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Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health; 2018:5;6
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Using Art and Design to Create Shared Safe Space in Urban Areas: A case study of the banks and bridges of the River Foyle in Derry/Londonderry Northern Ireland
Jak Spencer and Ralf Alwani
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, London, UK
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, London, UK
Introduction
No reader of this journal will need reminding of the impact that the places we live in have on our mental health. At their best, our cities can be diverse, collaborative, vibrant and open places that support positivity, growth and opportunity. At their worst, they can be lonely, scary and overwhelming filled with deprivation, disorder and desperation. Studies have shown that living in urban areas increases our risk of depression, anxiety and schizophrenia (Adli, 2011). However, as it is commonly reported, urbanisation is well on the increase and therefore, at no time has it been more important to design our urban places for improved mental health and wellbeing.
This article explores the possibility of improving wellbeing by creating shared, safe spaces in urban areas. It presents the Our Future Foyle Project – a community driven design project to improve wellbeing along the banks and bridges of the river Foyle in Derry/Londonderry. The paper starts by introducing the context of Derry and some of the key issues present in the city, before the main themes of mental health and urban design are explored through discussions with a local member of parliament and the arts officer for the local council.
Derry/Londonderry: A cultural hub with problems to overcome
Derry/Londonderry is a border city of approximately 85,000 inhabitants in the north-west of Northern Ireland (figure 1). It is a historic city that dates back to the 6th century and one of the last walled cities in Europe. It is a small city, with a vibrant feel, bustling artists and burgeoning live music scene. The river Foyle, the fastest flowing river in Europe for its size, flows through the heart of the city and separates the ‘City-side’ from the ‘Waterside’ areas.
This article explores the possibility of improving wellbeing by creating shared, safe spaces in urban areas. It presents the Our Future Foyle Project – a community driven design project to improve wellbeing along the banks and bridges of the river Foyle in Derry/Londonderry. The paper starts by introducing the context of Derry and some of the key issues present in the city, before the main themes of mental health and urban design are explored through discussions with a local member of parliament and the arts officer for the local council.
Derry/Londonderry: A cultural hub with problems to overcome
Derry/Londonderry is a border city of approximately 85,000 inhabitants in the north-west of Northern Ireland (figure 1). It is a historic city that dates back to the 6th century and one of the last walled cities in Europe. It is a small city, with a vibrant feel, bustling artists and burgeoning live music scene. The river Foyle, the fastest flowing river in Europe for its size, flows through the heart of the city and separates the ‘City-side’ from the ‘Waterside’ areas.
Figure 1 - Derry/Londonderry location
It was named the UK city of culture in 2013; however, it has overcome a troubled past. For 30 years from the late 1960’s Derry/Londonderry was a central city in the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland - a sectarian and political conflict that claimed the lives of more than 3500 people.
Despite being Northern Ireland’s second city its economy lags significantly behind. In 2017, accountancy firm PWC published its ‘good growth for cities report’ that ranked Derry bottom of the UK’s 57 cities for economic health (PWC, 2017). The unemployment rate in the city is more than twice the Northern Irish average (7.9% vs 3.8%) making it one of the lowest 10 cities in the UK, especially among young people (Rutherford, 2017). Other indicators are also worrying; Derry is well below UK averages in levels of entrepreneurial activity, graduate retention, higher education places and home ownership (Bradley, 2018).
Whilst the ‘Troubles’ of course hindered the economy, the reliance on manufacturing and subsequent relocation of factories to the East had a fundamental impact on the city’s economy. “In 1990 Derry had 18,000 manufacturing jobs, today is has only 3000” (Bradley, 2018). However, despite these issues, many local people lay the blame of low economic prosperity on the Belfast-centric outlook of government funding and public officials. Belfast has benefitted in recent years from a construction and tourism boom. “Between 2011 and 2014, for example, Invest NI gave Belfast’s four constituencies £211.4m in assistance, while Foyle received twelve times less (£17.8m)” (Bradley, 2018). In arts funding alone, Belfast receives £15 per capita, compared to £9 for Derry/Londonderry (Derry Now, 2018). For example, Derry/Londonderry has seen funding cuts in community based arts initiatives such as the Millennium Forum, Verbal Arts Centre, the Playhouse and the Nerve Centre, whilst Belfast based arts organisations such as the Metropolitan Arts Centre and the Ulster Orchestra have been awarded substantial funding (2018).
