Liza Griffin

What is your role at the Bartlett, and what led you to pursue this career or area of expertise?

I am an Associate Professor of Urban Health and Environmental Politics, and I co-lead our Health and Urban Development MSc degree at the Development Planning Unit. 

My experiences of being a long-term carer and living with poor health have driven me to make health a focus of my research and teaching. 

My work on urban health and spatial politics includes research on community gardens, urban food systems, vulnerability and flooding, relationships between urban environments and wellbeing, and placemaking for people living with dementia.  Gemma Moore, Ruth Hynes and I have collaborated with local authorities to co-develop a Healthy Parks Framework designed to assess and manage greenspaces through the lens of health. And most recently, we have been working with the North London NHS Trust to explore how local greenspaces can support community mental health. 

Our health is never only a medical matter; it relates to how our societies are structured, the opportunities we are afforded, the resources we have access to, the discriminations we face, the quality of the environments we live in, and our abilities to participate fully in political and social life. 

Health challenges and inequalities are not only unjust to the individuals facing them but also costly to society, preventing us all from living prosperous and fulfilling lives.

How do you like to spend your spare time?

I love to walk and cycle in cities and the countryside, and I enjoy being creative, so I like to draw and paint when possible.

Can you describe your disability and how it impacts your daily life?

I live with a disability which impacts my physical and mental health. It is a long-term condition that, without medical treatment, can significantly impact my daily life.

How has your relationship with your disability evolved over time?

I have lived with my disability most of my adult life. I have only relatively recently been able to access treatment to improve my symptoms and enable me to live fully. 

My condition has fluctuated over the years and has been debilitating in the past, but I now have much of the knowledge and support I need to live and feel well and fully participate in everything life has to offer.

What do you wish your colleagues or students understood about living with a disability?

According to the World Health Organisation, disability results from interactions between individuals with a health condition and personal and environmental factors, including discrimination, inaccessible transportation and public buildings, limited social support and poverty. Therefore, it is a person’s wider physical, social and political environment that affects the experience and extent of their disability. 

Together, we can challenge and address the environments that create these barriers and hinder the participation of persons with disabilities in society. Indeed, many of us at the Bartlett, along with our colleagues, students and partners, are fully committed to this goal.

What principle(s) or motto do you absolutely live by?

Be kind.

Are there any resources, tools, or practices you’ve found particularly helpful as a disabled professional?

The charity ‘Mind’ has been a tremendous source of support to me. Being as open as you feel comfortable to break down stigmas can really help to open discussions. There is nothing shameful about living with a disability. Persons with disabilities can offer unique perspectives and experiences, so it's important for us all to make sure that environments and decision-making are fully inclusive of everyone. 

While I have hard and fast deadlines like teaching, I am incredibly fortunate to be able to manage my workload flexibly.

Are there any resources or initiatives you’d recommend to other disabled students or staff?

Joining the Bartlett Disability Collective!

If you could influence one change in the way universities support disabled staff and/ or students, what would it be?

I hope that we can remove stigmas about mental health. We talk about it a lot more today, but we are not as open about our mental health as we are about our physical health. After all, psychological and physical ill health are often linked, and people frequently experience them together. Most of us will experience mental adversity or either be diagnosed with a mental health condition or care for someone who has.  We should also recognise the structural barriers to mental health. There are things we do as a collective, like creating positive and respectful and empowering working environments with manageable workloads. However, addressing wider problems like job markets, cost of living crises, housing, environmental crises, and conflict are much, much more challenging.

What role do you think allies (non-disabled colleagues) should play in creating a more inclusive workplace?

We should all feel empowered to reach out to someone who might be struggling.