Bringing together academics and communities to tackle global challenges to community health and wellbeing.
The Centre for Urban Wellbeing (CUWb) welcomed colleagues, partners and community collaborators to its Open Doors Session in March 2026, offering a lively and engaging look at how the Centre is championing interdisciplinary research to improve wellbeing in cities across the UK and beyond.
The event reaffirmed CUWb’s role as a catalyst for inclusive collaboration, bringing researchers, civic organisations and local communities together to address complex challenges that shape everyday urban life.
The session was chaired by Jessica Pykett, CUWb Co-Director and opened with a keynote talk from Gary Leeming, Director of the Liverpool City Region Civic Data Co‑operative. Leeming introduced the audience to the Co‑operative’s civic health innovation labs and the collaborative process behind developing the Liverpool Data and AI Charter. He also highlighted joint work with CUWb’s Dr Gianfranco Polizzi on community-led wellbeing data hubs in Widnes, an initiative that is giving residents greater agency over how data is used to support local wellbeing priorities.
His talk illustrated how meaningful data partnerships can help communities shape healthier and more equitable futures.
CUWb Co-Director Dr Laura Kudrna and Advisory Board member Liz Zeidler reflected on the Centre’s unique contribution to the University of Birmingham’s research ecosystem. They shared how CUWb has enabled new cross-disciplinary relationships, strengthened partnerships between funding cycles, and cultivated an environment where trust, visibility and shared purpose help ideas grow. Their reflections highlighted CUWb’s commitment to working symbiotically with partners—combining diverse strengths to deliver impact that no single discipline could achieve alone.
Throughout the session, CUWb theme leads — Susanne Boerner, Afroditi Stathi, Joanne Leach, Laura Kudrna, Koen Bartels, Carl Stevenson, Dorothy Butchard and Gianfranco Polizzi — offered concise updates on the breadth of research underway across the Centre.
They introduced work on more-than-human wellbeing, community arts practice, and emerging approaches to workplace wellbeing. Discussions also explored how differing value systems shape definitions of wellbeing, the political tensions that underpin urban governance and housing struggles, and the importance of interrogating economic assumptions that influence decision-making in cities.
Speakers shared examples of ongoing trials and interventions at the intersections of health, mobility, workplaces and the built environment, as well as projects that blend action research with civic organising to bring community priorities closer to formal political decision-making. The session also highlighted CUWb’s policy engagement on digital and media literacy, and new seed-funded research exploring youth mental health and chatbots, wellbeing in videogaming worldbuilding, and community arts-led approaches to improving urban life.
The Open Doors Session demonstrated how CUWb continues to grow as a leading centre for insight, collaboration and innovation in urban wellbeing. With its expanding network and commitment to inclusive research, the Centre is well‑positioned to influence policy, practice and community life in the years ahead.
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View the presentations from the Open Doors Session (Powerpoint – 199Mb).
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Associate Professor in Health Research Methods
Staff profile page for Dr Laura Kudrna, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham.
Professor of Social and Political Geography
Professor Pykett explores governance, emotion, and public policy through social and political geography, with a focus on neuroscience, urban wellbeing, and sociodigital futures.
Professor of Physical Activity and Community Health
Professor Afroditi Stathi leads the field in promoting active and healthy ageing in international/interdisciplinary research
