“Towards a Biophilic Nation: Transdisciplinary Interventions in Design, Education and Policy” was the first biophilic symposium held to mark the inauguration of the Biophilic Centre of Excellence.
Funded by Swansea University’s Morgan Advanced Studies Institute (MASI) through an Agenda Setting grant, this interdisciplinary symposium brought together researchers working on biophilic design from three institutions, Swansea University, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and Cardiff Metropolitan University, as well as external speakers, partners in industry, public sector and civic life. The two-day symposium featured talks on the first day, followed by a day of workshops during which participants engaged in funding scoping and activity planning to develop coherent visions and strategies that will drive the Centre’s goals.
The First Day
Figure 1: Peter Head of Resilience Brokers presenting on “Integrated Systems Planning and Design for Biophilic developments.”
The first day of talks included presentations from Carwyn Davies of Hacer Developments on the progress of the Oxford Street Swansea Biophilic Living Building (BIOSWA) and from Professor Geoff Proffitt on the Hywel Dda University Health Board’s Biophilic Hospital as examples of “Welsh Biophilic Design Case Studies.” Under the theme of “Design,” Peter Head of Resilience Brokers spoke about “Integrated Systems Planning and Design for Biophilic developments” while Helen Kane of Access Included discussed crucial issues around inclusive design and accessibility in her presentation, “Biophilic Design, Inclusion, Neurodiversity and the Built Environment.” Students from UWTSD’s Surface Pattern and Textiles programme also set up a design exhibition to showcase the stimulating work that they had been developing around biophilic design.
Figure 2: Images of the biophilic design exhibition set up by students from UWTSD’s Surface Pattern and Textiles programme.
Adrienne Titley, a PhD researcher at Cardiff Met, presented on flax and its possibilities for education in her presentation, “Field to Fabrication: How can introducing ‘flax to linen’ processes to the curriculum benefit the student learning experience in Wales?.” In relation to policy, Fran Rolfe of NRW and Penny Gruffydd from Swansea City Council provided an overview of the work that they have been collaborating on, with Deb Hill (Swansea City Council), on “Nature Based Neighbourhoods.” Professor Luci Attala of UWTSD, in her role as Deputy Executive Director of UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES (UK), discussed the importance of the humanities for informing climate change policy in her presentation, “UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES: Translating Complex Ideas into Tangible Policy Recommendations in Support of Social Transformations.”
The final two presentations were provided over Zoom by Professor Tim Beatley of the University of Virginia and Steve Nygren of Serenbe, both of whom are affiliated with The Biophilic Institute in Georgia, USA. Beatley surveyed the inspiring global initiatives undertaken by a range of groups to establish biophilia in urban spaces across the world in his presentation on “The Biophilic Cities Network”. As part of the work undertaken by the Biophilic Centre of Excellence, Proffitt, Rolfe, Hill and Gruffydd have completed an application for Swansea City to join the network. Nygren provided an overview of the vision and development of the sustainable community Serenbe, in Atlanta, the first house of which was built in 2004. This example of a biophilic community serves as a model to encourage thinking around the possibilities for nurturing closer relationships within a community that is tied closely to place.
Figure 3: Polly Allburn's illustration of the closing session on the second day.
The Second Day
Figure 4: Polly Allburn's illustration of the opening discussion on the second day.
Galvanised by the positive examples of biophilia and biophilic design in Wales and around the world showcased during the first day, participants came together for a day of workshops to discuss an agenda for researching and implementing biophilic design in Wales through the Centre of Excellence. We were joined by facilitators from BIC Innovation and three student illustrators from Cardiff Metropolitan University, Polly Allburn, Hanny Cnossen and TT Rahmani, who recorded the conversations throughout the day. Points of discussion included the language used to communicate biophilic design, the use of BIOSWA as a teaching tool and for community development, community co-creation and the value of research on biophilia for local communities, regulation and future planning, accessibility to nature and the bridging of the disconnect between nature and urban space. Three working groups were organised to develop projects to investigate these questions.
Figure 5: Hanny Cnossen's illustrations of discussions during the second day.
Figure 6: TT Rahmani's illustrations of feedback from working groups during the second day.
Post-Symposium Activity
The symposium was generative of the following activity:
- A website for the Biophilic Centre for Excellence was developed: https://biophilic.wales/
- An application for Swansea City to join The Biophilic Cities Network was developed.
- A Societal Partner Analysis was recommended as an activity to be pursued.
- An AHRC Mission Awards Outline Application for projects of £2–£3 million was submitted. Entitled “Shared Futures: a transdisciplinary, shared-leadership case study of biophilic living, addressing the challenges of human-nature connections,” the application core team consists of (from Swansea University): Kirsti Bohata (project lead), and project co-leads Andrew Kemp, Chris Pak, Geoff Proffitt, Gethin Matthews, Michael Fowler, Victoria Jenkins; (and co-leads from UWTSD): Luci Attala and Yolanda Rendon-Guerrero.
- Following a CARN Sandpit on the 10th July, Farooq Shah of the Natural Products BioHub (who attended the biophilic symposium) is preparing a UKRI Engaging Healthier Environments Micro Network and Micro Network Plus application on biophilic design.
Figure 7: TT Rahmani's illustration of the closing remarks for the second day.