I-Connect: Co-designing Sustainable Communities
The project investigates a collaborative examination of user needs around Active and Public Transport options between Lancaster and Morecambe Bay. To do so effectively, inclusively, and sustainably requires innovative approaches to policy design, business strategy and entrepreneurship that are practicable at a local level. The objective is to contribute to policy-making approach applying a multi-stakeholder approach that draws on the tripartite partnership of an interdisciplinary academic team, local policymakers and local business leaders.
Recent public consultation events for Eden Morecambe highlighted residents’ concerns about increased traffic levels to the area. An opportunity has arisen for a piece of human-centred design research to take place, supported by Connected Places Catapult and by Lancaster University Management School, which could be deployed to focus on the problem statement outlined above. The outcomes of this research could be used to explore the key pain points, priority needs and desired outcomes experienced by a range of Visitor Personas, relating to their active travel or public transport journey between Lancaster City Centre and Morecambe Bay.
Project funder: Lancaster University Management School
Research question: How can we encourage and enable more active travel & use of public transport between Lancaster and Eden Morecambe?
Objective:
- This project seeks to address the gap in the use of design-led innovation in regional policy-making and local councils where this concept remains in its infancy.
- We seek to address this issue by developing a blueprint for multi-stakeholder, design-led policy innovation that draws on the partnership of an interdisciplinary academic team, students as partners, local policymakers and business leaders.
- This project develops systematic evidence demonstrating the societal impact of the University civic agenda and LUMS’ commitment to responsible management and policy-making.
Timescale
November 2022 – December 2024
Project Outputs
Project report
Newton, Radka; Rindt, Jekaterina; Calvo, Mirian (2026). I-Connect: Co-designing Sustainable Communities (2023 – 2025). figshare. Media. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32521689.v1
Visual ethnography guide
Newton, Radka; Rindt, Jekaterina; Calvo, Mirian (2026). Lived experience mapping. figshare. Media.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32521698.v1
Future scenarios policy briefing
Newton, Radka, Rindt, Jekaterina, Calvo, Mirian and Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place (2025) Future Scenario Planning for Local Policy Making: Lessons from Lancashire. https://doi.org/10.17638/03172472 . Accessible at PB321.pdf
Conference paper
Newton, R., Rindt, J., and Calvo, M. (2024) Future in Place: Participatory Future Scenario Planning for Place-based Local Policymaking, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.294
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