Building Sustainable Communities - Online CPD Unit
Activity 5: Place-making
Place-making is gaining currency as the term used to describe assessment and decision-making about the built environment. This includes a negotiation between stakeholders with a variety of expectations of how we want to live, work and play.
A useful tool for evaluating the urban environment is 'Placecheck'. This structured sequence of questions has been devised for use with community groups, however the first two parts are equally valid for use with young people. It is usually applied with the practical experience of an organised walkabout. The version presented here is in Word format to allow the answers to be more easily recorded.
Download Parts A and B of Placecheck in a PowerPoint which allows both a presentation and a structure for collaborative completion of a 'Placecheck'. Part C is at a higher level of detail and would require selection and much more teacher guidance.
Choose the Word or PowerPoint version to create an initial response to your own community.
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is the government's advisor on architecture, urban design and public space. It presents links to a range of tools for evaluating the urban environment on this section of its website.
Where would you most effectively include these tools in a scheme of work?
Review the possible use of digital tools mentioned so far. These have included online mapping and use of photographs. Is there scope for use of PDA (personal digital assistants) and GPS (global positioning systems)?
Summary
We have considered a little about pedagogy, or approaches to teaching and learning, and looked specifically at the use of photographs for understanding the meaning of communities. This was followed by an exploration of place-making and tools used in the community and possible use in the classroom. You will have evaluated the appropriateness of using these techniques as part of fieldwork at either Key Stage 3 or GCSE.
Now go to Taking it further Part 2 >>>
This project was run in partnership with the Academy for Sustainable Communities which has since become the Skills and Knowledge team at the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
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