Northern Architecture - Promoting better places in the North East

Crowd Wise is a participative method for taking shared decisions. It produces outcomes which the participants are more likely to support or be able to live with. Crowd Wise is a tested and flexible format which can be used for a wide range of issues and decisions. It can work as a single event, or over a period of time; it can work for 15 people or 1500; it can be used to set priorities, allocate budgets or respond to a consultation.

This document confirms the Government's commitment to regeneration and explains their new approach of supporting and encouraging local authorities and residents to drive local regeneration through the introduction of a wide range of powers, incentives, freedoms and flexibilities through the decentralisation, localism and Big Society agendas. It also highlights examples of government investment in areas like housing, transport and education that provide the infrastructure and conditions for economic growth and regeneration or supports the most vulnerable people and places. This document was first published in January 2011, the link here is to the updated version published January 2012. The document was first published January 2011. This is a link to the updated version from January 2012. Supporting this is a series of tables to show the wide range of policies and funds that you might find helpful in driving forward your own regeneration plans for your area, or seeking to influence your council's regeneration plans.

This presentation on Community Planning was created to present at a North East Historic Environment Forum event on Community Planning. Please contact Kate Percival kate@northernarchitecture.com if you have any questions about the presentation.

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) launched this guide in 2010 which explores and seeks to understand and respond to the needs of older people in the North, and map out the steps the housing sector needs to take to create 'age friendly' homes, neighbourhoods and services which will meet the needs of future generations. The publication is a compilation of findings from a two-year NHC project and sets out to simulate debate, create opportunities for innovation thinking and hopefully act as a useful guidebook to challenge ourselves and the way we work and deliver services.

In 2006 Northern Architecture set up the HOME project in partnership with Newcastle?s Elders Council and Quality of Life Partnership. It set out to learn more about the views and requirements of older people in relation to their homes. Over a number of months a group of older people from Newcastle were involved in a series of workshops that explored the importance and meaning of home. The group undertook a range of activities such as drawing, map-making, discussion, photography and writing which were used to express the positive factors, concerns and practical issues that older people experience in their homes and their local environment. The HOME publication shows how the participants described the issues that they felt made the most impact on their lives. It is designed to provide food for thought and stimulate debate as well as highlighting the importance of engaging with older people in this way. It makes recommendations to ease and overcome some of the issues that older people face and carry key messages to the professionals involved in creating, providing and managing housing and neighbourhoods.