Despite being Northern Ireland’s second city its economy lags significantly behind. In 2017, accountancy firm PWC published its ‘good growth for cities report’ that ranked Derry bottom of the UK’s 57 cities for economic health (PWC, 2017). The unemployment rate in the city is more than twice the Northern Irish average (7.9% vs 3.8%) making it one of the lowest 10 cities in the UK, especially among young people (Rutherford, 2017). Other indicators are also worrying; Derry is well below UK averages in levels of entrepreneurial activity, graduate retention, higher education places and home ownership (Bradley, 2018).
Whilst the ‘Troubles’ of course hindered the economy, the reliance on manufacturing and subsequent relocation of factories to the East had a fundamental impact on the city’s economy. “In 1990 Derry had 18,000 manufacturing jobs, today is has only 3000” (Bradley, 2018). However, despite these issues, many local people lay the blame of low economic prosperity on the Belfast-centric outlook of government funding and public officials. Belfast has benefitted in recent years from a construction and tourism boom. “Between 2011 and 2014, for example, Invest NI gave Belfast’s four constituencies £211.4m in assistance, while Foyle received twelve times less (£17.8m)” (Bradley, 2018). In arts funding alone, Belfast receives £15 per capita, compared to £9 for Derry/Londonderry (Derry Now, 2018). For example, Derry/Londonderry has seen funding cuts in community based arts initiatives such as the Millennium Forum, Verbal Arts Centre, the Playhouse and the Nerve Centre, whilst Belfast based arts organisations such as the Metropolitan Arts Centre and the Ulster Orchestra have been awarded substantial funding (2018).
The right conditions for poor mental wellbeing
Whilst efforts are being made to improve, the context of the city shows many of the risk factors often associated with mental health issues, including; history of trauma, unemployment, low economic prosperity, drugs and alcohol misuse, social isolation and deprivation (O’Reilly et al., 2008).
Northern Ireland has a 25% higher prevalence of mental health issues than England (Mental Health Foundation, 2016). In 2013, a report by the Men's Health Forum Ireland found Derry/Londonderry to have the highest rate of suicide in Northern Ireland (McLafferty et al, 2016). The report found levels of suicide amongst young men, those growing up after the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1999, coined the ‘ceasefire babies’, to be at ‘crisis level’. Of 28 countries taking part in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative, Northern Ireland has the highest rate of post-traumatic stress disorder that is continuing to be experienced by those who were not born during the conflict period (the ceasefire babies) (2016).
It’s hard to ignore the symbolism of the River Foyle when understanding the negative connotations of the area. As Elisha McCalion, MP for Foyle states:
“The river in the city in past days has been divisive, it has separated communities. Over the past number of years, the river has been seen in a totally different light. Over the past 3 years, since the construction of the Peace Bridge we’ve seen both communities in the East and West bank come together in a way we’ve never seen before. There’s a lot of positivity in and around the riverfront, but unfortunately there is a reality as well, and regrettably a number of people take their own lives in the river”.
The River Foyle and its banks currently have negative connotations for mental health issues. The term ‘Ready for the Foyle’ is a commonly used in jest as a local phrase at times of stress or hardship. This points to the need to reframe the space to reduce the stigma that drives vulnerable people to the river. A recent spike in suicidal incidences and the unfortunate rise in deaths on the river have contributed to pressure to respond by the city. ‘Suicides that occur in public places have far-reaching consequences for the health of others and thereby contribute to the overall burden of mental illness and psychological distress’ (Reisch & Michel, 2005).
The river can be used to share space and heal communities
Reframing the riverfront as a place of positivity was the starting point for the design team at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland.
