Eco-co
A natural-based Canal-Community service system to establish a long-term sustainable pathway between the canal organization and community
Client :
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Duration
Team
4 Months
2023
Yung-Hsuan Lin
Qianyi Li
Yanyan Wang
My Primary Role
Primary Research
Research analysis
Ideation
Prototype
Video Editor
Tool
Ai, Ps, Pr
Zoom, Figma, Miro
Brief
How might we raise the nature of well-being for communities around the Regent's Canal in order for the residents to access activities and willing to join more efficiently?
Solution Overview
A new way for engagement events and activities can bridge the gap by connecting community centers, residents
and canal organizations.
Research
Nature-based contact in the ageing society
In UK, nearly a quarter of the population will be over 65 by 2030 and 1/3 of them will live alone.Contacting nature space
and community engagement is vital for their mental health. The Hoxton area is rich in canal resources containing blue
and green spaces. However, insufficient canal awareness and inaccessible channels for canal activities prevent people
from having in-depth contact with the canal. Now is a good time to work with people of all ages to create inclusive canal
communities.
4-week community exploration
Working in Hoxton to explore canal and the community life of elder residents from space setting, service delivery to
individual experience.
We conducted extensive research to understand the process of holding community events in Hoxton by interviewing community managers, canal plants experts and river event organizers and volunteers.
Base on the insights that we’ve got through interviews, we think it’s worth to conduct a future scenario focus group with
canal organizers and designer from RCA, the creator of Canal Dream, to explore what concerns designer may have
when it comes with hosting activity related to canal art and to understand how the publicity could impact the activity.
At the same time, ideate possibilities of how the future can look like in 2040
Problems & Pain points
Based on our interviews with organizers and desktop research, we identified key insights that leads to our final service:
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For Centre 151
Current activities lack diversity, resulting in low engagement, and the community lacks the resources to establish a connection with the canal
For residents
1. Don't know there's a canal nearby though they live closely
2. With strong interests in the canal and canal-related activities
3. Eager to participate in more diverse activities.
For Canal Dream
Current activities lack publicity and funding, resulting in low engagement and exposure
How Might We
How might we support and utilize existing canal resources to create a more sustainable, engaged and healthy canal community between communities and organizations?
Vision
Utilize the resources from canal nature, community, and the potential of business investments to assist the community in organizing regular canal activities.
This will promote a healthy lifestyle and positive interaction between people in the canal's surrounding areas, fostering mutual healing between individuals and the natural canal environment.
Design Solution
Our strategy involves cultivating a small group of community members, known as "Canal Makers," to experience the canal's benefits. We then assist them in setting up their own events, fostering behavioral and cognitive changes.
Different service flow
We Introduce different canal activities to communities and enable them to engage the canal in the way they want. Members of Centre 151 like dance and art activities, and Canal Dream is a series of multi-disciplinary art and design events organized by Canal Dream CIC in collaboration. Therefore, we help match them together.
We assist the community to cooperate with other organizations, to introduce different activities, to attract
more community residents to participate.
Business model and cash flow
Touchpoint
Implementation and impact
We hosted the first canal workshop to test the service concept and process and show the outcome in the exhibition
Theory of change
Eco-co provides personalized service and ongoing networking to help adults over 65 experience and participate in canal activities. This helps them build social confidence and strengthen their mental health. As volunteers with this network, people of other age groups can get involved and change the perception of older people. Community centers as important partners in the network can understand the real needs of the elderly, while the Canal Organization can get more stable participants and exposure. They can then provide more suitable services, spread network influence, and gradually open influence and popularity.
