2024 Reflections
Looking Back: Our Journey Through 2024 at OURI Labs
Hey everyone! Can you believe we're already wrapping up another year?
We've all lived through some pretty major moments in 2024 - from the General Election here in the UK to the US Elections (and that's just scratching the surface!). It's the kind of year that really makes you stop and think.
We've definitely been doing some soul-searching about where OURI Labs fits into all of this and how we can best show up in these changing times.
But before I dive into what's next for us (don't worry, I've got some exciting things to share!), I'd love to take you through some of our favourite moments and biggest takeaways from 2024. Grab a cuppa, and let's look back at what we've been up to!
OR if you’d like a quick snapshot, here’s our Spotify Wrapped.
Research Milestones
This year, we wanted to really lean into the possibilities of strategic partnerships. We have been coming together with other organisations that are aligned in mission and vision to deliver impactful work.
We landed our first strategic partnership with Quality of Life Foundation and delivered a capacity building workshop for local authorities. We had originally tested this workshop in collaboration with the UK Office for Health Improvement & Disparities for Herefordshire Council (a unitary authority) working closely with their (at the time) new Director of Public Health - Matthew Pearce. With participants reporting that the space allowed them to safely discuss how to bring together urban planning and public health directorates effectively to deliver on a ‘whole-health’ approach.
This opened up a conversation with Quality of Life Foundation, who expressed interest in helping us to develop this proposition. We then went onto deliver another pilot for East Sussex County Council (a two-tier authority) with a focus on enabling health food environments, integrating the grounding of Quality of Life Foundations’ existing knowledge and research into the workshops. By bringing a variety of stakeholders together including those that were part of the wider food environment system helped to encourage discussions on how to strategically achieve healthy food environments including discussions on identifying roles and responsibilities within the Council. And importantly, understanding/ being clear where the decision making powers lie at County, District and Borough level.
We are now developing these workshops as a way to improve collaborative capacity between urban planning and public health by delivering more workshops for more local authorities in England. We have been busy speaking with grant funders and others to support in the programme of activities in the new year.
If you know of any local authorities that would be keen to participate, please do get in touch - hello@ouri-labs.com.
Evaluation of Health-led initiatives
Another big shout out goes to Dr Mark Drane from Urban Habitats and Dr Rachel Turnbull from Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HI NENC) as we’ve come together to work on the evaluation of Healthy Happy Places.
We've been diving deep into understanding how the Healthy Happy Places projects help to make places healthier and happier. You know how sometimes the best collaborations just click? Well, this is definitely one of those! Their expertise in health-led initiatives has been invaluable as we work on evaluating the urban interventions. More information on this will come in the new year so please do keep a look out for it if you’re interested in urban intervention evaluations and also if you’d like to know more about Healthy Happy Places.
Growing Our Community
With the launch of our Associates and also connecting with other organisations the OURI Labs community has grown in ways we couldn't have imagined.
We've welcomed new researchers, expanded our network, and built stronger partnerships with other organisations in the field. It's been incredible to see how many people are passionate and delivering change within urban planning and public health although sometimes it’s not without its challenges.
We even went on a mushroom walk in Novemeber, with a few of our associates - Molly Harris and Bethan Mobey. Venturing out into the woods with a mushroom enthusiast Maymana (AKA Fungi Futures), to take a deeper dive into the world of fungi.
Maymana showed us how mushrooms build incredible support systems - what scientists call the Wood Wide Web - where trees and plants share resources and communicate with each other. It got us all thinking about how we could learn from these natural networks in our own work. It really opened our eyes to new ways of thinking about community support and collaboration.
The whole experience was pretty magical and grounding - I definitely felt deeply nourished and so grateful for the art of forest-bathing (or as the Japanese call it, 'Shinrin-Yoku'). There's something truly special about learning about these hidden networks beneath your feet and realising that nature's been perfecting the art of working together for millions of years.
I left the woods that day feeling refreshed and inspired, with a deeper appreciation for both the natural world and our place within it. Sometimes the best insights don't come from brainstorming sessions or strategy meetings, but from simply being open to the lessons nature has to teach us.
I’d highly recommend checking out Maymana’s work if you are unaware of their work.
Here’s a little write up from our associate Bethan-
'There was something lovely about all of us meeting together in the cafe next to the wood on a blowy day, enjoying relationships long held, new and yet to be made. I found venturing out together to explore what's happening in the miniature world's of the wood, and the mycelium threads that run through them created a wonder and connection with my co adventurers that was quite unique. I left feeling closer to my OURI colleagues and at home in my place in the eco system.'
Other highlights
We submitted our first research grant funded project in collaboration with London South Bank University.
Launched OURI Associates and Tea with Sem Lee! If you’d like to know more about how to get involved for both, please do get in touch.
We are working alongside the team at Cities & Health Journal to deliver the Special Conference Issue with other expert practitioners.
We will be working closely with industry event partners in an advisory capacity and particularly around housing - very excited about this.
Looking Forward
Looking ahead to 2025, we've got some really exciting things brewing! We're particularly thrilled about some new collaborative partnerships that are starting to take shape.
We’d love to continue nurturing and growing our community - it's been amazing to see how our network has blossomed, and can't wait to see what new friendships and partnerships will develop. Building these relationships is all about creating something meaningful together and as we go into the new year, we're focused on making sure every project we take on really makes a difference, and ensuring that we have a strong community behind us which makes that so much more possible.
What really gets us excited is knowing that each new connection opens up fresh opportunities to create positive change. Whether it's through our existing projects or completely new initiatives, we're committed to delivering work that truly matters to the communities we serve. Here's to making 2025 our most impactful year yet! 🌟
A Personal Note
I want to wrap this up with a massive thank you to every single person who's been part of our journey this year - we honestly couldn't have done it without you! To our brilliant associates, amazing clients, wonderful collaborators, steadfast supporters, and our incredible community - you've all helped us move forward in ways we couldn't have imagined.
Here's to rolling up our sleeves and continuing this important work together in 2025!
We're so excited to keep bridging the worlds of urban planning and public health as we work towards a Just Transition in our built environment. There are still big questions to tackle and challenges to face, but we believe with a community, we know we can make real change happen. Can't wait to see what we'll achieve together! 💚
See you all in 2025! 🚀
Note: For the most up-to-date information about OURI Labs' activities and achievements, please remember to follow our LinkedIn page or Instagram channel.