Blackwood Neighbourhoods for Independent Living

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Active

ISCF
ISCF
ISCF
ISCF
ISCF

£29,561,255

March 31, 2021

March 31, 2024

Blackwood and partners aim to co-design a neighbourhood or place-based innovation eco-system, with choice and control for residents as they age at its heart. Its role is to facilitate engagement and co-design, learn about healthy ageing in an agile way, position and adapt products and services in response. We create an **independent living movement** where **\#ImIn** means that people can **in**vest, be **in**spired, be '**in** the know' about their health, and come together with their community as a great place in which to grow older.

Blackwood's proposal responds to the challenges of:

* Designing age-friendly homes
* Sustaining physical activity
* Managing common complaints of ageing
* Supporting social connections
* Creating healthy and active places

The proposal centres in **three demonstrator neighbourhoods,** in Dundee, Glasgow, and Buckie. A partnership approach is core, collaborating with residents, local authorities, health providers, industry, and academia. The multi-disciplinary projects include ground-breaking house design across tenures, remodelling and retrofitting existing homes, digital empowerment and health and wellbeing self-management.

**The Blackwood House -** beautiful, affordable, accessible and connected homes that adapt as we age to enable citizens to live independently within their neighbourhood. The Blackwood House features a unique and innovative barrier free core and has been co-designed with customers and architects. The home with interoperability as standard, features home automation and home health monitoring to enhance independent living.

**The Blackwood Design Guide** -- a co-designed and co-created guide that enables individuals or housing organisations to adapt their existing homes, to support people as they age. The guide sets new standards of accessibility going beyond current regulation.

**My Digital Hub (Digital Engagement Community & Learning Environment)** -- a 'virtual me' in my 'virtual neighbourhood' in a 'virtual world' allows citizens to play out their ageing journey through gamification. Individuals are empowered to set goals, track progress and see how they compare to others through set neighbourhood goals and rewards. Communities can compare themselves with others across Scotland.

**CleverCogs(tm) --** a tablet device app, a customisable, safe, intuitive digital system. Designed to support citizens within the neighbourhood with a range of services and information linked to their health and wellbeing goals.

**AI Smart meter monitoring** of energy usage to establish patterns of behaviour that may predict when intervention is required to prevent a hospital admission.

**Value Exchange** -- designed to encourage and reward citizens to take an active role in their own health and wellbeing as well as supporting others.