The Universal Design Research and Training Centre established at Dr. B .N. College of Architecture, Pune celebrated its first year anniversary by conducting a 2 day seminar on
'Inclusive Research- A catalyst for social change', organised by Prof. Kavita Murugkar.
Focused on Inclusive Design, the seminar on Inclusive Research, first of it's kind in the country, discussed social inclusion in design using a people-centric research approach.
An important design movement, Inclusive Design (also known as Universal design), is gaining significance with changing demographics and increasing stress on social justice. Inclusive Research informs the basis and creation of inclusive design in the built environment, and it takes into consideration issues related to human diversity, sensory perception, health, safety and social equity.
The Speakers invited at the seminar were:
Prof. Abir Mullick- Highlighted the importance of conducting front-end exercise in inclusive research, and through, case studies, introduced methods specially designed to conduct inclusive research.
Prof. Melanie Nind- Defined Inclusive research and identified the social contextual elements that have shaped it as an overarching concept in the move towards the democratisation of research.
Prof. S. Balaram- Shared the practicalities of barefoot approach for inclusive research, the working of this idea in the Indian context, problems encountered and possible ways of overcoming them.
Prof. Nilika Mehrotra- talked on foregrounding ethnography as a method to capture voices and felt needs of disabled people, also underlining ethical issues in disability research.
Prof.Kiran Shinde- Discussed the characteristics of participatory research, and processes and methods involved in participatory research.
Prof. Rachana Khare- Discussed the journey of the UD exploration based on research, from global to local, in an architectural design studio within the culturally diverse context of India, as revealed by a year-long project set in the riverside town of Ujjain.
Prof. Ram Gambhir- Educated about ethics in research with human subjects and practicalities of barefoot approach.
Prof. Abhijit Natu- Shared cases of home improvements for elderly persons by including them as part of the research to understand their needs and formulating specific suggestions for improving their homes
INAUGURATION BY MRS MEERA BADAWE AND HER BLIND STUDENTS FROM NIWANT SAMSTHA
THE PARTICIPANTS, SPEAKERS AND AUDIENCE
