Supporting collaboration through positive disruption

Author: Prof Jo Patterson, Co-Director, Cardiff University

Over the past month I have been invited to attend a broad range of events to share evidence and discuss the need to transform existing homes in the UK. The framing of the message that I have given has varied depending on the audience, however, the overall theme and potential for impact is the same.

Among other events, I have:

• provided evidence to Welsh Senedd Constituency Members of the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee in their inquiry on the role of the Foundational Economy on the decarbonisation of homes;
• discussed the need for rapid change with The D Group in London, a network of senior representatives from multinationals, emerging growth and specialist suppliers as well as intuitional and government representatives from the UK and internationally;
• presented our research at the ‘Beyond’ Creative sector conference in Manchester where the innovative potential of Creative Cities took centre stage with a broad range of creatives, researchers, industry leaders and experts from across the world’s creative industries;
• observed and guided the various demonstration homes that we have in progress and met with the wide range of stakeholders from residents to funders to supply chains.

No two days are ever like each other!!!

Why transforming homes matters?

We have over 28 million existing homes in the UK. Over 10 million of these are over 80 years old, that were designed and built for very different lifestyles using very different materials and technologies, guided by very different policy and regulation. Changes to these homes has taken place since they were built, depending on who owned and was living within the homes, as well as financial circumstances, policy, fashion and technical advancement taking place.

To enable all homes to be transformed to a standard that provides the quality of life for future generations that we would all hope for, a strategic approach that responds to the needs of the residents whilst being supported fully by reliable and high-quality evidence is required.

Transformation can happen quickly when desired. For example, the benefits of having a warm home were evident in the late 1960s, when regulation and markets acted to support this need. In 1970 only 5.5 million homes in the UK had a central heating system. Within 20 years, 13.5 million heating systems had been installed! It is possible for change to happen; we must ensure that those who need to be part of the change understand what, and why, the change is needed.

One of the biggest challenges is that many different people need to be involved in the transformation, from planning and design, to procurement, implementation, maintenance and operation. Residents, landlords, local authorities, national Government, industry, community organisations and the education system all need to be part of the process. This range of people need to be involved at key stages, understanding why the change is needed, and how and when they should be involved. This collaborative and co-design process requires strong leadership from start to finish, from people who really care – after all, a home is a key part of people’s lives. A balance needs to be struck to ensure that the transformation process takes place at an acceptable pace and is as efficient as possible to minimise costs and people’s time and effort.

Collaboration and communication skills and tools are key to enable this to happen.

Connecting, Communicating and Collaborating

The Transforming Homes project is carrying out different types of research to explore and understand when and how collaboration and communication are needed. We would not be able to successfully deliver our research without this being fundamental to our ways of working with our 50+ strong Transforming Homes consortium. We are now one year into our programme and we have spent quite a lot of this year really getting to know each other. Much of what we have discovered to date can be found on our website.

By focussing on homes built by Councils between 1920-1940, we can thoroughly explore the challenges listed above to ensure our research uses all relevant information and supports co-design and engagement with relevant people to ensure scalability and transferability. From engagement at the different events attended just within the past month, the following collaboration and communication opportunities have been reiterated:

• Co-design and co-creation are critical – Our demonstration homes in Swansea and Bristol are allowing us to co-design transformations with residents and the local authority (who own the homes) who are very much involved in the process. This is supported by input from a wide range of sources including a state-of-the-art literature review, detailed home surveys, computer modelling of the homes, on-site monitoring and supply chain engagement. Having social science experts working closely with the more traditional ‘housing’ teams allow recognised methods to be deployed and robust evidence to be generated. Charettes with residents who live in similar homes across the UK are also taking place to really explore how people feel about 1920-1940 homes and how they can be improved, removing the assumptions that we often make. These activities are enabling the Transforming Homes consortium to produce and share methods to effectively engage with the necessary wider stakeholder groups.
• Sharing relevant information in clear and appropriate ways – Having reliable and robust evidence to make decisions is key. However, it is critical that this is shared with those who need to use it in ways it is understood. Engaging with the creative sector using different methods to transfer knowledge and evidence, such as virtual reality and other visual and audio techniques, will help the ‘why’ and ‘what’ get to the wider audiences. We have already secured funding to deliver demonstration homes under the NPT Homes As Power Stations programme that will be open for visits early in 2025 and continue to explore opportunities for additional funding to allow more innovative communication methods.
• Optimising the use of data and new technologies – A much wider understanding of the potential benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the skills and competencies needed to use AI effectively is critical. The opportunities associated with using AI in the transformation of homes is significant – helping to learn from large data sets and making detailed recommendations on decisions that need to be made.

Ultimately, collaboration and communication between key sectors need to take place, and trust between all stakeholders is key.

The way forward

The desire to work together to make a difference was evident at all events I attended and is becoming stronger. The increased level of collaboration and communication require additional time and money BUT, if they do not happen, the transformation of homes for future generations will not take place at the pace or quality of what is possible and required. The implications are that the wide range of benefits such as improved health and well-being, improved quality-built environment, reduced fuel poverty and our ability to achieve Net Zero targets will be compromised if actions are not taken together.

Credits: Jo Patterson