Breaking down the silos between disciplines and create supportive and effective housing for people with complex needs
Created on 19-10-2023
The built environment profoundly impacts our mental, emotional, and physical well-being and promotes empowerment. In the supportive housing sector, people often live with complex needs. This means that it is crucial to consider the separate disciplines of housing, health, technology, design, and social care together. One of the main challenges is that academics in these different fields often don't speak the same language. There is also a communication gap between academics and non-academic members of society, especially those in the housing and care sector. To overcome these challenges, we need to go beyond the boundaries of specific scientific disciplines and bring together different theoretical perspectives and practical solutions. This will help us to develop better policies and programs for people in vulnerable situations.
System knowledge
Actors
Housing developers
Non-profit and for-profit housing organisations that undertake various tasks, such as the construction and management of housing.
Universities
National government
This actor represents the central governing body and authority responsible for overseeing and managing the affairs of a nation, including policymaking, legislation, and implementation within a certain geographic area.
Local government
This denotes the administrative authority responsible for governing and managing local affairs within a specific geographic area, such as a city, town, or district, through local policies, regulations, and services.
Architects and designers
Non-profit organisations
Urban planners
Policy makers
Policy makers are individuals or groups responsible for developing and implementing strategies, regulations, and initiatives aimed at addressing housing-related issues within a given region or jurisdiction. Their primary role is to create policies that influence housing affordability, accessibility, and quality, while also considering social, economic, and environmental factors.
Civil society organisations
Civil society organizations, often abbreviated as CSOs, are non-governmental, non-profit entities formed by citizens to address various social, political, or humanitarian issues. They operate independently from the government and business sectors and play a vital role in advocating for public interests, promoting civic engagement, and providing services or support to underserved communities.
Experts
By experts, I mean individuals with specialized knowledge and experience in areas such as housing policy, urban planning, and affordable housing management. For example, housing policy researchers at a think tank, or city planners with expertise in sustainable housing development can be considered experts in this field.
Local authorities
Local authorities, also known as local governments or municipal governments, are administrative bodies responsible for governing and providing services to specific geographic areas, such as cities, towns, or counties. They manage local public affairs, infrastructure, and policies, and are accountable to the residents within their jurisdiction.
Method
Knowledge co-creation
A collaborative process in which individuals or groups with different backgrounds and expertise come together to generate new knowledge, insights or solutions collectively. This approach recognises that knowledge creation is not limited to experts or academics but can come from exchanging ideas, experiences and perspectives from various sources.
Transdisciplinary approach
A transdisciplinary approach in housing research involves integrating insights, methodologies, and expertise from diverse fields beyond traditional housing studies, such as sociology, economics, architecture, and environmental science, to address complex housing-related issues. This approach seeks to foster holistic, innovative solutions that account for the multifaceted nature of housing challenges and promote collaboration among experts from various domains.
Tools
Transdisciplinary collaboration
Transdisciplinary collaboration refers to a collaborative approach in which individuals from different disciplines and fields work together to address complex problems or research questions that require insights, methods, and expertise from multiple domains. This collaboration involves the integration of knowledge and perspectives from diverse backgrounds to develop innovative solutions or gain a comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand.
Workshops
Workshops are structured and interactive sessions or gatherings in which participants engage in hands-on learning, problem-solving, and skill development related to a specific topic or activity. Workshops are typically conducted in a group setting and often involve practical exercises, discussions, and collaborative activities to achieve specific learning objectives.
Target knowledge
Topic
Social sustainability
Housing policy
Housing policy refers to a set of rules, regulations, and government initiatives designed to address various aspects of housing, including affordability, accessibility, quality, and housing market stability. These policies are developed to guide and influence the housing sector to meet the housing needs of a specific population or region, and they can encompass a wide range of measures, from subsidies and zoning regulations to support for affordable housing and addressing homelessness.
Transformational knowledge
Partnership
Real connection between theory and practice
Deep understanding of the difference between practice and academia
Finding common ground
Fostering collaboration between different disciplines can enhance sustainable housing initiatives