06/05 3pm-4pm: "Environmental Policy Narratives" and "The place of justice in legal design"

Nick Watson — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:00:39 GMT

When: 3pm - 4pm, Wed, 06 May '26

Where: REX 1 & 2, Wolfson Exchange, library

Environmental Policy Narratives: Exploring ‘policy narratives’ is a growing area of research and practice. ‘Narratives’ are ways of framing language to “promote or prioritise particular ideas or values”. Documenting and extracting meaning from these narratives in environmental domains requires the integration of theory and practice across a range of disciplines as well as an understanding of how knowledge and perspectives from diverse stakeholders interact within decision-making contexts. This contribution reflects on the power and potential of narratives from three recent activities: 1) working to support blue-green infrastructure decision-making at metropolitan scale in Santiago, Chile; 2) exploring green space narratives in London, UK and Melbourne, Australia; and 3) discussing narrative construction in environmental policy fiction with staff and students at UCL.

The place of justice in legal design: Legal design argues for incorporating design-based methods to address problems in legal systems. It advocates for user centricity, plain language,  experimentation in how the law is developed, circulated, and used. In this presentation, I will draw from my research and practice in legal design, to explore what legal design brings to address structural injustices in society, and if and how it can address barriers to access to justice. Access to justice, as a concept, is multi-faceted and includes symbolic, locational, linguistic, informational, and financial components. It is a concept critical to ensure the participation of people in decision-making processes, greater transparency in terms of the ability to understand procedures, and accountability through holding different agencies of the State responsible. I will draw from my experiences of running Justice Adda , a law and design social venture in India, as well as from a teaching lab in The Netherlands to reflect on the potential and limitations of legal design as an approach. I hope to use the presentation to discuss with colleagues about how to develop academic outputs from my practice.

20/05 2pm-3:30pm: Webinar: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in the East Mediterranean

Nick Watson — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:43:34 GMT

When: 2pm - 3:30pm, Wed, 20 May '26

Where: Impact Hub, Geneva & Online

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 (now extended to 2027) promotes a more robust digital health governance system, including through the development of national digital health strategies. To successfully operationalise the Global Strategy across territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Regional Strategy for Fostering Digital Health in the EMR (2023-2027) encourages the formulation of national digital health strategies aligned with broader national and public health priorities. Today, fifteen out of twenty-one countries in the region have adopted national strategies, with others under way.

Our report, Towards People-centred Digital Health Strategies: Gender, Equity, Rights and Inclusion, that reviewed 20 national digital health strategies found that gender equality, human rights, and the needs of marginalised populations were largely overlooked. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) at the University of ��TV and the event co-sponsors at Health Enabled are hosting this third and final webinar in our series to share insights and practical tools aimed at embedding gender, equity and rights in national digital health strategies throughout the development and implementation processes.

Title: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in the East Mediterranean

Date: 5th March 2026
Time: 2:00pm-3:30pm GMT, 4:00pm-5:30pm EET, IST
Where: Online
Platform: Microsoft Teams (Link provided upon registration)
The webinar will be held in English. Automated live captions will be available in multiple languages, including Arabic and French.
Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/f4nCEPGeBc

Speakers:
- Arash Rashidian, Coordinator, Science, Innovation & Data for Impact (SID), WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
- Ayman Sabea, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Shamseya
- Khaled Hassine, Health Cluster lead, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
- Kathryn Johnson, Policy Specialist, HIV and Health Group, UN Development Programme (UNDP)
- Patricia Mechael, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Health Enabled
- Tariq El Alaoui, Co-founder Kaynin Plus, MENA focal point GNP+
- Facilitators: Meg Davis, Professor, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM), University of ��TV; Project Lead, Digital Health and Rights Project; Tara Imalingat, Advocacy and Impact Coordinator, Digital Health and Rights Project, CIM, University of ��TV; Javier Garcia Martinez, Digital Health and Rights Project

And please save the date for our hybrid side event at the World Health Assembly (WHA):

Promoting Human Rights in Digital Health and AI Strategies: National and Global perspectives

Date: 20 May 2026
Time: 2:00pm-3:30pm GMT
Where: Impact Hub, Geneva & Online
Registration (online and in-person): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/rAahurpV65
French, Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be available online

Please register and disseminate this invitation with others who may be interested!

Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies » Events archive

06/05 3pm-4pm: "Environmental Policy Narratives" and "The place of justice in legal design"

20/05 2pm-3:30pm: Webinar: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in the East Mediterranean