I-Connect: Co-designing Sustainable Communities

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.

I-Connect research approach stems from a combination of Systems thinking and Design thinking. We take a human-centred approach to data collection focusing on defining the right problem underpinned by thorough consultation with key stakeholders. The main methods we apply is immersive place-based ethnography supported by videography and cultural probes. The detail of our approach is explained in the videos on this page.

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.

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.