Cat Drew, UK Design Council: We Must Design More Resilient Communities

Today, in the wake of Brexit, the UK is in a similar position of rebuilding. Then Covid-19 introduced another layer of complexity—and opportunity to redesign communities for the better. “This is a traumatic time, but there have been hopeful possibilities,” says Cat Drew, the Chief Design Officer for the UK Design Council. “Design is good at being hopeful, seeing where there is energy and opportunity, and designing from that.” These areas include more local workforces, greener public spaces, digital services that allow for stronger emotional connections, and 15-minute neighborhoods where citizens can access all of their day-to-day needs within a short trip.

Designers can drive this change, but it must be done in partnership with community design networks, says Drew. This means gathering ideas from people who are not trained designers and come from very different backgrounds. They can use their creativity and resourcefulness to make public spaces more inclusive and resilient. Drew shares what the UK Design Council has learned about developing community designer networks, and how we might apply them in our neighborhoods.

Tell us more about the networks of community designers: What is the need for them?

It comes from our belief that design is a mindset as well as a skill set. Key attitudes around the head (creative problem solving or sparking opportunities), the heart (caring for others and nature), and the hand (a “make and see what happens” approach) are things that we all can do. 

We’ve seen this in programs we’ve run like Spark, which was a product incubator focusing on products that help people live independently at home. The majority of people who applied to this programme were not trained designers, and quite often they had created a workaround to help someone they were caring for. For example, Andy Speechley created a raised-seat bidet to help someone wash themselves and maintain dignity at home (rather than going to a care home). Ruby Gregory developed cut-proof gloves to help those with dementia. (The gloves are also useful for young kids.) Esher N’jie created post-cesarean pants, as there is absolutely nothing on the market for women otherwise. We supported them through a design program, helping them research, prototype, and test their ideas and get them to market.

Transform Ageing was another program, based in local communities southwest of England. Sixty-two social enterprises received support to develop products and services for people later in life. For the first year, we spent time with older people, understanding their aspirations and needs to create the design briefs. The older people said, “We don’t want to just tell you what we want. We want to create it ourselves.” We pivoted the funding to make it available for older people, and in the end 46% of the social enterprises were led by people in later life, creating beautiful services like a forest-bathing dementia service. Or a memory cafe, which reduced social isolation and generated £3.62m income, 193 jobs, and 800 volunteering opportunities.

Who might join these networks? What type of perspectives could they provide?

Our hunch is that a network of people working in similar ways across different neighborhoods, villages, and towns can share things that work (and don’t) and support each other. They can help amplify the value of this work to local governments and charities and identify patterns in the barriers they’re facing so they can be changed.

They would have a better knowledge of what resources and energy exist within communities, which are the ingredients for design. Rather than create something new, it’s about starting with what’s there but not always seen. 

 In what ways can community designers improve their neighborhoods? 

In so many ways! During Covid-19 we have seen communities being hugely resourceful and iterative to create new services to get food to those who need it, adapt local green spaces so people can use them for play, and connect together to reduce loneliness.

Our research on design for health and well-being has shown that community engagement is essential, not just finding out what communities want or need, but also supporting them to create change themselves. One of our design associates, Umi Baden-Powell, shared research from British behavioral science researcher Dr. Daisy Fancourt. It says, “The act of community engagement in its own right has also been proven to be a process that improves health and well-being.” So as well as making things better for others, community designers can also improve their own well-being!

 How do you frame it so people who might not view themselves as “designers” believe they can participate and contribute is this effort?

At the Design Council, we talk about design being about three attributes: the head, the heart, and the hand. The head is about creativity and imagination. Everyone has imagination. Everyone can dream. The second is the heart. Empathy for others and a connection with the planet is something we all have in abundance. The third is skills, and anyone can draw a stick person. It’s about conveying a message visually—and it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece.

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Further Reading: There are other amazing organizations doing work to increase community participation (for example, Participatory City), that are supporting local people to make change (e.g. Local Trust), creative place-making (e.g. the Creative Community Placemakers Network) and movements that bring communities together in more ecologically sustainable ways to create a global movement (The Transition Towns movement), says Drew.

Cover image artwork created by Catherine Cordasco. Submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives - help stop the spread of COVID-19. Via Unsplash.

Matt McCue is the co-founder of Creative Factor. He lives in New York City, but is willing to travel long distances for a good meal.