Pathways to Well-Being in Design: Examples from the Arts, Humanities and the Built Environment

How can we achieve and promote well-being? Drawing on examples from the arts, humanities and design, this book brings together work from a wide range of areas to reveal the unique ways in which different disciplines approach the universal goal of supporting well-being.

Pathways to Well-Being in Design recognises that the distinction between academics and practitioners often becomes blurred, where, when working together, a fusion of thoughts and ideas takes place and provides a powerful platform for dialogue.

Providing new insights into the approaches and issues associated with promoting well-being, the book's multi-disciplinary coverage invites readers to consider these ideas within the framework of their own work.

The book's 12 chapters are authored by academics who are involved in practice or are working with practitioners and features real world case studies which cover a range of situations, circumstances, environments, and social groups.

Pathways to Well-Being in Design responds to those wishing to enquire further about well-being, taking the reader through different circumstances to consider approaches, discussing practice and theory, real world and virtual world considerations.

This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand well-being, including students and professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, design and health sciences.

Richard Coles is Emeritus Professor of Landscape in the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, based in the Faculty of the Arts, Design and Media, Birmingham City University, UK. His research involves understanding the nature of environmental interaction and the development of environments that are supportive of the needs of users.

Sandra Costa is a Researcher and Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, Birmingham City University. Her research examines the nature of person-place interactions, exploring the choreographies of the experience and how individuals negotiate wellbeing. She received her PhD from Birmingham City University researching immersive walking techniques involving self-narrated walking.

Sharon Watson is a Landscape Architect focusing on aspects of community engagement and research involving children. She has extensive experience of working with schools and the educational sector, where she has developed sophisticated child-centric methodologies involving the use of digital media. Her current research involves working with children in investigating their responses to the natural world and the different agencies offered by current technology, focusing on the wild places that exist in urban situations. She holds a PhD from Birmingham City University.