Table 1 Participants’ feedback on the workshop themes captured on mind maps during the small group discussions

Urban design and active ageing

Community connectedness

• Need for a centre / hub-point for communities to come together

• Groups that are open and inclusive of all ages

• Connection and communication, ensuring we can ‘connect’ people (e.g. using network technologies)

• Inter-generational spaces

Transport

• Strategies to help mobilise people “getting there”

• Shared transport, volunteers (door-to-door service)

• Location of transport needs

• Social isolation can be seasonal

• Need for safe and secure transport

Housing

• Spaces that are not ‘overdesigned’, e.g. to accommodate pets with the home environment

• Spaces between the home and neighbourhood can be the most challenging to navigate

• Housing which connects people to the community – e.g. ‘downsizing’ through shared room schemes

Public spaces

• Outdoor/indoor spaces that co-exist

• Maintenance of public spaces, e.g. uneven pavements, curbs, location and signing of pedestrian crossings

• Shared spaces (e.g. cyclists and pedestrians) can be dangerous. Need for segregated spaces that prioritise pedestrians

• Green spaces for visual benefits, with strategically located and quality resting points (e.g. seating)

Social identity and connectedness

Self

• Loneliness as a core theme with multifactorial causes

• Transitions (e.g. retirement, geographical re-location) can have physical, social, psychological implications

• Isolation (not to be confused with loneliness), including digital isolation

• Fragmentation in social networks

Others

• Hard to reach groups – need to understand who these groups are, why are they hard to reach, what do they require to reach out and, what can be done to reach in to them?

• Need for communal / shared living, offering benefits, insight and altered perceptions of life

• Negative perceptions towards dependence – social drive that to be independent is seen as ‘successful’

• Scope for a ‘Social Prescriber’ or ‘Community Builder’

Skills

• Communication skills and confidence levels as factors associated with loneliness

• Loss of social responsibility and sense of purpose – caring, time, skills

• Optimal mobility, communication and confidence can lead to less hardship and increased quality of life

Built environment: hazards and injury prevention

Physical environment

• Hazards can include escalators, slopes, stairs, curbs, level changes, pot holes, paving slabs, limited space, poor equipment and maintenance

Personal characteristics

• Fear of falling and perceived unsteadiness

• Frailty in later life

• Psychological changes including dementia, anxiety and mental wellbeing

• Physiological changes including altered vision, reduced muscle strength and limited joint movement

Strategies

• Adaptation to the built environment considered the most important aspect

• Impact (e.g. when falling) leading to injury – need for absorbing surfacing

• Lack of assistive technologies to provide safety prompts (e.g. visual, auditory cues)

• Training needed to help learn how to successfully negotiate hazards

• Poor culture of care – lack of education, knowledge and prescription of aids related to safety awareness

• Altered sensory perceptions can influence hazard detection

• Need for strategies that tap into physical reserves

Natural and sensory environments

Environmental maintenance

• Uneven ground – can be useful for tactile feedback, but poses a hazard with changes in weather (e.g. slip hazard when wet) and a risk of falls and injury

• Countryside is not always well-maintained and can be challenging to negotiate

• Exposure to the elements – e.g. breeze through an open window – can be uplifting and enlivening, but also disorientating

Psychological barriers

• Some people are habituated to city/town areas and are hesitant to interact, or in-experienced, with the natural environment (‘Goldilocks Complex’)

• Not all people get sensory pleasures from nature

Design

Resting places (e.g. benches, seating) need to be in strategic locations and of good quality/design

• Need for handrails

Navigation

• Few mobile phone apps available for navigation in country / rural areas. Good phone signal is essential

• Signage and an ability to read maps

• Weather conditions can make navigation difficult – e.g. wind, fog, rain affects navigation, even more so for people with visual or vestibular impairments

• Navigation can become challenging due to changing landmarks, e.g. landscape growth or vandalism

Blue space

• Water can be a safety hazard where there are no barriers, stagnant water, or risk of disease

• Difficulty sensing water depth, interpreting tides, or regulating body temperature (e.g. keeping warm)

• Water can provide different sensory experiences – temperature change, tactile, visual and auditory feedback (e.g. ornamental running water features)

• Misconception of the need for equipment / facilities to enter water

Sense and reminiscence

• Natural environment can provide a source of sensory pleasure

• Reminiscence of life story (‘time capsule’)

Social behaviour

• Disabling responses to impairment in public as barriers to participation and engagement

Facilities

• Areas for social interaction, which includes intergenerational interaction across the lifespan

• Personal care, such as access to and availability of toilet blocks (including payment for use)