We would be greatly honoured to have you at the event.
Health and the Built Environment | Creating Psychologically Informed Environments for Safety and Resilience
MEETING LINK | Panelist | https://christuniversity.webex.com/christuniversity/onstage/g.php?MTID=e8fb0d063ffe046d56a6116f5b8289f02
EVENT DATE | 24 JULY, 2021
EVENT TIME | 10:00 AM (IST) | 05.30 AM (BST)
ABOUT THE WEBINARWe are indeed glad to conduct the first interdisciplinary Webinar, interfacing Architecture and Psychology, and on Biophilic Design. Through this Webinar, we intend to build new [action-oriented] research relations and projects with the UK-based cohort CWE. It has also been made as part of the Re-orientation session of Sr students. [Student Registration/Joining Link: https://qrgo.page.link/tmyzP you may kindly circulate it to any interested student across the world]
The webinar on "Health and the Built Environment: Creating Psychologically Informed Environments for Safety and Resilience" would have panelists from a UK cohort, the CWE team, hailing from various disciplines such as Cognitive Science & Data, Applied Neuroscience, Operation & Services, and Social & Cultural leads. CWE | Citizens with Experience is a fluid collective | based in the UK to develop research, innovation, and methodologies to make lives better. https://cwe.solutions/
Rob is Health & Built Environment Lead at CWE, studied at London South Bank University, Imperial College/NIHR. Construction on and Design specialist, Collaborative Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care. Passionate about the intersection of the Built Environment and Psychology, Biophilic Design and Regenerative Futures
Daniel is Cognitive Science & Data Lead, Studied at Dartmouth College, King's College London. Cognitive Scientist, STEAM (STEM + Arts) facilitator, and Data Strategist/ Adviser. Passionate about the ethics and accessibility of human-centered data and inclusive science.
Naomi is Applied Neuroscience Lead, studied at King's College London, Cambridge University. Learning & Leadership Development Specialist, Applied Neuroscience Consultant, Cognitive Behavioural Coach. Passionate about bringing neuroscience to life through research, leadership, learning, and development for social good.
Sean is Operation & Services Lead, studied at Cambridge University, MIT, Manchester University. Innovation delivery specialist & coach. Passionate about designing and bringing new products, wearable technologies, and experiences to people through human-centered design.
Aaron is the Social & Cultural Lead, studying at Cardiff University, Human Geography Student, Passionate about place-making and playful, biophilic, and spatial design
Summary of the event
The emcee for the seminar was Eshita Iyer. The session started with a formula welcome from Anitha Suseelan, the Head of Department at the School of Architecture. As part of the introduction, she played a short video about a house front in a village in Kerala titled “Third Space”. This was followed by an introduction of the panelists from CWE who joined the webinar from London. This was followed by an opening note by Dr Fr Benny Thomas, Director of the School of Architecture), where he explained the importance of interdisciplinary learning and work, relevant to the webinar being hosted as a collaboration between the Department of Psychology and School of Architecture.
The presentation by the panelists started with an introduction to the Citizens With Experience Organisation, and their central focus of the connection among people, place, and planet. They explained how designs always end up going differently from how they were initially planned and thus, there was a need to consider the “most likely development” and mitigate and manage the negative impacts of it. They presented a novel model that considered a continuum of two types of build environments, those in mind and those out of mind. They also discussed the influence of neuroaesthetics in their work, which is the neurological basis of aesthetic experience.
The CWE team then moved onto a major agenda for the webinar, which was on democratising design through recognising inclusion and democratising research. They supported equity, agency, and diversity as important pillars in design. They discussed the decolonising, demasculinizing, de-ageing, dephysicalising, and dehumanising of design. The design that CWE pursued was heavily based on biophilic design principles, which is an approach that seeks to fuse nature with architecture. They discussed Impact Thinking as a research approach for the same, based on the STEAM model which integrates the STEM fields with education and art. This is an interdisciplinary approach that allows for critical thinking and facilitates collaboration.
The panelists then moved on to discussing the “Network of Networks” and collective intelligence. They suggested that connection is important for turning knowledge into wisdom, which includes connecting safely and with purpose. They presented “The Whale” or the Closed Loop Model, which illustrated an iterative process of engaging with others, providing value, and growing our collective knowledge for the future.
Moving ahead with the nature-based approach of the CWE, they talked about the need to aim towards a “regenerative future” beyond sustainability. They explain how the modern city is an asset- and finance-based petropolis, and there is a need to shift to an “ecopolis” which is an ecologically as well as economically restorative city. They described the need for our economics to doughnut economics based on social foundations and limited by an ecological ceiling. Utilising indigenous knowledge and science and incorporating biomimicry into architecture were proposed as solutions. They showed a video on the WeThePlanet campus.
The last topic of the webinar was on Psychologically Informed Environment, where our psychological experiences of architecture inform our design of the same. They talked about Ontological Designing, a way of characterising the relationship between human beings and “life-worlds”, and applying it to architecture. There is a need to create Psychologically Safe Spaces which encourage striving and thriving. They discussed the benefits of interacting with nature on performance, which aligns with their biophilic approach to architecture and design. They explored how neuroscience can unlock the potential in built environments.
This was followed by a Q&A section moderated by Jyothi Gupta. Closing remarks were given by Dr Vijayalaya Srinivas, the Head of the Psychology Department, followed by the Vote of Thanks by Eshitha Iyer. The webinar successfully came to an end with the CHRIST University anthem.
