The discussion focused on the importance of storytelling for developing and promoting sustainable concepts and projects.
28 March 2024
Are developers doing enough?
Developers aren’t the enemy. They’re fundamental to helping places get back on their feet and to grow and thrive.
But it’s not simply a case of them meeting the brief. Bricks and mortar, however well-designed, aren’t the answer in themselves. Typically, the brief will cover a development’s financial and physical needs but fail to look at wider social, environmental and intangible needs of the surrounding area. There’s no clear integration of place, economy and community.
Data alone isn’t enough
Evidence is vital for making the case for change. Data supports the need for greater sustainability and underpins forward-thinking projects in the built environment. But data alone isn’t enough.
The key element is storytelling. When you present or examine data without a clear context it can be confusing or even overwhelming.
Why then, storytelling? Stories are universally relatable. They’re how we all make sense of the world. Without this relatability, concepts such as net zero and sustainability feel huge and almost abstract.
And whereas data on global warming, for instance, supports a drive towards sustainable development, framing it in a story makes it compelling.
How storytelling works
The power of storytelling is something all of us already know – we’ve all listened to stories, read or watched them avidly.
There’s a neuroscientific element to this. When we hear a story, the brain’s neural activity increases. When the neurons in our brain fire similar patterns to those of the narrator from whom we’re getting our information a form of mirroring occurs.
This neural coupling helps us make sense of stories and remember them more vividly.
Stories take complex and multiple ideas and translate them into simpler forms that resonate with us emotionally.
Design stories
Storytelling supports business in the built environment. It helps architects tap into their clients’ motivations and generate creative solutions to align with their visions.
Visual storytelling has become a core attribute to support design proposals, attract investors and ensure people’s interests are aligned.
Projects and schemes still face real-world constraints, but storytelling helps clarify concepts, shore up arguments and deliver transformative outcomes.
Selling sustainability
Sustainability has become a commonplace word. But this is part of the problem. Its overuse threatens to obscure its meaning.
For the built environment and placemaking, sustainability isn’t restricted to the environment. It applies to how we live and work and how communities can continue to survive and thrive.
Consequently, storytelling is critical for giving clarity and making sustainability relatable to everyday life.
Raising expectations
Storytelling and sustainability are transforming the culture of the built environment. Increasingly, there's a demand for schemes to present a broader narrative that includes architecture and landscape design.
This visual storytelling has become an essential element at key stages in the project lifecycle.
And sustainability narratives continue to extend their reach, from attracting foreign investment to gaining local government approval.
There’s now an expectation that sustainability will be central to any proposed scheme.
The triple bottom line… plus one
The triple bottom line is a sustainable business strategy. It looks at three main elements of any sustainable proposal:
Business case
Impact on people’s wellbeing
Environmental impact.
From a placemaking perspective, we can add a fourth:
Meaning.