Long before the pandemic hit, loneliness was an urgent public health issue. Now, in the wake of physical distancing and isolation, we risk a social recession. Here's how changemakers offer an antidote to loneliness.
Fourteen Ways Councils Can Help Combat Loneliness
Local authorities are increasingly recognising the need to invest in services that help keep people connected to their communities and develop friendships. In this article, The Guardian crowdsource expert advice on how councils can and are addressing it.
In this opinion piece, author Julie Holtz looks at approaches to loneliness from the US to Britain and Australia. Noting that for policymakers, it comes down to the transitive property; if “high-quality public space enhance sense of community”, and if "sense of community" is inversely related to loneliness, then creating shared social spaces could both reduce loneliness and prevent it from the outset.
What about participating in one's community produces such positive effects on people? The most important way civic participation yields positive results is by increasing and enhancing our social networks – the people with whom we interact daily. Here, Dr Mark Pancer explores the Participation Phenomenon.
In 2020, the Loneliness Lab brought together 200 members from their global community to share learning and inspire action. From conversational corridors to meaningful masterplans, the group shared aspirations and examples for designing cities that bring people together, not keep them apart and captured their insight in the Design to Connect Report.
Department of Transport Western Australia are making good use of the Places tool on the EastLink WA page. With multiple layers, a good legend and clear instructions for participants, they are presenting a complex project and gathering open feedback from the community.
Your Say Manningham | Cat Jump Park Draft Master PlanA detailed, highly visual playground proposal project with a clever use of the Forum and Ideas tool, and thorough integration of numerous widgets.
Bang the Table Australasian office is based in Carlton, Victoria, on the lands of the Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging across Australia.
Granicus, Level 8, 50 Market Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
