New Board President, Ana Pinto-Alexander, Looks Forward to CADRE's Year Ahead.

CADRE has recently transitioned to new leadership under Ana Pinto-Alexander, as the not-for-profit evolves in its mission to advance design research and evaluation. Ana’s leadership will guide CADRE’s coalition-based projects into 2024, as the organization continues to collaborate with brilliant researchers, student fellows, and industry thought leaders. The following Q&A with the new Board President, Ana Pinto-Alexander, highlights what to expect in the new year.

CADRE’s mission is to advance design research and evaluation, and to do so in a way that benefits communities. What specific initiatives can we look forward to this year?

CADRE’s mission is to advance design research and evaluation to build a world in which all people have pathways to health and well-being—and our research prioritizes people and place.   

We are excited to have the following coalitions on the books.

I’ll begin with Enriched Environments to Support Social and Emotional Learning. With funding provided by the AISD Foundation, a coalition team consisting of CADRE and Uplift School District. The team developed a Visual Design Guide that contains 18 evidence-based design strategies to be used by all stakeholders in the design process. The project is ongoing and will continue through 2025.

We also have two exciting projects to look forward to. Dr. Deborah Wingler is the Principal Investigator on Nurse Burnout: A Social Listening Perspective. The study uses social media to investigate the impact of the physical healthcare environment on nurse burnout from the perspective of the nurse’s experience.

I’m excited to say that the Coalition for the Advanced Understanding of Learning Environments (CAUSE) has been formed, including six global and national architecture firms, academic partners, and local school districts, to support the continuous improvement of educational facilities. 

How has CADRE’s work evolved in the face of new drivers in the design community? Is this particularly evident in any project on the docket next year?

Our work evolves as the industry itself changes. And right now, we’re responding to new expectations of our clients and colleagues in Education spaces. Leveraging research in practice is more than a competitive advantage, it’s an expectation in the K-12 design approach. But there’s still siloed work streams and varying degrees of academic rigor. We believe that all stakeholders in the design and use of learning spaces would benefit from a shared tool strategically designed for schools—allowing for a broader reach of academic research and meaningful data sharing across design teams and school systems. This is especially important now as multibillion-dollar investments are being made nationwide to upgrade and modernize our aging educational facilities. Through key coalition partners, we’re pursuing multi-year education research, working alongside Perkins & Will, HKS, Austin Independent School District, and MultiStudio.

How does the coalition model lead to innovation?

The coalition model is how we maximize impact in our communities.

Consider how we applied the coalition model at University of California, Davis. We teamed up with HKS and, of course, UC Davis, to study the influence of residence hall architecture on experience and overall environmental satisfaction. We investigated the differences between two residential units and public spaces on the UC Davis campus and how they predicted well-being, belonging, and loneliness. We needed all stakeholders in the study to get to our findings—which are now being used to inform future decision-making and develop best practices for residential hall design and operations.

The coalition model often produces a longer lifespan for research findings. In collaboration with Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, HKS, Mass Design, Salk, Ideas Institute, and Communities First (Sponsored by RRF), we produced prioritized design criteria and metrics for the built environment of affordable independent living communities to achieve resilient access to social connection. Although the project concluded a year ago, the findings are still being presented at conferences like the recent Leading Age Conference, presented by Dr. Margaret Calkins and Dr. Upali Nanda, in October 2023.

As a leader at CADRE, what are you most looking forward to in the coming year? And which partnerships and relationships are we looking to build?

We bring different organizations together to work on a solution that serves a greater purpose.

We also provide students with opportunities to work as fellows on projects. We select the “best of the best” student fellows to participate in research projects. This exposes them to real-life problems, working under some of the best researchers in the country. The changes in these students' lives are well documented in their feedback on how working on a CADRE project gave them additional insights into the practice and helped them accelerate their careers after graduation.

I look forward to working with the brilliant minds of the researchers and the student fellows.

I want to leverage my industry relationships to create opportunities to elevate their missions and bring a stable financial pipeline to support CADRE’s growth.

Notes from Dr. Upali Nanda: LeadingAge 2023

As I come home from my first LeadingAge conference—I can’t emphasize enough how amazed I was with the sheer sense of purpose and joy of all participants and attendees. It began with the vibe: the keynote speaker featured musicians, art created by residents was ubiquitous, and the event enriched the setting with vibrant colors that accompanied even richer conversations.

I’m fortunate to have watched Roger Meyers from Presby Villages of Michigan receive the Award of Honor. At CADRE, we’ve worked closely with the Presbyterian Village of Michigan (PVM), so we know that the award is an affirmation of meaningful change in Senior Living.

I’m honored to have presented with Dr. Maggie Calkins, a fellow CADRE Board Member, and researcher from IDEAS, Inc., and Katrina Summersett from PVM. Together, we represented our grant-funded work on Socially Resilient Affordable Housing. It was a joy to share our coalition-based work with a driven and discerning audience. Here are a few questions we heard:

 1.      How do we socialize our work and create better collaborations with HUD?

2.      How do we address the bias that designing for social connection and basic human dignity is a premium cost and not an investment?

