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All UK social housing associations were facing the same challenges of engaging residents in retrofitting homes. We brought them together around fun fictional scenarios, to imagine possible housing futures and develop a shared vision and values.
The opportunity
While working with Believe, a social housing association in North East England, to put residents at the center of their decarbonization strategy, their staff and I were keenly aware that all UK social housing associations were asking the same questions about how to engage residents and retrofit homes. After wrapping up our initial project, we invited staff and residents from across the region to come together and develop a shared vision for the future.
How do we get there
Where are we going?
Fictional scenarios to spark discussion
We drew on current trends, forecasts, and the experiences of staff and residents to create a set of fictional scenarios exploring possible social housing futures.
Scenario 1
The first scenario explored a future in which housing and data management are both quite centralized, building on weak signals like the new British Rail Authority regulating rail travel, calls for a similar regulatory body from housing advocacy groups, and the push to leverage patient data more holistically in healthcare that extends to the home.
Scenario 2
The second scenario explored the possibility of a retrofit resistance movement following a similar pattern to the pandemic anti-vax movement. Mike, hearing about botched retrofits from neighbors, becomes radicalized by a YouTube anti-retrofitter and joins the "Lofties," who actively resist decarbonization in their neighborhoods. His neighborhood doesn't benefit form retrofits, and the region doesn't meet its decarbonization goals.
Scenario 3
The third scenario explored what might happen with an investment in a green energy workforce similar to the Essential Work Order that Britain passed in WW2, and a new "home front" effort towards decarbonization. Sara, whose nephew gets a job as a clean energy specialist, joins the Happy Homes Brigade, a community organization supporting those whose homes are being retrofit.
Making these futures tangible shifted the conversation to what sort of future the group collectively wanted for residents. Over two workshops, a shared vision and values came into focus.
Outcome
We captured the vision and values into document that could be shared more broadly with stakeholders in the decarbonization efforts.
Believe and a regional advocacy group were able to bring the scenarios and values into other efforts to align executive teams and potential partners.
"Although we've known that that's where we need to get to, we hadn't thought about what that was going to look like. This has sparked so many conversations with our executive team that we now realize we need to have before we dive in."
- Believe Environmental Director
"The Lofties, the Green Corps, they're properly embedded in my mind, just because they were so fun."
- Staff participant
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