A built environment for all ages

This workshop will consider some of the key challenges and barriers to accessing the built environment experienced by the older population. Presentations and workshops will focus on issues relating to inclusive design, the role of research, policy and best practice and the implications for the user.

There is growing evidence that well-designed outdoor spaces can enhance the long-term personal health and wellbeing of those who use them regularly. A Built Environment for All Ages will examine what this means for older people and pedestrians with impaired mobility. With key speakers from Scottish local and national government, leading academics and advocates for older people, the event will make connections between policy, research and practice. Combining short trigger presentations with workshops, it will seek to identify how ‘joined up thinking' amongst all those who shape outdoor environments can create truly inclusive places, from local neighbourhoods to entire cities.

The event is being hosted by I'DGO (Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors), which is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's EQUAL programme. I'DGO is built around a core group of international academics in three leading research centres: the Edinburgh-based OPENspace; SURFACE at Salford; and the Wellbeing in Sustainable Environments research unit, based in Warwick. The multi-disciplinary consortium is a virtual centre of excellence, involving a wide range of partners engaged in older people's issues. With active involvement in the KT-EQUAL initiative, I'DGO operates at the forefront of knowledge transfer and is committed to maximising the accessibility of its research.

The event will be of interest to academics, policy makers, practitioners, older people and other beneficiaries.

For further information, please visit www.idgo.ac.uk or follow www.twitter.com/idgoresearch

Click here for the programme

Please follow the links for presentations:

Catherine Ward Thompson - IDGO TOO (Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors) new insights from current research

Lynne Mitchell/Elizabeth Burton - University of Warwick

Rita Newton - SURFACE, University of Salford

Glenda Watt - Edinburgh - A City for All Ages? Successes and challenges

Helena Scott - Old Themes: New Issues