The riverfront can be seen as a place of positivity, shared and owned by the community. As Brendan Mcmenamin the arts officer for Derry City Council states: “In a way, what it opens up is the potential for us culturally to share ownership of space, and not to divide the ownership”. He goes on to explain that whilst politically, a huge amount has been achieved through the Conflict Resolution that builds on the Good Friday Peace Agreement – these are political documents that are hard to absorb by a lot of people.
“The cultural processes were at the vanguard of the healing of the place. It was the cultural process that are the processes that re-engage people and bring people together or change the conversation. And that’s a process that quite often is never given enough understanding or importance. And that’s the process that is actually building peace on a day to day basis within this place”.
The Our Future Foyle project works within this remit – using art, design, technology and cultural programming to improve the mental health and wellbeing along 6 miles of riverfront in the city.
Urban design for mental health in public space
Since 2016, the team of designers have been working in close collaboration with the local community to address civic concern around mental health and wellbeing along the riverfront. The team have been engaging the local community in a series of events and interactions (see: Bichard et al, 2017) to better understand what people want from their riverfront. These engagements, together with an academic review of mental health in public spaces, led to the idea of creating destinations along the riverfront, that promote activity and festivity in day to day life. This led to 5 key social and cultural projects that are designed with the community that are looking to be deployed by 2020:
1. The Foyle Bubbles:
The Foyle Bubbles (figure 2) are a series of small portable spaces that can be deployed and moved around the riverfront to be dynamic with different events in the city. The ‘Bubbles’ will house community, arts, leisure and commercial groups that can respond to the festivity of the city, creating or supporting events along the river, for example farmers markets, fishing lessons, dance groups or quiet spaces.
As well as generating festivity in the area and incubating entrepreneurial activity, the occupiers of the ‘Bubbles’ will also undergo mental health awareness training to help them spot signs that someone is at crisis along the river. In this way, it helps to provide a community response along the riverfront without the clinical stigma.
Whilst efforts are being made to improve, the context of the city shows many of the risk factors often associated with mental health issues, including; history of trauma, unemployment, low economic prosperity, drugs and alcohol misuse, social isolation and deprivation (O’Reilly et al., 2008).
Northern Ireland has a 25% higher prevalence of mental health issues than England (Mental Health Foundation, 2016). In 2013, a report by the Men's Health Forum Ireland found Derry/Londonderry to have the highest rate of suicide in Northern Ireland (McLafferty et al, 2016). The report found levels of suicide amongst young men, those growing up after the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1999, coined the ‘ceasefire babies’, to be at ‘crisis level’. Of 28 countries taking part in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative, Northern Ireland has the highest rate of post-traumatic stress disorder that is continuing to be experienced by those who were not born during the conflict period (the ceasefire babies) (2016).
It’s hard to ignore the symbolism of the River Foyle when understanding the negative connotations of the area. As Elisha McCalion, MP for Foyle states:
“The river in the city in past days has been divisive, it has separated communities. Over the past number of years, the river has been seen in a totally different light. Over the past 3 years, since the construction of the Peace Bridge we’ve seen both communities in the East and West bank come together in a way we’ve never seen before. There’s a lot of positivity in and around the riverfront, but unfortunately there is a reality as well, and regrettably a number of people take their own lives in the river”.
The River Foyle and its banks currently have negative connotations for mental health issues. The term ‘Ready for the Foyle’ is a commonly used in jest as a local phrase at times of stress or hardship. This points to the need to reframe the space to reduce the stigma that drives vulnerable people to the river. A recent spike in suicidal incidences and the unfortunate rise in deaths on the river have contributed to pressure to respond by the city. ‘Suicides that occur in public places have far-reaching consequences for the health of others and thereby contribute to the overall burden of mental illness and psychological distress’ (Reisch & Michel, 2005).
The river can be used to share space and heal communities
Reframing the riverfront as a place of positivity was the starting point for the design team at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland.
The riverfront can be seen as a place of positivity, shared and owned by the community. As Brendan Mcmenamin the arts officer for Derry City Council states: “In a way, what it opens up is the potential for us culturally to share ownership of space, and not to divide the ownership”. He goes on to explain that whilst politically, a huge amount has been achieved through the Conflict Resolution that builds on the Good Friday Peace Agreement – these are political documents that are hard to absorb by a lot of people.
