Worldwide, growth in the older population creates a pressing need to develop supportive environments that enhance quality of life as people age. Too often, built environments present barriers and challenges to older adults that compromise independent living and adversely affect health and life outcomes. Designing homes, buildings, and neighborhoods with older adults, through exercises in participatory or co-design, could help ensure that environments are better able to facilitate healthy aging. However, while it is potentially advantageous to involve this age group in environmental design decisions, doing so can be difficult. Analysis of and guidance on effective ways to involve older adults in these activities could make the challenge easier. With this aim in mind, this article provides critical perspectives on eight “less traditional” engagement techniques—walking interviews, photovoice, photo-elicitation, Talking Mats^®, participatory mapping, drawing, model-making, and the “Design Fair”. Insights into the strengths and limitations of these techniques, gained from observation of their use in participatory design activities, as well as feedback collected from older co-design participants, are presented. The article concludes by offering a number of practical recommendations for those interested in designing age-friendly homes and neighborhoods with older people.

Background: Contact with natural environments can bring health benefits, but research is lacking on how changes in access to natural environments might improve health, especially for deprived populations.Objective: To evaluate the health impacts of woodland environment interventions intended to increase communities’ engagement with these woodlands.Design: A prospective study of Forestry Commission Scotland’s Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) programme in deprived communities to enhance public access to natural environments. The study investigated the impact that WIAT had on community-level mental health over time.Setting: Three intervention and three control woodland sites, and associated communities within 1.5 km of the woodlands, located in central Scotland and eligible for WIAT support.Participants: A core community survey was administered at each site in three waves, at baseline and after each phase of intervention (n = 5460, panel A). The completed survey contained a nested longitudinal cohort (n = 609, panel B). Community members also undertook 6-monthly environmental audits at all sites (n = 256) and participated in post-intervention focus groups (n = 34).Interventions: Phase 1 involved physical changes to the woodlands, including footpaths, entrances and vegetation. Phase 2 involved community engagement events promoting woodland use.Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Other health measures included health-related quality of life (HRQoL) EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), physical activity (PA) [International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)], connectedness to nature [Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS) scale] and social cohesion.Results: The PSS scores significantly increased in the intervention group and marginally decreased in the control group. Multilevel regression models showed a differential impact between the intervention and the control at survey wave 3 in panel A [B(unstandardised coefficient) 3.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.85 to 4.31;p < 0.001] and in panel B [B3.03, 95% CI 1.54 to 4.52;p < 0.001]. Using the same analytical approach, no significant change in HRQoL was associated with the intervention. Economic assessment included an illustrative cost–utility analysis and a cost–consequences analysis. The differential in stress between the intervention group and the control group was lower or non-significant in those who visited ‘nature’ in the previous year [panel A,B1.9, 95% CI 0.8 to 3.0;p < 0.001; panel B,B0.64, 95% CI –1.60 to 2.88;p = 0.57]. The IPAQ score showed a positive association with the intervention for moderate levels of PA [panel B,B559.3, 95% CI 211.3 to 907.2;p = 0.002] and overall PA [panel B,B861.5, 95% CI 106.5 to 1616.4;p = 0.025]. The intervention was also associated with increased nature connectedness and social cohesion by wave 3 – significant for panel A only. Qualitative and quantitative evidence showed that interventions increased the perceived quality of the woodland environment and enhanced its enjoyment for different activities, but the increase in use of natural environments post intervention was only 6% (panel B).Limitations: This study was limited to three intervention sites. External factors may be the primary influence on health outcomes.Conclusions: The WIAT interventions did not improve community-level health within 6 months of completion, and hence there was no basis for demonstrating cost-effectiveness. However, the WIAT interventions are low cost (average £11.80 per person in the eligible population) and have potential for cost-effectiveness, if health benefits were found in the longer term.Future work: Using routinely collected data to consider a whole-programme evaluation is recommended.Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme.

The ongoing “massification” of higher education in the UK has generated increased demand for student housing. Some of this demand is being met by new, purpose‐built student accommodation, but much is being met through an intensification of student properties in established “student areas,” and the expansion of student housing into neighbourhoods previously unaffected by high levels of student in‐migration in a process termed “studentification.” Previous research indicates that the arrival of multiple student households in established residential areas creates conflict and adversely affects the non‐student population. Wishing to understand better these effects, this paper draws on focus group discussions completed with 11 diverse residents’ groups based across Southampton, an English university city, which explored attitudes towards, and experiences of, studentification. Seeking a more robust theorisation of the sociospatial impacts of, and responses to, this process, the findings are considered in relation to Foucault's concept of “heterotopia.” Reflecting previous findings, the residents’ groups emerged as firm critics of studentification. Considered against Foucault's concept, it appeared that the “heterotopian” qualities of studentified areas formed the points of most concern. Implications for the future of studentified areas, and for the concept of heterotopia, are explored.

Accumulating evidence suggests that a range of benefits might accrue from conducting teaching and learning outside in natural environments, and more broadly, from incorporating some kind of contact with nature into teaching and learning activities. Although this evidence does not stem from studies that have focused on geographical higher education, geography educators may be interested in the possible implications for their teaching practice. Framed by this concern, this review considers the evidence for nature’s beneficial effects, primarily in relation to learning, but also in terms of academic performance, cognitive function, health, wellbeing and personal development. It is concluded that it might be desirable for geography educators to explore opportunities to increase geography students’ contact with nature. Practical recommendations for how this could be achieved are suggested.

Successfully combining paid work and various forms of social and civil participation is commonly assumed to be beneficial to both individuals and society. However, integrating these aspects can be difficult, partly because they can be connected through relationships that operate in opposing directions. Combining paid work and participation over the long term can be especially challenging, as the factors informing each continuously evolve. This balancing act may be particularly difficult for women who, relative to men, often manage greater caring responsibilities alongside work. To build understanding of these matters, we weave together the participation and work-related content of the UK's National Child Development Study and the associated Social Participation and Identity Study (2008). Using TSOL (total social organization of labor), we unpack a bidirectional relationship between these items and highlight the importance of household dynamics and gender. Paid work's flexibility, autonomy, predictability, and intensity also emerge as important elements in achieving a sustainable work-participation balance.

Measures of prosocial behavior can influence policy, legislation, investment, and inform assessments of the overall state of society. Evidence suggests that methods are important in determining these measures. To widen and deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between these items, we compared participation and volunteering data from a national birth cohort study (National Child Development Study [NCDS]) with data from a linked qualitative study, the Social Participation and Identity Study (SPIS). We evaluated the strengths and prosocial behavior content of each and explored possible links between their respective methodologies and participation and volunteering estimates. We found that prompts and probes were associated with higher estimates and narrow filter questions with lower estimates. The SPIS afforded detailed insights into lived experiences and personal narratives of volunteering and participating, whereas the NCDS supported analysis of these behaviors over time and from a lifecourse perspective. Implications for researchers and policy makers are considered.