and their implications for the future directions of interior architecture are discussed in relation to the field of social sustainability. In response to the study’s outcomes, a snapshot is constructed which enables roles and strategies for interior architecture and associated designers to be formulated.

M2 Models and Methodologies for Community Engagement

1. Navigating Community Engagement Dianne Smith, Reena Tiwari and Marina Lommerse Part I: Narratives on Models, Methodologies and Methods 2. An Ethnographic and Collaborative Model of Inquiry: Activity Centre Project in India Reena Tiwari and Yatin Pandya 3. Capacity Building and Community Development: a Community Dialogue on Equality in Rural Uganda Debbie Singh, May Lample, Mark Jones and Jaya Earnest 4. Urban Neighbourhood Regeneration and Community Participation: an Unresolved Issue in the Barcelona Experience Carmen Mendoza-Arroyo and Pere Vall-Casas 5. The Port Resolution Project: Developing Community Built and Managed Visitor Accommodation Typologies Damian Madigan and David Morris 6. Applying a Practical, Participatory Action Research Framework for Producing Knowledge, Action and Change in Communities: a Health Case Study from Gujarat, Western India Clancy Read, Jaya Earnest, Mohammed Ali and Veena Poonacha 7. Inspired by Nature: Building Community Capacity Through Creative Leadership Denise DeLuca 8. Connections: Academics, Architects and Community Pro-Bono Projects Sarah McGann and Barbara Milech 9. Fremantle on the Edge: a Community Collaboration Anne Farren and Nancy Spanbroek 10. Transparency and Interdependence Salvatore Di Mauro Part II: Unfolding Challenges and Removing Barriers in the Community Engagement Process: Opportunities for Transdisciplinary and Translocational Applications 11. Capturing the Diversity and Commonalities of Community Engagement Reena Tiwari, Marina Lommerse and Dianne Smith 12. Joining Communities: A Role for Reflection Dianne Smith 13. Reflections on Working with Communities and Community-based Projects in Bangladesh Mokhlesur Rahman and Bob Pokrant 14. Action Preparedness Tool for Community Engagement Clancy Read Part III: Community Engagement and Capacity Building: a Transdisciplinary Perspective 15. Transforming Community: Opportunities for Transdisciplinary Application Marina Lommerse, Dianne Smith and Reena Tiwari ABOUT THE EDITORS ABOUT THE AUTHORS INDEX

Joining Communities: A Role for Reflection

In this chapter, I aim to provide newcomers to community-based projects with a summary of clues or hints about how they may approach such projects. Many suggestions relate to being aware of how a project may unfold regardless of its scale, location or complexity. The building of a solid, informed and honest team is of importance. The checklist included is built from personal reflections, drawn from each community-based project I have undertaken, with the aim of building greater sensitivity and awareness of community needs and the circumstances that surround them.

USING THE AHP TO ESTABLISH INCLUSIVE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES FOR INDUSTRY

The lack of inclusive housing options across the developed world means that many people with disability reside in housing which does not meet their physical and cognitive accessibility requirements, as well as their social and health care needs. This situation is partly due to a) a lack of understanding by designers and developers about what consumers want from their housing beyond the necessary physical access features and b) lack of multidisciplinary understanding of the various decisions or motivating drivers that might result in a development opportunity. In order to provide some decision clarity for the complex area of inclusive housing development, an AHP was used to determine the key priorities across a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, including architects and designers, builders, disability service organisation professionals, and occupational therapists and access consultants. Despite some discipline variability, AHP results indicated three key drivers common to all stakeholder groups, namely, ‘connectedness of end users’, ‘feasibility’ and ‘building specifications’. The findings assert the importance of considering the needs of end users for inclusive housing development, a consideration that is often overlooked. The findings of this study will assist development of a resource manual to assist industry throughout inclusive housing development decision-making.

Art processes: a research tool for acquired brain injury and residential design

Abstract Background: The creative process potentially complements the ABI condition. Given the potential of art to empower people with impaired cognitive capacity and communication skills, it was hypothesized that art therapy techniques could be used to ascertain the perspective of adults with ABI surrounding their housing and support preferences. Method: Visual research methods informed the research protocol reported in this paper. Participants’ pictures were created mainly using pastels on paper. Eight people (3 adults with ABI; 4 non-family paid carers; 1 researcher as participant observer) participated in this pilot study. Qualitative rigour was achieved by addressing the four principles of trustworthiness. Results: By analysing participants’ creative works in their entirety (i.e. image, text, and visual storytelling), key attributes of the ideal home or environment for adults with ABI were identified. The piloted arts-based process was also reflected upon. Conclusions: Art processes may give voice to people with limited capacity to verbalize.

Transforming Community: Opportunities for Transdisciplinary Application

This chapter discusses how individual authors in Parts I and II of this book have understood and investigated the idea of community. We look at whether and how their definition of community is dependent on location and the nature of their projects, how their views changed through reflection and interaction with community members, and what constitutes capacity building in different socio-cultural contexts. The projects discussed capture a multitude of ways to interface and interact with communities, of modes of interaction, empowerment or engagement, of varying scales and complexity and socio-economic circumstances, as well as of physical locations across the world. The transformative experience is valid, not only for local users/residents in the project, but also for the associated civil society, the policymakers, the professionals, the students and other social actors involved. The case studies described in the chapters in Parts I and II are reflected on in terms of the concept of community as a discipline in its own right, which builds capacity in a transformative experience that brings physical, social, economic or environmental change. We revisit notions of co-creation, capacity building and transformation, and identify transdisciplinary understandings of community engagement. The editors have arrived at the notion of community as a discipline and the increased value of recognizing community engagement as a transdisciplinary practice.

Capturing the Diversity and Commonalties of Community Engagement

Models and methods of engaging communities are greatly influenced by scale and the type of project, by the nature of the communities that are shaped by their locale, and by the disciplinary perspectives of the researchers. Are there any common threads that can be untangled from this web of diversity within which researchers, communities and projects operate?