Clare Rishbeth BA DipLA M.Ed

Lecturer
Telephone: 0114 222 0606
Room 12.18

email : c.rishbeth@sheffield.ac.uk
twitter: clarerishbeth

Biography

I have been a lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield since 1998. A west / south Yorkshire `hopper´, I gained my degree in Landscape Architecture at Leeds Metropolitan University, followed by the diploma level at the University of Sheffield. My professional background includes working as a Landscape Architect for a Groundwork Trust near Slough, a district council in Somerset and as a guest tutor at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. This geographically chequered CV has helped shape an interest in the relationship between culture, ethnicity and social aspects of landscape; and the implications of designing for multicultural neighbourhoods. This forms the basis of my research enquiry, and, I hope, informs teaching practice in an ethnically diverse department.

Research Interests

My research focuses on culturally diversity in landscape experience and design, specifically with regard to the urban environment. The scope includes understanding use of greenspace and streetscape by people from ethnic community backgrounds, the symbolism of `multicultural design´ and landscape perceptions and settlement with regard to migration. I am interested in how memory of `home´ landscapes is triggered by, and consequently informs, experience of environment by first generation migrants.

I am interested in methodologies that `share benefit´ with participants and combine skills training with participatory research. I am committed to working with professional and voluntary sector organisations, and have contributed to workshops and forums with organisations such as the Black Environmental Network, Countryside Agency and Greenspace.

Specific research projects have been instrumental in developing my research directions:

Walking Voices (2006-2007)

Walking Voices Project WebsiteThis ESRC funded project aims to investigate perceptions and values of neighbourhoods as described by first generation migrants. Focusing on the spatial, temporal and sensory context of the local environment, the research addresses how experience of place contributes to settlement processes and cultural identity. Deepening understandings of both motivations and barriers towards engagement in the public realm will help inform initiatives regarding cohesive communities and healthy lifestyles.

The research uses qualitative and reflective methodology working intensively with a small group. Ten participants from a range of home countries and currently living in north Sheffield, are loaned mini-disk recorders and asked to make real-time commentaries of walks or journeys in their daily lives. Supported by training from BBC Radio Sheffield, each makes weekly recordings over a three month period. Individual interviews and participant guided tours will help contextualize the immediate accounts, and will inform an ethnographic and social mapping of the neighbourhood. The research scope includes interviews with environmental and community organizations to relate findings to policy and practice. Outputs include academic papers, a radio programme and interactive website.

Viewfinder (2004 – 2005)

This ESRC-funded project aimed to investigate migrants´ perceptions and experiences of exploring urban open spaces; to explore the role of homeland memory in this; and to test innovative participatory and visual methods.

The research was developed in close partnership with a voluntary sector media training organisation. `Fieldwork´ was conducted during a 12 week accredited photography programme, the subject of which was urban open spaces. A variety of qualitative and visually focused methods were used. In total there were six participants, all asylum seekers and refugees, and ten sites in Sheffield were visited.

The key themes of the research findings are: the importance of memory and nostalgia in participants´ experiences; the significance of plants; the novelty of visiting British `parks´; the role of urban open space in quality of life of refugees, factors of engagement and detachment. The findings provide an insight into how designers and managers can encourage greater use of urban parks, woodlands and public gardens by these communities.

Click here for more details of Viewfinder Project: list of publications, downloads including executive summary and exhibition panels.

Previous:

Interviews and model making with Asian women to investigate personal engagement with place: in their home country, on arrival in Britain, and in their current situation.

Case studies of multicultural community gardens in London. The project addressed issues of symbolism and stereotyping in designed landscapes, and the role of representation of ethnicity in welcoming a diverse community of garden visitors.

Publications

Funding and awards

ESRC Grant Award. July 2004 – October 2007. "Walking Voices: first generation migrants' experiential attachments to urban neighbourhoods".
ESRC Grant Award. May 2004-February 2005. "Urban greenspace re-visioned - black and Asian perspectives".
ESCR Case Studentship 2002 – 2005. Secured and supervise PhD studentship entitled Longevity of public involvement in community landscapes. (Andrew Hinchley).

