Walking Through Housing History: Creative Histories Beyond the Classroom

Abstract How might walking be used to support a creative and historically informed approach to learning about public health, environmental health and housing and take students beyond the traditional confines of the classroom? In this article, we discuss the development and delivery of a North London walking tour close to a university campus. We build upon critical pedagogies of walking and the development of a historical awareness of housing as a method for teaching students on Public and Environmental Health and Housing courses. We argue firstly for the importance of developing a creative approach to learning, and secondly for the use of ‘learning walks’ as a pedagogical tool for exploring, observing and paying attention to the environment, using these to increase students’ historical awareness of housing and public health to inform their future professional practice.