SFHA Innovation and Future Thinking programme extended

The SFHA has announced that its Innovation and Future Thinking programme has been extended until April 2020.

The programme brings SFHA members and other stakeholders together to collaboratively develop new ideas and solutions for the future. It is led by Lorna Wilson, who is currently seconded from SFHA member Wheatley Group.

The Innovation and Future Thinking programme focuses on three key areas:

• home of the future
• service transformation
• tackling poverty and demonstrating impact.

Within the key areas, innovation teams, from across and out with the sector, are involved in different areas of work.

Home of the future

New funding, support and expertise is available to SFHA members to explore modern methods of construction and work with nature in place design.

Teams are developing research, guidance and tools to support digital asset management approaches and inclusive design.

Tackling poverty and demonstrating impact

The team has surveyed and spoken to SFHA members, tested different tools to measure social and economic impact, and collected best practice examples from across the sector regarding engaging and working with customers and communities.

The team is arranging a hackathon event in June that you can attend to help design a toolkit and guidance to help members measure their impact on reducing poverty. 

Service transformation

The team tested and experimented with different approaches to designing services with, and for, tenants and is now refining a toolkit to help associations fully understand and work with their customers in the design of services.

The team designed a workshop pack and survey for housing associations to use with their staff, tenants and other stakeholders to explore the future. Feedback from these conversations is informing a vision of housing associations in 2040.

Lorna Wilson, SFHA Innovation and Future Thinking Lead, said: “I’m delighted to be continuing this important work for SFHA members which is developing new ideas and solutions for the future and practical support for our members. This work is critical to making the case for housing investment post-2021 as part of this must include a vision for housing and services that delivers for generations to come.”

Sally Thomas, SFHA Chief Executive, said: “As we look to the future of housing post-2021, this project highlights an increasingly important area of work for our members.

“As SFHA members, they are able to take part in this project and help to develop work that they could not do as individual associations.”

For further information about the Innovation and Future Thinking programme, please email Lorna Wilson lwilson@sfha.co.uk SFHA members will find further details on the project’s web page on the SFHA website.