Notes from Dr. Upali Nanda: LeadingAge 2023

As I come home from my first LeadingAge conference—I can’t emphasize enough how amazed I was with the sheer sense of purpose and joy of all participants and attendees. It began with the vibe: the keynote speaker featured musicians, art created by residents was ubiquitous, and the event enriched the setting with vibrant colors that accompanied even richer conversations.

I’m fortunate to have watched Roger Meyers from Presby Villages of Michigan receive the Award of Honor. At CADRE, we’ve worked closely with the Presbyterian Village of Michigan (PVM), so we know that the award is an affirmation of meaningful change in Senior Living.

I’m honored to have presented with Dr. Maggie Calkins, a fellow CADRE Board Member, and researcher from IDEAS, Inc., and Katrina Summersett from PVM. Together, we represented our grant-funded work on Socially Resilient Affordable Housing. It was a joy to share our coalition-based work with a driven and discerning audience. Here are a few questions we heard:

 1.      How do we socialize our work and create better collaborations with HUD?

2.      How do we address the bias that designing for social connection and basic human dignity is a premium cost and not an investment?

3.      How do we create larger collaborations that continue this work?

4.      How do we leverage functional spaces—like laundry rooms—as places for social connection? (This was a key insight from our work).

All day, we met with incredible thought leaders—designers, researchers, and operators from firms big and small. The affordable housing meet and greet was an avenue to see people connect and break bread together while tackling one of the most salient issues of our time.

As we continue this work, I’m full of gratitude for our teammates and partners, including new collaborators and future partners. One of the best things about coalition-based work is the incredible people you meet along the way.

Upali Nanda, 11.13.23

Brain Capital & the Built Environment

Upali Nanda Moderates Panel on the Interplay Between Brain Health and the Built Environment at UN Science Summit on Brain Capital.

The United Nations Science Summit on Brain Capital, orchestrated with the assistance of CADRE, brought together a diverse array of experts, including neuroscientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. The event sought to explore the multifaceted concept of Brain Capital and its potential impact on sustainable development goals. Brain Capital extends beyond mental health, emphasizing cognitive, social, and emotional skills as crucial components. Key questions addressed during the event included the need for a broader vision, the economic implications of Brain Capital, and a focus on the well-being of young individuals.

During the United Nations Science Summit on Brain Capital, Dr. Upali Nanda played a pivotal role in moderating a panel discussion that delved into the intersection of brain health and the built environment. With her extensive experience in research and design practice, Dr. Nanda guided the conversation, highlighting the crucial role of the built environment in promoting brain health. The panel explored the impact of design elements, such as green spaces and accessible design, on cognitive, social, and emotional well-being.

The built environment emerged as a significant factor in promoting brain health, with discussions highlighting the importance of green spaces and accessible design in both commercial and residential settings. Disparities in healthcare financing, particularly in the realm of telehealth, were acknowledged as a challenge that requires innovative solutions. The role of technology in Brain Capital was also a central theme, with a recognition of the need for entrepreneurship in developing technologies that address real-world problems.

The event underscored the complexity of Brain Capital and its relevance to society's well-being and productivity. The discussions served as a call to action, emphasizing the importance of integrating various aspects, from economic considerations to the built environment, to create a more holistic approach to addressing pressing challenges in society. The next steps involve further research, policy development, and collaborative efforts on a global scale to harness the potential of Brain Capital for a brighter future.

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Conference outcomes

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LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference

Dr. Renae presents on social and emotional learning at the LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference in Chicago.

Dr. Renae Mantooth and her HKS colleague's presentation at the LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference in Chicago left a lasting impression, garnering an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience made up of school administrators, facilities professionals, architects, planners, and designers. The session drew a crowd that exceeded the room's capacity, emphasizing its popularity among conference attendees. Initial comments reflected a sense of gratitude, with participants describing the presentation as invaluable to the learning environments industry.

Dr. Mantooth highlighted the importance of organizations like CADRE, underscoring their role in supporting smaller entities and emphasizing the open-source nature of the tool presented. Attendees also recognized the tool's applicability in pediatric healthcare environments, sparking interest in the potential development of a higher-education version. The presentation's emphasis on the teacher experience was appreciated, shedding light on a dimension often overlooked in similar discussions.

