Lander Bosch: How do different environmental factors affect child wellbeing? What are some of the factors and metrics that are used to measure child wellbeing in the built environment? What kinds of technologies does Lander use to research this issue?
Different environmental factors affecting a child’s wellbeing:
– Active travel to school leads to less childhood obesity
– A calm school environment appears to provide a sense of relaxation among children
– While children walking to school will lead to less childhood obesity, there is now a risk of exposure to high levels of air pollution and stress when walking routes that are more dense than others. Children have very rapidly developing bodies and this exposure leaves kids at great risk for cardiovascular disease later in life
– Children who walk to school, depending on the route, are “exposed to what is qualified as an annoying and intrusive level of noise… that can lead to possible hearing damage also as a child is very young and developing very rapidly.”
Factors and metrics:
– Air pollution levels
– Noise pollution levels
– Monitored and noted weight gain or weight loss
Technologies discussed:
– Brain Mapping
– Accelerometry
– External, environmental stressor monitoring
Joshua Ogure: How do technology, cultural competence, and local trust mix in Josh’s work? Why is it important to map slums? Why is it important for slum community members to take the lead in this kind of work?
Mapping slums is important, specifically, for children to know where potential danger is and to know where they feel the most uncomfortable so these areas can be avoided. It’s important to slum community members to take the lead in this kind of work because maps should be constructed by trusted members of the community who are deemed reliable to provide accurate representations of slums and work to identify unsafe or uncomfortable areas, address them, and attempt to create positive change in the community. Being culturally competent and trusted is expected of a community leader and that is why those are the people that should be mapping slums: the community members who understand the people of the community on a deeper level aside from what is physically seen.
Diversity+Tech 