News archive

December 2011: SURFACE talks tactile paving at Streets & Public Realm Network debate

SURFACE Director, Professor Marcus Ormerod, has shared recent research by the Centre on tactile paving with a group of planning officers and design practitioners in London. Organised by the training, advice and advocacy body, Urban Design London, the event was one in a regular series of ‘tricky issue’ debates held for its Streets & Public Realm Network. With a specific emphasis on blister tactile paving, panellists debated “what works, what doesn’t, and how best to take forward support for those with site impairments whist respecting London’s public environment”. Marcus's contribution was based on ongoing research as part of Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO), a joint study with the Centre for Health, Sport and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Salford, as well as partners in the universities of Edinburgh and Warwick.  

Read further information on the Urban Design London event.

November 2011: SURFACE chairs first Go Far consortium meeting

Professor Marcus Ormerod and Rita Newton have chaired a start-up meeting, hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University, for the new research project, Going Outdoors: Falls, Ageing & Resilience (Go Far).  SURFACE is the lead partner in the multi-disciplinary study, which involves a further six UK research centres, plus representatives of the UK Health & Safety Laboratory, Age UK and Toronto Rehab. Funded by the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing programme, a major cross-council initiative headed by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Go Far will explore the relationship between older people, outdoor falls and the design of the public realm. Our particular contribution will be the development of a pilot protocol for using ‘real world’ engineering tools to assess the slips and trips risk posed by different materials, as well as the project's knowledge exchange and management.  

View and download the Go Far brochure.

November 2011: Marcus and Rita attend older people and sight loss workshop

SURFACE team members, Professor Marcus Ormerod and Rita Newton, have attended a workshop in Glasgow on the theme of keeping safe and maintaining independence for older people with sight loss. Co-hosted by the Thomas Pocklington Trust and the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section for Older People, the event was held as part of a thriving programme of practical workshops run by the knowledge transfer group, KT-EQUAL. Delegates heard from a service user outlining ‘what I need and what helps’, as well as academic researchers, occupational therapists and not-for-profit organisations, including the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and Vision 2020 UK. The welcome address was given by Dr Claire Ballinger who later co-hosted a session with Dr Dawn Skelton; both being partners on new SURFACE research project, Going Outdoors: Falls, Ageing & Resilience (Go Far).  

View the full programme of the KT-EQUAL event on older people and sight loss.

November 2011: SURFACE research presented at global conference on ageing

SURFACE consultant, Máire Cox, has presented the Centre’s work at the first international CARDI conference in Dublin (Éire) on Ageing Globally – Ageing Locally. Themed ‘Planning All Our Futures’, the event was attended by 370 delegates from the world’s leading gerontological research centres and not-for-profit organisations, as well as health and social care providers and policy makers. Speaking in a session on Housing, Technology and Living Environments, chaired by Dr Brendan Murtagh of Queen’s University Belfast, Máire presented findings from the first phase of Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO), during which SURFACE interviewed 200 older people on their experiences of, and preference for, the design of streets and neighbourhoods. MAID graduate, Mark Morgan-Brown, also attended the conference, sharing his experience as a Senior Occupational Therapist at Ireland’s Health Service Executive.  

Find out further information about CARDI (Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland).

November 2011: SURFACE resources now available through Towns and Cities for All

The SURFACE publication, Tactile Paving: design, siting and laying, has been added to the online multimedia library of the Towns and Cities for All programme; a global Network for Excellence seeking an improved quality of life for people living in urban areas. The library currently hosts over 650 resources (in ten languages) on inclusive/universal design, from examples of good practice, to films, web-links, press articles and other documents. It is hosted by the Design for All Foundation based in Barcelona, which invites anyone interested in this area to upload material, including representatives from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Other downloadable material on the Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO) research project includes a six minute film, featuring Professor Marcus Ormerod, Rita Newton and SURFACE partner, Rob Shaw, of the UK Health & Safety Laboratory.  

Access the multimedia library on the Design for All Foundation website.

October 2011: SURFACE research cited in national guidance on shared space

Findings from the landmark research project, Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO), a collaboration between SURFACE, OPENspace (Edinburgh) and WISE (Warwick), have been cited in a new Local Transport Note by the UK Department for Transport. LTN 1/11, which can be freely downloaded from the DFT website, is a roads and road management tool for planners and highway engineers and deals specifically with ‘shared space’. The guidance aims to reduce the dominance of motorised vehicles in high street environments and prioritises the needs of pedestrians, placing particular emphasis on stakeholder engagement and inclusive design. SURFACE was consulted on the Note by invitation, influenced many of the points made and is cited directly in the guidance on seat design (Part 6; Detailed design).

Download the LTN on shared space from the UK Department for Transport website.

October 2011: Marcus Ormerod briefs Scottish Occupational Therapists on sensory impairment and inclusive design

SURFACE Director, Professor Marcus Ormerod, has addressed the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section on Housing (COTSS-Housing) as part of a study day for Scottish OT professionals. The event, entitled Sensing an Opportunity, was the ninth in a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops for the group, who share an interest in the impact of housing on occupational therapy. The programme focused on the needs of service users with a sensory impairment and included a tour of the Forth Valley Sensory Centre, where the event took place. Marcus shared findings from the first phase of Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO), as well as progress from the second phase and new research project, Going Outdoors: Falls, Ageing & Resilience (Go Far).  

Find out further information about the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section on Housing (COTSS-Housing).

October 2011: Marcus Ormerod addresses sixth international design research congress

Professor Marcus Ormerod has presented at CIPED VI, the sixth international Congress of Design Research, in Lisbon, Portugal. Themed ‘An Agenda for Design,’ the event was organised by the Technical University of Lisbon’s Center for Research in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design (CIAUD), of which SURFACE team member, Professor Fernando Moreira Da Silva, is President. One of six guest speakers, Marcus presented on the subject of Inclusive Design and Social Sustainability, a relatively new area for the Congress, which has successfully diversified beyond Communication, Product and Fashion design to address Urbanity, Accessibility and Ergonomics. Lisbon was the first ever European venue for the three-day event, which previously took place in Brazil.  

Find out further information about CIPED VI (toggle between English and Portugese in top-left-hand corner of homepage.)

October 2011: SURFACE forges links with European research project on older road users

By invitation, Rita Newton has addressed a meeting of the pan-European SaMERU (Safer Mobility for Elderly Road Users) research project in Lancaster, UK. The project is led by Southend on Sea Borough Council, which has recently implemented recommendations from the Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO) research project on wayfinding in the town centre. It also involves Lancashire County Council, IFSTAR in France, The Technical University of Dresden in Germany and the local councils of Modena (Italy) and Burgos (Spain). Through the establishment of a sound evidence base, and a co-ordinated EU action plan, its aim is to help local authorities throughout Europe reduce the risk of collisions involving older people.  

Visit the SaMERU website.

September 2011: Marcus Ormerod addresses Nordic Network of researchers in inclusive design

Professor Marcus Ormerod has spoken at a seminar in Copenhagen, Denmark, during a three-day study tour of the city with SURFACE co-founder, Rita Newton. Organised by the Nordic Network on Architectural Research in Design-for-all, the event looked at the interrelations between research and teaching in inclusive/universal design. One of three keynote speakers, Marcus touched on his experiences of both delivering components of Salford’s Accessibility and Inclusive Design course and being a Principal Investigator on projects such as Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors (I'DGO). The seminar, which comprised both plenary sessions and workshops, was sponsored by the Norwegian National Office of Building Technology and Administration and the Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion.