Preventative design: how to build healthy, sustainable communities

Join us for our fourth Place Forum where we will be looking at preventative design-led approaches to solving place issues and long-term planning.  

Preventative design in the context of place-making means thinking ahead during the design phase to anticipate potential issues by incorporating features into places that discourage negative behaviours and promote safety, well-being, and positive social interaction. It can support many aspects of places – from environmental considerations to healthy living to safeguarding investment. 

A collaborative, proactive approach through design thinking helps visualise and test the development of, and changes to places to meet the challenges of the future needs of sustainable places and the well-being of the people who use them.  

The simple provocation for the event is: How do you create healthy and sustainable places that support people’s wellbeing by taking a preventative approach? 

The event will be chaired by Heather Claridge, Architecture and Design Scotland’s Director of Design, and confirmed speakers include:  

• Ewan Anderson, Founding Partner, 7N Architects, speaking about Fraser Avenue - (Re) Growing The Place - a collaborative approach to the award-winning regeneration of Fraser Avenue in Inverkeithing which focused on making it a sustainable place and cultivating an enduring, sustainable, community
• Rekha Barry-Houston, Senior Architect, Anderson Bell Christie, speaking about Creveul Court, Alexandria, speaking about  future-proofing affordable housing stock by incorporating designing for dementia principles in a town centre setting 
• Kevin McGeough, Head of Strategy and Place-making at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and A&DS panellist, speaking  about delivering a Healthy Garden City for the 21st century and share the lessons of delivering Ebbsfleet, the first Garden City in the UK for 100 years, to Healthy New Town objectives
• Christine Owen, Associate Director (Scotland), Innovation Unit, speaking about designing community led, place-based innovation programmes 
• Rodney Mountain, Tayside NHS Surgeon and Healthcare Improver, speaking about the value of appointing a project artist from day one and the use of Ethnographic Observation, recording human activities and interactions within specific environments

Place Forum brings together practitioners and decision-makers from all sectors and all parts of the country. The aim of the Forum is to share experience and learning and capture issues related to place-based working.

Our hope is that the Forum is very beneficial to those who attend and allows us to better understand the barriers that still exist in changing the way we plan, design and build our places.