“The cultural processes were at the vanguard of the healing of the place. It was the cultural process that are the processes that re-engage people and bring people together or change the conversation. And that’s a process that quite often is never given enough understanding or importance. And that’s the process that is actually building peace on a day to day basis within this place”.
The Our Future Foyle project works within this remit – using art, design, technology and cultural programming to improve the mental health and wellbeing along 6 miles of riverfront in the city.
Urban design for mental health in public space
Since 2016, the team of designers have been working in close collaboration with the local community to address civic concern around mental health and wellbeing along the riverfront. The team have been engaging the local community in a series of events and interactions (see: Bichard et al, 2017) to better understand what people want from their riverfront. These engagements, together with an academic review of mental health in public spaces, led to the idea of creating destinations along the riverfront, that promote activity and festivity in day to day life. This led to 5 key social and cultural projects that are designed with the community that are looking to be deployed by 2020:
1. The Foyle Bubbles:
The Foyle Bubbles (figure 2) are a series of small portable spaces that can be deployed and moved around the riverfront to be dynamic with different events in the city. The ‘Bubbles’ will house community, arts, leisure and commercial groups that can respond to the festivity of the city, creating or supporting events along the river, for example farmers markets, fishing lessons, dance groups or quiet spaces.
As well as generating festivity in the area and incubating entrepreneurial activity, the occupiers of the ‘Bubbles’ will also undergo mental health awareness training to help them spot signs that someone is at crisis along the river. In this way, it helps to provide a community response along the riverfront without the clinical stigma.
Figure 2 - The Foyle Bubbles
2. The Foyle Reeds
This is a direct response to suicide behaviour along the bridges of the Foyle. The Reeds are an architectural barrier that aim to prevent planned suicides at particular points along the river (figure 3). Unlike traditional prevention barriers, which can feel imprisoning and promote the negative connotations of the space, the Foyle Reeds is the largest proposed interactive art installation in Northern Ireland. Using the symbol of the reeds that grow along the riverfront, the installation will comprise 12,000 aluminium ‘reeds’ with LED lighting that interacts with the public. People can 'adopt' a reed for a small fee and change the colour and intensity of the lights for a special occasion, thus changing the perception of the bridge to a place of positivity and a local icon in the city.
This is a direct response to suicide behaviour along the bridges of the Foyle. The Reeds are an architectural barrier that aim to prevent planned suicides at particular points along the river (figure 3). Unlike traditional prevention barriers, which can feel imprisoning and promote the negative connotations of the space, the Foyle Reeds is the largest proposed interactive art installation in Northern Ireland. Using the symbol of the reeds that grow along the riverfront, the installation will comprise 12,000 aluminium ‘reeds’ with LED lighting that interacts with the public. People can 'adopt' a reed for a small fee and change the colour and intensity of the lights for a special occasion, thus changing the perception of the bridge to a place of positivity and a local icon in the city.
Figure 3 - The Foyle Reeds lit up at night (left) and controlled through an app (right)
3. Foyle Aware
The Foyle Aware is an education and awareness programme that looks to respond to emotional crisis before being at the riverfront. Whilst still in the development phase, this looks to create dynamic campaigns from the branding of coffee cups in the city to ask questions around mental exhaustion, to media campaigns worked up with local football and rugby clubs to encourage young men to talk more about mental health. The idea here is to signpost people to seek help before being at a point of crisis.
4. Foyle Experience
Inclusivity is at the heart of this project and whilst it seeks to directly improve mental health, other beneficial consequences are also considered. Improving tourism revenue is one area of considerable opportunity as Derry/Londonderry lies at the heart of one of the most scenic coastlines in the world.
The Foyle Experience is a proposed sculpture trail developed in collaboration with local and famous artists to create a contemporary wayfinding scheme in the city filled with dynamic and playful sculptures. This also responds to the problem around the riverfront of isolation and darkness, as the sculptures will incorporate elements of sound and light that can help to make a place feel active and alive even in times of low footfall or late at night.
