This month, Ellie Cosgrave has been challenging our existing assumptions about how to deliver cities which are successfully inclusive
20th June 2023
Ellie Cosgrave, head of CIC and research at Publica, has been busy attending events and discussions centred around representation in the built environment, discussing ways in which we can bridge the gaps between government, community, and designers.
Firstly, she was delighted to join UKREIIF in Leeds for a crucial panel discussion on social value as a key driver of improvement in the UK, ‘Putting the S in ESG: Building a sustainable future with your community’. Ellie, alongside Sadie Morgan, Wesley Ankrah, Mike Saunders, and Selina Mason discussed macro issues as well as bottom-up initiatives to work out what must change to drive improvement in the future. Ellie argued that within the community, “People are already very engaged in issues around housing compared to other urban policies, but are we using that to its full potential? We need to broaden the way we have conversations about the world we live in. People should easily be able to make their wants known, especially on the basics…We need to be more creative in how we include people in design and policy processes to get their real experiences and needs…community knowledge is not often thought of as expertise when it should be.”
She then went online to present at the ‘Data and policy: Representation through Participation’ event. This session put emphasis on empowering individuals to collect data around the things that are important to them and their communities. By placing priority on the people and their lived experience, we create the environment for sympathetic and co-created policy, and more sustainable interventions. Ellie joined Sobia Rafiq, from Sensing Local, and Toyebat Adebisi Adewale from Open Data Manchester, to share her work at Publica.
Putting her expertise to paper, Ellie has recently been published by the Evening Standard in a thought-provoking article called, How to rebuild our cities to be genuinely inclusive for all: We must create urban public spaces where young women feel safe not fearful. The article highlights the importance of creating public spaces and streets that are safe for women and gender diverse people of all races. “Society has reached a critical moment and is finally asking how we can make public space safer. Too frequently, however, I fear we are coming up with inadequate answers.” She argues that all too often, approaches are “patriarchal and disempowering, reinforcing the wrong values…only by listening to communities directly can we begin to create cities that work for them; by seeing them as active participants, rather than moving objects, in space.”
Ellie’s clear message throughout is that we must value the community as a crucial element in discussion, nurture creative visions for the world we want to live in and provide the spaces and tools to allow these voices to be heard.
News ⋅ June 2023
See more
This month, Ellie Cosgrave has been challenging our existing assumptions about how to deliver cities which are successfully inclusive
20th June 2023
Ellie Cosgrave, head of CIC and research at Publica, has been busy attending events and discussions centred around representation in the built environment, discussing ways in which we can bridge the gaps between government, community, and designers.
Firstly, she was delighted to join UKREIIF in Leeds for a crucial panel discussion on social value as a key driver of improvement in the UK, ‘Putting the S in ESG: Building a sustainable future with your community’. Ellie, alongside Sadie Morgan, Wesley Ankrah, Mike Saunders, and Selina Mason discussed macro issues as well as bottom-up initiatives to work out what must change to drive improvement in the future. Ellie argued that within the community, “People are already very engaged in issues around housing compared to other urban policies, but are we using that to its full potential? We need to broaden the way we have conversations about the world we live in. People should easily be able to make their wants known, especially on the basics…We need to be more creative in how we include people in design and policy processes to get their real experiences and needs…community knowledge is not often thought of as expertise when it should be.”
She then went online to present at the ‘Data and policy: Representation through Participation’ event. This session put emphasis on empowering individuals to collect data around the things that are important to them and their communities. By placing priority on the people and their lived experience, we create the environment for sympathetic and co-created policy, and more sustainable interventions. Ellie joined Sobia Rafiq, from Sensing Local, and Toyebat Adebisi Adewale from Open Data Manchester, to share her work at Publica.
Putting her expertise to paper, Ellie has recently been published by the Evening Standard in a thought-provoking article called, How to rebuild our cities to be genuinely inclusive for all: We must create urban public spaces where young women feel safe not fearful. The article highlights the importance of creating public spaces and streets that are safe for women and gender diverse people of all races. “Society has reached a critical moment and is finally asking how we can make public space safer. Too frequently, however, I fear we are coming up with inadequate answers.” She argues that all too often, approaches are “patriarchal and disempowering, reinforcing the wrong values…only by listening to communities directly can we begin to create cities that work for them; by seeing them as active participants, rather than moving objects, in space.”
Ellie’s clear message throughout is that we must value the community as a crucial element in discussion, nurture creative visions for the world we want to live in and provide the spaces and tools to allow these voices to be heard.
News ⋅ June 2023
See more
