Improving Wellbeing through Social Research and Development
Sue is the Project Manager for RECOVER Urban Wellbeing, a City of Edmonton initiative
Author: Sue Holdsworth
In 2017, the City of Edmonton initiative RECOVER Urban Wellbeing emerged in response to the concentration of social issues in and around downtown. This approach has evolved over time to now consist of:
A Process - Through our social research and development approach, we seek to understand issues from the perspectives of the people at the heart of them. Only after building an understanding can we start generating ideas for solutions that will be co-designed with people.
A Wellbeing Framework - This emerged from our research and experience and is now the north star for everything RECOVER does.
A Set of Experiments - We prototype to test out ideas and see what works, what doesn’t work, for whom, and under what conditions. This learning element is important as nothing works for everyone. After the experiments, we work to grow the most promising ideas.
Our work begins with people. Through four stints of deep human-to-human research, our researchers at InWithForward got to know 60 street-involved Edmontonians. They spent time with people wherever they were, doing whatever they were doing - day and night. We learned about their stressors and pain points, as well as their joys, motivations and aspirations. When getting to know each of them, they asked what it meant to them to live well or be well. Purpose, respect, and connection floated to the top (this doesn’t disregard other elements like food, clothing or shelter are not important but shows that after securing those you still may not necessarily be living well).
Our team’s experience and research showed us how much wellness is about relationships and highlighted that it is about connection both within and beyond self. It also became clear for us that there is no hierarchy of needs; all human needs are interdependent and interrelated.
At the heart of the wellbeing framework is a deep sense of connection and balance. We acknowledge that before focusing on these connections, it is critical that we acknowledge people’s grief and loss. We use this framework to help us design interventions/prototypes that intentionally link tools and outcomes. It also helps us to think about additional tools that can be used to strengthen outcomes. It provides a common language for all of us working to improve wellbeing in the myriad of ways that exist. To learn more about our research and the wellbeing framework, you can read our guiding document called The Soulful City.