Yesterday was an incredibly positive day.
Robert and I had the pleasure of facilitating another ‘Love Your Place’ challenge day, alongside Thomas Rushby and Professor Clint Styles (MBA) from the University of Southampton’s Future Towns Innovation Hub.
It was inspiring to bring together local businesses, parish councillors and key stakeholders from Botley Parish to start shaping a shared vision for the village’s future, ahead of the new bypass opening in 2027.
Throughout the day, we guided participants through design thinking activities designed to help them reimagine Botley’s future and develop evidence-based design briefs aimed at enhancing this picturesque market village on the River Hamble in Hampshire.
A special thank you to Chris Cooper, who helped bring people together and opened the day by highlighting Botley’s moment of transition and opportunity. With new transport infrastructure, evolving patterns of work and mobility and an engaged, active community, there is a growing momentum to position Botley as a destination - a place where people can live well, grow businesses, work flexibly and enjoy visiting.
Our session introduced design thinking methods, covering user-centered research and effective problem framing. Through visioning exercises and reframing challenges as design opportunities, participants identified priority areas that will form the foundation of their design briefs.
This challenge day was the first step in the Love Your Place programme, supporting local businesses and community groups through a structured innovation process. The next stage will focus on community research and collaborative development of design briefs, inviting participation from the wider business community.
There was fantastic energy in the room and a genuine love for Botley - its history, its people and its future.
To learn more about the Love Your Place programme and our work with the Future Towns Innovation Hub (FTIH), visit: https://hub.futuretowns.soton.ac.uk/love