Aside from this website, here is a list of the easier-to-measure, discrete outcomes from the project.
1: Poster on therapeutic place design at Vivensa Foundation research event at the Building Centre, London, 19 November 2025.
2: Application for Leverhulme Trust early career fellowship. Completed internal application which received positive feedback but was not selected to be put forward by the university. Title: People-place interactions in housing: designing for relational life in cities
3: Application for UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. Outcome pending. Title: Homes that move us: Using shared living spaces to improve health through movement and community formation
4. Full application for another fellowship, still active.
5. Collaboration for further grant applications discussed and developed with new acquaintances at local and regional councils as well as grass-roots community organisations, while still continuing to partner with the same housing association.
6. Two community engagement events: these were the highest attended social event since residents moved in 1.5 years ago. Attendees reported making new friends and connections were made between residents and managers that has led to more active resident meetings and involvement of residents in management activities. The first event was co-produced by myself and a resident, and it led to a second event where the resident actually led the planning independently and got other residents involved in helping out. In conversations at the event, residents in attendance spoke about ways in which they could use and modify the space, evidence of claiming the shared space as their own, shaping it for their collective benefit, and the potential for more resident-led initiatives.
7. To be discussed more openly soon: research may be becoming a more formal part of housing development and social housing provision.
8. Produced a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOD0qvklApc
10. Multiple papers and a report incoming, more soon.
11. Podcast recorded, series soon come.
Training undertaken, seminars attended:
17 September: Centre-UB research celebration day
30 June: Building Capability in Behavioural Research conference including co-chairing a session on sustainability.
29 June: Early career researcher day ahead of the Building Capability in Behavioural Research conference with useful professional skills like narrative CV writing
24 June: Curious Cities Assembly – day 1 of conference exploring how streets, transport and neighbourhood design can support children’s health, independence and play. Bought a great book by Quentin Stevens on play in the city (called Ludic City) which has been very helpful in my reflections on how cities are designed and used, especially shared spaces.
17 June: Webinar – Launch of the Democratic Capabilities Framework: Strengthening inclusive participation in democratic life, hosted by University of Edinburgh and Lucy Parry, Oliver Escobar and Adrian Bua
10 June: Webinar – How to talk about homes and immigration, funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
9 June: Housing LIN webinar – “SHAPE Exchange: Designing homes and communities that reduce isolation and build connection”, funded by Vivensa Foundation.
2 June: Delivered short talk and member of panel for a PGR funding session facilitated by Birmingham University’s Head of Research Strategy and Development.
13 May: Centre-UB Challenge day on digital childhoods – team winners!
29 April: Publics@IIHS | Exploring the Speculative City: Bengaluru through the Lens of the Everyday, with Carol Upadhya and Sudeshna Mitra – loads of insight on use of qualitative methods in exploring housing developments in India.
16 April: Place-based systems change: re-situating participatory practice through power, people, and place. Royal Geographic Society, London. Contributions from Indy Johar, Camilla Buchanan, Charlotte Boddy, Lisa Clarke.
10 March: Community cohesion and impact workshop. College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham. Contributions from Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, Kerry Rickerby, Professor Ruth Gilligan.
6 March: online course on recruitment ahead of being on an interview panel for a PhD position.
24 February: Liberated Land Trusts: How Black-Led CLTs Are Reimagining Development in Canada. Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts.
11 February: Modern colonialism threat to urban identity and citizenship in Lagos. Professor Taibat Lawanson, Architecture Heritage and Urbanism of West Africa Research Centre (University of Liverpool). Hosted by Birmingham Business School.
5 February: Governance and Ethics Training. Centre-UB and Research Strategy and Services Division. Contributors: Susan Cottom and Shahnaz Gill-Stokes.
11 December: UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship information session. University of Birmingham. Organiser/contributor: Dr Ipshita Ghose, head of Research Strategy and Services Division (Social Sciences).
3 December: Fire safety!
2 December: Budget training by Tamara Johnson of the Research Delivery Team. Organised by Centre-UB.
2 December: Centre-UB Network session – Distressing Material. Contributor: Professor Jess Woodhams.
28 November: Data management training. Organised by Centre-UB, delivered by Wayne Gorman, head of information compliance and data management.
26 November: Public speaking training by James Piercy. University of Birmingham, organised by the Public Engagement team and part of the Centre-UB training offering.
26 November: Does Striking More Mean Striking Better? Examining the Effectiveness of Union Conflict Strategies. Seminar by Jon Las Heras at Birmingham Business School.
20 November: Early Career Research Forum (Birmingham Business School) on Impact, by Dr Sami Benassi.
19 November: Vivensa Foundation Early Career Researcher Event at The Building Centre, London.
17 November: Net Zero and Complexity. Britain’s Window in a Wild World. Presentation by Dr Fred Amonya. Organised by Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities and Energy.
13 November: Civic Square Retrofit Reimagined Open House on Link Road, Birmingham.
13 November: West Midlands Planning Symposium. Bescot Stadium Walsall. Presentations from a variety of researchers and practitioners (including Amahra Spence and Sophie Hadfield-Hill), hosted by the West Midlands Combined Authority.
12 November: Early Career Research Forum (Birmingham Business School) – How to write a good title and abstract, by Professor Donald Houston.
6 November: Comms and Media Training. Part of the Centre-UB offering, delivered by the public affairs team. University of Birmingham.
30 October: Writing policy briefs as tools for knowledge mobilisation. Part 2. Delivered as collaboration between Centre-UB and BRUK (Edinburgh).
23 October: Centre-UB impact training.
15 October: Writing policy briefs as tools for knowledge mobilisation. Part 1. Delivered as collaboration between Centre-UB and BRUK (Edinburgh).
13 October: Centre-UB induction.
Other experience
Co-chaired session on sustainability at Building Capability in Behavioural Research conference 2026.
Reviewed abstracts for Building Capability in Behavioural Research conference 2026.
Active member of interview panel for PhD position at University of Birmingham.
Birmingham Business School online writing sessions organised by the early career researcher forum (Salma Ashour).