5. Foyle Digital
This is a digital platform that links all of the different projects through a single interface. The app will enable people to engage with the Foyle Reeds lighting installation or track or book a ‘Bubble’.
The Foyle Aware is an education and awareness programme that looks to respond to emotional crisis before being at the riverfront. Whilst still in the development phase, this looks to create dynamic campaigns from the branding of coffee cups in the city to ask questions around mental exhaustion, to media campaigns worked up with local football and rugby clubs to encourage young men to talk more about mental health. The idea here is to signpost people to seek help before being at a point of crisis.
4. Foyle Experience
Inclusivity is at the heart of this project and whilst it seeks to directly improve mental health, other beneficial consequences are also considered. Improving tourism revenue is one area of considerable opportunity as Derry/Londonderry lies at the heart of one of the most scenic coastlines in the world.
The Foyle Experience is a proposed sculpture trail developed in collaboration with local and famous artists to create a contemporary wayfinding scheme in the city filled with dynamic and playful sculptures. This also responds to the problem around the riverfront of isolation and darkness, as the sculptures will incorporate elements of sound and light that can help to make a place feel active and alive even in times of low footfall or late at night.
5. Foyle Digital
This is a digital platform that links all of the different projects through a single interface. The app will enable people to engage with the Foyle Reeds lighting installation or track or book a ‘Bubble’.
Creating shared safe spaces
This holistic approach to design, from digital platforms, pop-up spaces, awareness campaigns, art installations and architectural interventions, has helped to develop both tangible and intangible shared safe spaces; from the physical design of public space to encourage activity and interaction, to the cultural programming that helps to foster ownership and pride. The interventions are designed to facilitate existing healthcare functions that struggle to gain outreach to the community because they are hidden away in the back of a hospital, with clinical stigma and reduced awareness. Design has enabled a community response to mental wellbeing.
Of course, one of the key factors in the project is in enabling local people to take ownership of the public space. As Brendan continues:
“Historically, public space in this place was seen as dangerous space, because that’s where riots happened and bombs went off and people got shot...people forget here, that it was really only in the late 90’s that people here started to come back into public spaces”.
As a result, people have to ‘re-learn’ how to use public space, and that requires more holistic thinking around not only the design of the physical space, but also the cultural programming within it.
“We don’t live in houses that have empty rooms. A house is not a home until we occupy it, so why do we leave that notion of our public realm and public space to the idea that somehow, now we’ve created it, it will be ok – it won’t!... A guy once said to me ‘how do you create safe space?’ and someone says, ‘you occupy it’. If you occupy space it becomes safe, if you leave space empty it becomes unsafe. And safe in many ways – from individual wellbeing to antisocial behaviour”.
Our Future Foyle aims to create this shared safe space by facilitating the ‘occupation’ of the riverfront through festivity and activity, whilst also making mental health expertise more accessible. In this way, urban design has the power to be able to mobilise a community in regular, consistent, engaging and multifaceted ways – to occupy a space for the benefit of society.
Art and design is not a silver bullet
Our Future Foyle is a design-led project that aims to facilitate a community response to concerns over mental health and wellbeing along a riverfront through art, technology, design and cultural programming. But of course, art and design is not the silver bullet to our growing mental health issues. However, the ability for designers to keep the needs of the local community at the heart of the process, whilst also maintaining a ‘bigger picture’ view of the politics, economics and infrastructure challenges may be key to the success of the project. A previous article argued that designers, that are naturally interdisciplinary, multi-specialists, comfortable with uncertainty, action-led and people-centred (Spencer, 2018), have the attributes to lead on projects that tackle major global challenges such as mental health.
The project aims to generate awareness of mental health issues whilst creating activity and festivity along the riverfront and reclaiming the space as a source of positivity and pride. As the project moves into the development and implementation stage, time will tell how successful this aim is. However, it provides an interesting case study to understand how our mental wellbeing can be effected by the design of our urban spaces. It’s certainly an area for further exploration, as both urbanisation and mental health issues are on the increase.
