This article explores the potential of co-design to facilitate an imagining of ontological security when designing safe, long-term and affordable housing with women who have experienced homelessness.
Drawing on Blomkamp’s (2018) representation of co-design as process, principles, and practical tools, we critically and reflexively examine the relational, dialogic and practical approach we took to research with women who had experienced homelessness. Through providing a co-design model and reporting on our decision-making and key moments in our interactions with 21 women in two Australian locations, we provide an example of how co-design research enables the imagining of ontological security.
This article highlights the central role of values including social justice, cultural responsivity and gender equity in research, and the importance of trauma-informed principles to facilitate safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment.
