How Do Intergenerational Program Planners/Practitioners Think about
Environmental Design?
1. In what ways do your program’s underlying goals and objectives affect the design of your
environment?
2. How are values about intergenerational relationships expressed in the environmental design?
3. What written or unwritten rules govern the uses of space?
4. Is the design flexible enough to allow participants to modify their environment?
5. How is the environment designed to meet the needs of participants?
6. How do participants bring their interests and skills to designing how the spaces are used?
7. Does the design include consideration for elements such as:
a. sensory stimulation
b. informal interaction
c. autonomy (independence of activity and access)
d. opportunities for socialization or privacy
e. safety
8. What messages, and general tone, are meant to be conveyed upon entry?
9. Are there design elements intended to stimulate curiosity and exploration?
10. How is the design culture-specific?
Please return to Dr. Elizabeth Larkin by e-mail at llarkin@sar.usf.edu.
Larkin, Kaplan, & Graves