Areas of Potential Research Degree Supervision

Experience of landscape by people from ethnic community backgrounds.
Representation and symbolism of cultural heritage in urban design.
Diversity in community environmental projects.
Social experiences of landscape: walking, conversations, resting.
Creative and inclusive practices in research methodology.

Teaching

Being involved in a wide range of teaching contexts and curriculum development in the department continues to inspire and challenge me. My teaching responsibilities include both postgraduate and undergraduate design work, studio group lead in the special project planning/design strand, and postgraduate research.

My approach to design teaching is one where students are encouraged to set their own questions and challenges, learning through ongoing experimentation. The shared context of the studio allows us to analyse, collaborate and support each member’s ideas and skills. I integrate peer and self review, self-directed research, private reflective writing and public exhibitions into each module to emphasise the importance of integrating making and thinking, and to give critical status to design craft. I am a strong supporter of on-site work, direct engagement with the texture, seasons, peculiarities and potential of each site, and the need for ‘ongoing professional development’ in exploring as many places as possible in Sheffield and beyond. I am committed to the field trip as a learning experience, and have enjoyed many excellent trips with students and colleagues to fascinating places over the years. I am a long serving member of the Teaching and Learning committee, and currently serve on the Landscape Institute PGR for Leeds Metropolitan University.

My module responsibilities are:

Undergraduate:
LSC 202/212. Module Co-ordinator: Conceptual Design Studio from Concept to Detail. Includes awarding of the Rosie Reynolds prize for Innovative Design.

Postgraduate
LSC 6002. Module Co-ordinator: Introduction to Landscape Design practice.
1. Place as Precedent sketchbook investigation, 2. Courtyard design, 3. Extended landform workshop.
LSC6002. Skills sessions: technical drawing, design craft and critique, model making, site analysis, landform and grading.
LSC5110. Special design group tutorials. Special Design Project: Planning and design strand.
LSC 4140 / LSC6140. Dissertation supervision. Research report / Dissertation.

Research and Teaching Interface.

The interaction between research and teaching, and research ‘on’ teaching, is important to me. My research focus on cultural interpretations of place is equally relevant to a department with an international outlook and student cohort, tacking landscape sites in socially diverse contexts. The innovation in methodological approaches to my research projects also stimulates new ideas for how students may investigate sites and communicate their own responses and values.

I also have conducted research on teaching practice through undertaking a two year M.Ed, and this has led to initiating a number of departmental and university projects which share a common emphasis in supporting students in independent research.

• Masters in Teaching and Learning for University Lecturers (2007), including dissertation: ‘Field Trips: learning and teaching on the outside’.
• University CILASS Academic Fellow 2008-9. Conducted research and project development for the Centre for Inquiry-Based Learning on a 20% contract. Involved in setting up the initial year of SURE (Sheffield University Undergraduate Research Experience).
• Rishbeth, C. (2009) ‘Blurring the boundaries of the curriculum to shape professional identities’ in symposium: ‘Learning beside / outside / before the classroom’. Society for Research in Higher Education annual conference.
• Initiated and managed ‘Place as Precedent’, CILASS funded project for the Department of Landscape (2009 – ongoing). This is a guide to sites of landscape significance in and around Sheffield, to support independent visits. It also includes information on landscape sites in some European cities. http://uspace.shef.ac.uk/community/place_as_precedent
• Initiated, recruited and co-ordinated a Student Volunteer project for Haven House Women’s Refuge (2011). The project involved 6 UG and PG students over a four month period who consulted, designed and implemented improvements to the outdoor spaces around the refuge. The project incorporated a research component as a 2nd year team member also took part in the SURE scheme.

Administrative responsibilities

- Year tutor for MA1 year.
- Department English Language Support Co-ordinator.
- Post graduate personal tutor
- Department Teaching and Learning Committee
- Peer mentoring co-ordinator
- Fieldtrip Leader: Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo plus UK trips.
- Student Liaison for The Yorkshire Branch of the Landscape Institute.
- PGR member for Leeds Metropolitan University.