Working Together: Using Auditing Techniques at UWE, Bristol
Sandra ManleyUniversity of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Description of Teaching Contexts
Research carried out in 1994-1995 at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK investigated the way in which local authorities in England and Wales worked to secure built environments that are accessible to all users. (Manley, 1996) This found that there was an incredible range of different approaches to the operation of the same statutory codes. Some local authorities were proactive, others almost inactive. The best had accepted rights based approach to design. Attempting to find out why there was such a wide variety of practice led to the belief that one common theme joined the organizations that were taking universal design seriously. This common theme was that in each of the proactive organizations at least one disabled person had influenced the attitude and approach of the authority towards the work.
Teaching techniques that involve contact with users have been adopted at the University in response to this finding. Establishing this contact has been found to be the most effective way of convincing prospective young architects, planners and other professionals of the importance of a universal approach to design. The essential characteristic of the variety of approaches used has been the provision of opportunities for students to work with different consultants who have direct knowledge of the disabling effects of the built environment. This collaborative approach has been found to work well for students at every level form undergraduate right up to mid career professionals.
Souses of Users
The initial work involved students in working with groups of disabled people to carry out access audits of parts of towns and cities. Contacts were established with various disability groups including MS Link, a particularly active self-support group of people with Multiple Sclerosis in Weston -super-Mare in the south west of England. More recently the contacts have been widened to include opportunities for students to work with other groups such as small children. This has enhanced the learning experience and raised awareness of the disabling effects of the built environment on a wide range of users.
User Profiles
The aim, in selecting appropriate consultants to participate in the activities,
was to ensure that the consultants would also gain from the activity in
some way - perhaps by developing their own skills or by achieving
their own objectives. Developing a symbiotic relationship between the
consultant user group and the students was considered to be crucial to
the success of the activity. It also helped to establish a sense that
all team members were equally valued and that neither group was totally
dependent on the other.
Agreements with Users
The activities, where possible, have been focused on live projects rather than hypothetical schemes. This meant that the benefit to the user of participating in the task were tangible even if no payment was involved.Description of User Involvement
Conducting access audits of buildings, streets and whole areas of towns and cities has been used extensively as a vehicle for this educational experience although other alternatives could be used. (See chapter 58 of the Universal Design Handbook) In these audits students often meet with their disabled colleagues in unlikely venues such as the local pub rather than in the seminar room. Teams of consultants work with the students in collaboration as equal partners in the activity. MS Link, a self-support group of people with Multiple Sclerosis, for example, worked with students to audit the center of Weston-super-Mare, a holiday resort in southwest England.
Audit results have been used to contribute to campaign evidence to lobby for action to make streets and buildings more accessible and to support bids for funding to carry out improvements as well as for educational reasons. The sense that the work is "real" rather than just another university project has added to its success and motivated students. The principle of collaboration has not been confined to working with disabled people, as it is essential that those whose work shapes the built environment understand the diversity of the population in physical, cultural and economic terms. For example, a recent collaboration with school children has led students to realize that the built environment can disable children as well as elderly and disabled people.
The most important outcome of this work has been the way that students have responded to the activity. To quote one of the participants, who is now well on the way to qualification as an architect-planner.
"I shall never forget Roger (a consultant from MS Link) and will always try to design to consider the wide range of different people who will use my buildings."
The involvement of users has been generally integrated into the study program so that the users are present when the project is first introduced, receive the same training as the student group, carry out the audit and continue to work to the end of the project with the student teams.
Preparation of the Users and Students
An initial meeting with the user group is used to explain the programmer to the group but thereafter the user groups and students work together on the task as equal members of a team. No specific preparation is undertaken to warn the students of the participation of the user group. This is mainly to ensure that the students see this as a "normal" not "special" part of the learning process. For the same reason the task is normally carried out in the first year of the course well before students have developed a fixed idea about the nature of the design process.
Issues
- Timing of the work is important to avoid excessive pressure on the teams caused by University assessment deadlines and to ensure that the limited stamina of some of the team members can be taken into account.
- Finding the right venue for joint activities is an important consideration
as the University environment may intimidate some users. The local pub
proved a good venue for the preliminary meetings as students and consultants
met as equals on neutral territory.
Benefits
Students- Learn about diversity of different users
- Learn skills that can stay with them for their whole career
- Have a series of memorable images to remind them of the diversity of
users of the built environment
- Feel sense of achievement in educating new generation of designers
- Develop new skills e.g. scope to become a registered access auditor
- Learn how to use computers
- Publicity may be generated to support particular causes e.g. improvements to street surfaces, barrier removal
- Develop confidence and self worth
References
Manley,S (1996) Walls of exclusion: the role of local authorities in creating barrier-free streets, In Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol.35 Nos.2, 3, Pages 137-152.
Manley,S (2001) Creating an Accessible Public Realm, In Preiser, WFE and Ostroff,E, Universal Design Handbook, Chapter 58,(McGraw-Hill)
For more information, contact Sandra Manley at Sandra.Manley@uwe.ac.uk.
