UNI HEALTH

Newcastle University’s programme as part of UNI HEALTH will consist of a series of presentations on the theme of natural environments and urban health, from individuals working in the academic, public, private and voluntary and community sectors. Confirmed speakers include:

• Barbara Hooper, Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust
• Jill Haley, Byker Community Trust
• Mark Massey, IDPartnership
• Carwyn Thomas, Colour UDL
• Nigel Todd, Greening Wingrove
• Professor Tim Townshend, Newcastle University
• Eleni Venaki, The Comfrey Project
• Zoe Webb, ARUP

We will also be hearing from colleagues at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid on research and innovation in relation to green and blue infrastructure within the Madrid context.

In addition to the presentations, there will also be two fieldtrips:

• The Station Master’s Community Wildlife Garden in Whitley Bay to explore the space and learn how the community developed and applied their vision and the community benefits achieved
• Windy Nook Nature Reserve in Gateshead to learn from the local authority about an exciting vision for a new Carbon Park

The programme will take place at The Core on Newcastle Helix in Newcastle City Centre.  It will run from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October from approximately 10:30 to 17:00 each day.  The programme is open to students at Newcastle University for whom it will form part of “Charrette Week” within the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, which involves participation in one of a number of projects involving design work.  In addition to visiting students from our partner institution, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the week is also open to citizens and professionals.  The programme is free to attend.

Participants will work in groups during the week on a design task.  This will be centred on the prospective redevelopment of an area within Newcastle City Centre, exploring the potential for urban greening. In the early evening of Friday 4 October there will be a small exhibition, with a prize awarded by ARUP for the group work judged to be of the highest quality.

To register to take part please click here. If you are interested in finding out more feel free to get in touch with Dominic Aitken who is the Newcastle University lead for the project: [email protected].

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is the lead partner in the UNI HEALTH project. Its programme has been led by Esther Higueras Garcia, Elisa Pozo Menéndez, Emilia Roman López and Cristina Gallego Gamazo and ran from January to April 2019 with a focus on age-friendly cities.  Students focused on the district of Usera, just south of central Madrid, exploring how the area could encourage active ageing through improved urban design and planning.  Dominic Aitken, Rose Gilroy and Graham Armitage of Newcastle University visited UPM in February alongside Barbara Douglas of Elders Council of Newcastle and Thomas Scharf who was able to join virtually.  The team engaged students and delivered sessions on social research and innovation related to ageing at Newcastle. Rose and Barbara were able to return in April to witness the progress of student’s work and engage with local public officials. In June, Dominic, Tim Townshend and a small group of postgraduate students from Newcastle will attend and participate in UPM’s festival which will celebrate students’ work and engage businesses around the theme of healthy ageing in urban environments. You can learn more about Madrid’s programme here (most of the website is in English), with all of the sessions delivered available to watch via the YouTube channel (including those by the Newcastle team).

We look forward to welcoming UPM students and academics to Newcastle’s programme in the Autumn.

Blog: Countdown to the UNI Health Newcastle Programme begins!

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Blog: Newcastle UNI-Health Programme - A brief summary