If you would like to find out more about this project, download the podcast, Designing Different or visit http://www.futurefoyle.org/
Of course, one of the key factors in the project is in enabling local people to take ownership of the public space. As Brendan continues:
“Historically, public space in this place was seen as dangerous space, because that’s where riots happened and bombs went off and people got shot...people forget here, that it was really only in the late 90’s that people here started to come back into public spaces”.
As a result, people have to ‘re-learn’ how to use public space, and that requires more holistic thinking around not only the design of the physical space, but also the cultural programming within it.
“We don’t live in houses that have empty rooms. A house is not a home until we occupy it, so why do we leave that notion of our public realm and public space to the idea that somehow, now we’ve created it, it will be ok – it won’t!... A guy once said to me ‘how do you create safe space?’ and someone says, ‘you occupy it’. If you occupy space it becomes safe, if you leave space empty it becomes unsafe. And safe in many ways – from individual wellbeing to antisocial behaviour”.
Our Future Foyle aims to create this shared safe space by facilitating the ‘occupation’ of the riverfront through festivity and activity, whilst also making mental health expertise more accessible. In this way, urban design has the power to be able to mobilise a community in regular, consistent, engaging and multifaceted ways – to occupy a space for the benefit of society.
Art and design is not a silver bullet
Our Future Foyle is a design-led project that aims to facilitate a community response to concerns over mental health and wellbeing along a riverfront through art, technology, design and cultural programming. But of course, art and design is not the silver bullet to our growing mental health issues. However, the ability for designers to keep the needs of the local community at the heart of the process, whilst also maintaining a ‘bigger picture’ view of the politics, economics and infrastructure challenges may be key to the success of the project. A previous article argued that designers, that are naturally interdisciplinary, multi-specialists, comfortable with uncertainty, action-led and people-centred (Spencer, 2018), have the attributes to lead on projects that tackle major global challenges such as mental health.
The project aims to generate awareness of mental health issues whilst creating activity and festivity along the riverfront and reclaiming the space as a source of positivity and pride. As the project moves into the development and implementation stage, time will tell how successful this aim is. However, it provides an interesting case study to understand how our mental wellbeing can be effected by the design of our urban spaces. It’s certainly an area for further exploration, as both urbanisation and mental health issues are on the increase.
If you would like to find out more about this project, download the podcast, Designing Different or visit http://www.futurefoyle.org/
Acknowledgements
The Our Future Foyle Project is being undertaken by a team of design researchers from the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art funded by the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland. The wider design team consists of Ralf Alwani, Dr Jak Spencer, Dr Jo-Anne Bichard, Jonathan West & Gavin Gribben. Huge thanks to Brendan Mcmenamin and Elisha McCalion for interviews.
References
Adli, M. (2011). Urban stress and mental health. LSE Cities. Retrieved September, 16, 2014.
Bradley, Steve. (2018) Why is Derry so poor and why is nothing being done about it? Slugger O’Toole. March 2018.
Derry Now. (2018). ‘Why does Belfast get more arts funding than Derry?’ - Warning that cash shortfall is harming the northwest's 'cultural ambitions'. Derry Now. June, 2018.
McLafferty, M., Armour, C., O'Neill, S., Murphy, S., Ferry, F. and Bunting, B. (2016). Suicidality and profiles of childhood adversities, conflict related trauma and psychopathology in the Northern Ireland population. Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, pp.97-102.
Mental Health Foundation. Mental Health in Northern Ireland. Fundamental Facts 2016. 2016
O’Reilly D, Rosato M, Connolly S, Cardwell C (2008) Area factors and suicide: 5-year follow-up of the Northern Ireland population. The British Journal of Psychiatry 192(2): 106-111
PWC. (2017). Good Growth for Cities Report.
Reisch T, Michel K (2005) Securing a suicide hotspot: Effects of a safety net at the Bern Muenster Terrace. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour 35(4): 460-7
Rutherford, Adrian. (2017). Three of UK's worst jobless blackspots are in Northern Ireland. Belfast Telegraph.
Spencer, Jak. (2018). Design for Dynamic Challenges: Key attributes for designers in leading interdisciplinary research and projects. Diseña 13, August 2018.
Bradley, Steve. (2018) Why is Derry so poor and why is nothing being done about it? Slugger O’Toole. March 2018.
Derry Now. (2018). ‘Why does Belfast get more arts funding than Derry?’ - Warning that cash shortfall is harming the northwest's 'cultural ambitions'. Derry Now. June, 2018.
McLafferty, M., Armour, C., O'Neill, S., Murphy, S., Ferry, F. and Bunting, B. (2016). Suicidality and profiles of childhood adversities, conflict related trauma and psychopathology in the Northern Ireland population. Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, pp.97-102.
Mental Health Foundation. Mental Health in Northern Ireland. Fundamental Facts 2016. 2016
O’Reilly D, Rosato M, Connolly S, Cardwell C (2008) Area factors and suicide: 5-year follow-up of the Northern Ireland population. The British Journal of Psychiatry 192(2): 106-111
PWC. (2017). Good Growth for Cities Report.
Reisch T, Michel K (2005) Securing a suicide hotspot: Effects of a safety net at the Bern Muenster Terrace. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour 35(4): 460-7
Rutherford, Adrian. (2017). Three of UK's worst jobless blackspots are in Northern Ireland. Belfast Telegraph.
Spencer, Jak. (2018). Design for Dynamic Challenges: Key attributes for designers in leading interdisciplinary research and projects. Diseña 13, August 2018.
About the Authors
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Jak Spencer is Research Fellow and leader of the Social and Global Research Space at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London. His research interests lie in developing the methods and tools of people-centred design to solve difficult global social and business challenges.
He has a PhD in design for behaviour change which developed a framework for understanding and influencing behaviour across different markets. More recently, Jak has worked in industry on a diverse array of people-centred innovation and strategy projects for global brands including Google, Facebook, IKEA and Unilever amongst others. His projects have varied and valuable applications from understanding the household needs of middle income families in India, to developing new models of trust for global technology brands or creating strategies for increased adoption of AI. His work has been disseminated at international industry and academic conferences and published in trade magazines and academic journals. His current research interests include using new technology to solve social challenges; understanding how design can create new models for community wellbeing; and people-centred development solutions for developing contexts. @JakSpencer |
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Ralf Alwani’s work in urbanism and place-making originated from completing a masters at the Royal College of Art specialising in new towns and large urban projects with his work focusing on architecture, community and infrastructure. Since then, he has been consulting for renowned architectural practices on a variety of projects involving public realm, community and residential schemes. One key public project in which Ralf was the design and delivery lead, was the Helix Centre’s studio which operates within the grounds of St Mary’s Hospital as a hub to engage with frontline NHS staff and patients as co-design collaborators. The project is a permanent fixture of the busy hospital environment. Implemented in just 7 days, using prefabricated design methods, the award-winning centre was commissioned by Lord Ara Darzi, Imperial College London and The NHS Trust.
His work since, as creative lead has predominately focused in collaboration with the Helen Hamlyn Centre on the establishment, research and design of ‘Our Future Foyle’, and its development and delivery for the Public Health Agency NI. During this phase, Ralf has gained knowledge of suicide prevention approaches through engaging in academic research, undertaking suicide prevention training and working with individuals with lived experience or those bereaved by suicide. He combined this with a community engagement strategy in which he orchestrated a series of engagement activities at city-wide events that saw 5000 individuals engage with the Our Future Foyle project. This journey lead to the formulation of 5 Key Social and Cultural Interventions that this project looks to deliver by 2020. Ralf’s interests currently lie in public entrepreneurial projects with an architectural outlook, where he is responsible for design and stakeholder engagement with governmental departments whilst gaining political and community buy in. His ambition is to deliver contextual interventions that cut across themes of health, economy, tourism and the environment. Ralf is a Partner at Studio Thursday, a multidisciplinary practice dedicated to thought-provoking design and high-quality projects from public realm to exhibition design. He is also an active fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and has had work published in leading Architecture and Design, healthcare mental health Literature and Journals as well as speaking on urban design and mental health internationally. @ralfalwani |