Connected by Place, Powered by People: The NoDE Approach
- Frazer Macdonald Hay
- May 26
- 3 min read
Written by #Frazermacdonaldhay
In cities, towns, and rural areas across the world, communities are facing a shared crisis — not just of climate, economy, or politics, but of trust, cohesion, and place.
NoDE — short for Network of Dynamic Environments — is Uniform November’s bold, interdisciplinary response to that crisis. It’s a programme designed to reconnect people to the places they live, work, and gather — not through nostalgia or branding, but through participatory design, smart technologies, and deeply rooted peacebuilding strategies.
And while NoDE is aiming to launch in Scotland as a pilot project, its relevance is universal. The issues it addresses — social fragmentation, mistrust in institutions, place-based inequality, and climate risk — are found everywhere. The long-term vision is to develop globally connected local nodes, supporting one another in building resilient futures.
The Challenge: Fractured Places, Frayed Trust
Across continents, the spaces that shape our daily lives are under strain. Social divisions deepen, public services struggle, and people feel increasingly disconnected from the decision-making structures that govern their environments.
In many places, the built environment mirrors this disconnect — neglected buildings, severed infrastructure, underused civic space. Trust erodes. Innovation isolates. Policy feels distant.
And yet, in almost every place, there are also people doing remarkable things — quietly sustaining community, resilience, and hope. What they often lack is support, visibility, and the structural scaffolding to grow.
The Proposal: What Is NoDE?
NoDE is a community-oriented, high-tech programme that maps the problems and potentials of everyday places — and turns them into platforms for shared resilience and development.
Drawing on Uniform November’s international experience in post-conflict peacebuilding, architectural reuse, and climate adaptation, NoDE works by:
Identifying socially impactful spaces
Engaging diverse local stakeholders
Embedding smart technologies in accessible ways
Rebuilding trust between institutions and people
Co-creating place-based solutions that can scale
Whether it's a disused factory in Mexico City, a marginalised estate in Belfast, or an under-supported rural town in Eastern Europe — NoDE offers a flexible yet principled model for reconnecting people and place.
Why Begin in Scotland?
Scotland, like many nations, is navigating complex pressures — post-COVID recovery, social inequality, constitutional debates, and deep climate challenges. These conditions make it an ideal context to pilot a place-based, trust-building model that could inform work globally.
Uniform November, based in Scotland but with international roots, is proposing to launch the first NoDE programme there, collaborating with local partners to test its methods and build a replicable framework.
What Makes NoDE Distinct?
Smart Cities with Soul – NoDE integrates technology, but not as a top-down fix. Data tools are used to support community agency, not surveillance or control.
Place as a Stakeholder – The built environment isn’t just a backdrop; it’s an active participant in social wellbeing and recovery.
Peacebuilding Meets Design – NoDE applies field-tested methods from conflict zones to help heal fractured civic space — turning lessons from Mosul, Tel Aviv, and Jakarta into assets for struggling places elsewhere.
Co-Creation Over Imposition – NoDE isn’t a brand or a toolkit. It’s a process — one that empowers people to define what “resilience” means in their own context.
How It Works
NoDE operates in iterative phases:
Local Mapping – Identifying meaningful or problematic sites through interviews and observations
Dialogue & Co-Design – Running workshops to explore social cohesion, place identity, and community goals
Technology Integration – Using smart tools to help track, adapt, and sustain improvements
Knowledge Exchange – Connecting places across the NoDE network to share insights, strategies, and support
The model is adaptable — suitable for urban and rural settings, across varied political and cultural contexts.
From Post-Conflict to Post-Carbon: A Vision for Global Adaptation
Frazer Macdonald Hay, founder of Uniform November, has spent two decades working at the intersection of urban memory, trauma recovery, peacebuilding, and adaptive design. He’s applied his approach across Iraq, Indonesia, Africa, and Europe — and now, with NoDE, he is building a framework that begins at home but belongs everywhere.
As he puts it:
“We must re-see place as a social actor — one that can either sustain division or cultivate resilience. NoDE is a way to make that shift.”
The Future Is Local — and Networked
NoDE is not just about fixing broken systems. It’s about nurturing a new kind of civic ecosystem — one where data, design, dignity, and local intelligence come together.
Whether you're a policymaker in Lisbon, a designer in Nairobi, a community organiser in Glasgow, or a business leader in Hanoi — the principles of NoDE can support your work.
Let’s start local. Let’s stay connected. Let’s reimagine how we live — node by node.