3.      How do we create larger collaborations that continue this work?

4.      How do we leverage functional spaces—like laundry rooms—as places for social connection? (This was a key insight from our work).

All day, we met with incredible thought leaders—designers, researchers, and operators from firms big and small. The affordable housing meet and greet was an avenue to see people connect and break bread together while tackling one of the most salient issues of our time.

As we continue this work, I’m full of gratitude for our teammates and partners, including new collaborators and future partners. One of the best things about coalition-based work is the incredible people you meet along the way.

Upali Nanda, 11.13.23

Brain Capital & the Built Environment

Upali Nanda Moderates Panel on the Interplay Between Brain Health and the Built Environment at UN Science Summit on Brain Capital.

The United Nations Science Summit on Brain Capital, orchestrated with the assistance of CADRE, brought together a diverse array of experts, including neuroscientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. The event sought to explore the multifaceted concept of Brain Capital and its potential impact on sustainable development goals. Brain Capital extends beyond mental health, emphasizing cognitive, social, and emotional skills as crucial components. Key questions addressed during the event included the need for a broader vision, the economic implications of Brain Capital, and a focus on the well-being of young individuals.

During the United Nations Science Summit on Brain Capital, Dr. Upali Nanda played a pivotal role in moderating a panel discussion that delved into the intersection of brain health and the built environment. With her extensive experience in research and design practice, Dr. Nanda guided the conversation, highlighting the crucial role of the built environment in promoting brain health. The panel explored the impact of design elements, such as green spaces and accessible design, on cognitive, social, and emotional well-being.

The built environment emerged as a significant factor in promoting brain health, with discussions highlighting the importance of green spaces and accessible design in both commercial and residential settings. Disparities in healthcare financing, particularly in the realm of telehealth, were acknowledged as a challenge that requires innovative solutions. The role of technology in Brain Capital was also a central theme, with a recognition of the need for entrepreneurship in developing technologies that address real-world problems.

The event underscored the complexity of Brain Capital and its relevance to society's well-being and productivity. The discussions served as a call to action, emphasizing the importance of integrating various aspects, from economic considerations to the built environment, to create a more holistic approach to addressing pressing challenges in society. The next steps involve further research, policy development, and collaborative efforts on a global scale to harness the potential of Brain Capital for a brighter future.

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Conference outcomes

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LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference

Dr. Renae presents on social and emotional learning at the LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference in Chicago.

Dr. Renae Mantooth and her HKS colleague's presentation at the LearningSCAPES 2023 Conference in Chicago left a lasting impression, garnering an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience made up of school administrators, facilities professionals, architects, planners, and designers. The session drew a crowd that exceeded the room's capacity, emphasizing its popularity among conference attendees. Initial comments reflected a sense of gratitude, with participants describing the presentation as invaluable to the learning environments industry.

Dr. Mantooth highlighted the importance of organizations like CADRE, underscoring their role in supporting smaller entities and emphasizing the open-source nature of the tool presented. Attendees also recognized the tool's applicability in pediatric healthcare environments, sparking interest in the potential development of a higher-education version. The presentation's emphasis on the teacher experience was appreciated, shedding light on a dimension often overlooked in similar discussions.

As the discussion delved into specific strategies, such as "Legibility and Wayfinding," participants noted the potential for these concepts to vary in meaning for different individuals, particularly those who are neurodivergent. Mantooth took the opportunity to highlight the prevalence of research on sensory well-being within autism populations. Towards the end of the session, a request for a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) tool provided an opportunity to introduce the K12 POE coalition, a consortium actively seeking sponsors and involving various firms and school districts. The overall reception showcased the widespread enthusiasm and engagement sparked by Mantooth's insightful presentation.

The project, "Enriched Environments to Support Social and Emotional Learning," presents a visual design guide encompassing 18 evidence-based design strategies for creating enriched learning environments that foster social and emotional learning (SEL). Anchored by a neuroscience-informed framework, the guide emphasizes the role of physical space as a tool to support and enhance existing pedagogical practices in classrooms, ultimately advancing the agenda to equip students with social and emotional learning competencies. The guide serves as a comprehensive resource for designers, providing evidence-based design strategy cards to be utilized throughout the design process, offering insights into the impact of design strategies on both students and teachers.

Led by Principal Investigator Renae Mantooth, Ph.D., and co-Principal Investigators John Gasko, Ph.D., and Upali Nanda, Ph.D., the research team includes individuals with expertise in education, interior design, architecture, and project management. The project was funded by the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation and HKS, Inc. The guide not only enhances the understanding of the relationship between physical environments and SEL outcomes but also serves as a practical tool for designers to reference and incorporate evidence-based strategies into their work. Interested individuals can access the full design guide by filling out a form on the CADRE website, reinforcing the organization's commitment to disseminating valuable research in the field of educational design.