About I’DGO

1. The I’DGO consortium – a virtual centre of excellence

I’DGO is a research consortium consisting of a core group of academic researchers who, together with a wide range of partners, constitute a virtual centre of excellence focusing on design of outdoor environments to include older people and disabled people.

The I’DGO (Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors) research consortium has a continuing overall aim to identify the most effective ways of ensuring that the outdoor environment is designed inclusively to support the needs and preferences of older people, to improve their quality of life. In focusing on the changing needs of older people, the consortium will address design issues that are relevant to a wider range of people in society who face similar barriers in accessing the outdoor environment.

2. The academic consortium

These academic research centres form the core academic members of the I’DGO consortium.

OPENspace

OPENspace: the research centre for inclusive access to outdoor environments at Edinburgh College of Art and Heriot-Watt University, has expertise in: disability and social inclusion, children’s outdoor environments, health and restorative environments, and tourism. It brings together leading researchers in landscape architecture, environmental psychology, quality of life measures, and design for older people and disabled people. For our second I’DGO project (I’DGO TOO), OPENspace is collaborating with the Geriatric Medicine Unit at the University of Edinburgh.

For more information: www.openspace.eca.ac.uk

Researchers: Professor Catharine Ward Thompson, Professor Peter Aspinall, Professor Archie Young, Dr Takemi Sugiyama (until 2006), Dr Susana Alves, Dr Katherine Southwell (IDGO 1).

I’DGO Administrator: Anna Orme.

WISE

WISE (Wellbeing in Sustainable Environments) is part of the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) at Oxford Brookes University. WISE research looks at the relationship between the built environment and human wellbeing, mental health and quality of life. WISE has established an international reputation in research on urban design for older people, particularly those with dementia. OISD is a multi-disciplinary centre which promotes sustainable development in the built environment, provides information through research, consultancy and training and enables new sustainability ideas to become a reality.

For more information: www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/be/oisd/index.html

Researchers: Dr Elizabeth Burton, Lynne Mitchell, Dr Nicola Dempsey and Amanda Griffin.

Earlier EQUAL project: Designing Dementia-Friendly Outdoor Environments

SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre

SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre at the University of Salford undertakes research, consultancy and masters' level teaching in designing effective indoor and outdoor environments suitable for everyone to use. For our second I’DGO project (I’DGO TOO), SURFACE is working with the Centre for Rehabilitation and Human Performance Research (CRHPR) at the University of Salford.

For more information: www.surface.salford.ac.uk

Researchers: Rita Newton, Professor Marcus Ormerod, Dr Vanja Garaj (until 2006), Hamish MacLennan, Faruk Mohammad and researchers from the Centre for Rehabilitation and Human Performance Research - Dr Laurence Kenney, Dr Christopher Nester, Professor David Howard and Dr Sibylle Thies.