As the discussion delved into specific strategies, such as "Legibility and Wayfinding," participants noted the potential for these concepts to vary in meaning for different individuals, particularly those who are neurodivergent. Mantooth took the opportunity to highlight the prevalence of research on sensory well-being within autism populations. Towards the end of the session, a request for a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) tool provided an opportunity to introduce the K12 POE coalition, a consortium actively seeking sponsors and involving various firms and school districts. The overall reception showcased the widespread enthusiasm and engagement sparked by Mantooth's insightful presentation.

The project, "Enriched Environments to Support Social and Emotional Learning," presents a visual design guide encompassing 18 evidence-based design strategies for creating enriched learning environments that foster social and emotional learning (SEL). Anchored by a neuroscience-informed framework, the guide emphasizes the role of physical space as a tool to support and enhance existing pedagogical practices in classrooms, ultimately advancing the agenda to equip students with social and emotional learning competencies. The guide serves as a comprehensive resource for designers, providing evidence-based design strategy cards to be utilized throughout the design process, offering insights into the impact of design strategies on both students and teachers.

Led by Principal Investigator Renae Mantooth, Ph.D., and co-Principal Investigators John Gasko, Ph.D., and Upali Nanda, Ph.D., the research team includes individuals with expertise in education, interior design, architecture, and project management. The project was funded by the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation and HKS, Inc. The guide not only enhances the understanding of the relationship between physical environments and SEL outcomes but also serves as a practical tool for designers to reference and incorporate evidence-based strategies into their work. Interested individuals can access the full design guide by filling out a form on the CADRE website, reinforcing the organization's commitment to disseminating valuable research in the field of educational design.

Environments for Teaching

Conference Title:

Dialogues 23: The Intersection of Emerging Research + Design for Learning

Presentation Name:

Designing Spaces to Promote Social and Emotional Learning: Insights from Teachers

Presenters:

Leonardo Gonzalez Sangri

Global Practice Director, Education

HKS

Lindsey Walker

Research Fellow

CADRE

Presentation focus:

Dialogues 23 is a participatory forum held by Learning by Design magazine to talk about education design and learning environments. Representing a coalition between CADRE, HKS, and Uplift Education, our presentation addressed the growing concern of the well-being of K-12 teachers

Our presentation explored how design strategies can augment and support teachers' formal and informal approaches to social and emotional learning (SEL) within their classrooms. Organized with the neuro-science-informed enriched environments design framework, from the perspective of K-12 teachers that implement SEL strategies in their classrooms, this study explores how teachers leverage aspects of the physical environment to support SEL. In addition to the presentations focusing on the collected Teacher interviews and findings, the Visual Design Guide was released, showcasing 18 evidence-based design strategies for creating enriched learning environments to support SEL.

Our presentation takeaways:

• Diverse Approaches to Working: teachers engage in various work modes and utilize multiple tools to do their job effectively. However, lag behind the work teachers need to do.

• Psychological and Behavioral Needs: teachers expressed the importance of having a variety of psychological needs met within their working spaces and their students' learning spaces. A sense of privacy and control is essential behavior associated with movement and safety, which are necessary for teachers and students.

• Social and Emotional Considerations: All teachers are committed to advancing their students' social and emotional development, but there were two distinct groups within the sample. One group is more comfortable with a self-driven organic approach, prioritizing relationship-building with their students, while the second group relied on formal strategies through predetermined lessons.

What we learned from participants:

A student learning environment is also a teacher’s workspace, although they aren’t often viewed that way. The teacher’s perspective may also be underexamined—which means the continued need to build strong partnerships in the industry and conduct further research.

Our takeaways as presenters and what we’re looking forward to next:

• Continuing to build a strong coalition with key partners and peers to advance evidence-based design strategies.

• Enriching the learning environment to become a tool and platform to support teachers and the student experience.

• Collecting and analyzing the findings of Phase 2 of the current study focused on measuring the impact across key student outcomes such as well-being, socialization, and college readiness. We also dove deep into how design can be connected to social and emotional learning.

Further Reading:

For more information on enriched environments to support social and emotional learning, read our visual design guide here.

For more information on Uplift, HKS, CADRE and ASID partnership, read ASID’s Research Grant Announcement here.

For more information on Dialogues23 and Learning by Design Magazine, visit their website here.