I chose four participants from different majors who had experienced isolation to carry out the intervention. Firstly, I first asked them to create some collages based on two key words: social cohesion in China and public space. Secondly I told them about the definition of social cohesion and asked them to think about whether social cohesion in China needs to be improved. Finally, they gave me some feedback about whether it would be improved if I did some event planning in public space.
Participant 1：
Felicia Teng（UCL MSc risk and disaster science UC San Diego MSc data science）Maximum number of days in isolation: 21 days
In her collage she wants to divide social cohesion in China into two parts, positive and negative. For the positive part, she chose to depict Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, pandas and some elements of the modern city. For the negative part, she chose elements of the recent epidemic, nucleic acid testing, etc., as she felt that these greatly affected lifestyle and travel issues.
She believes that isolation has caused some psychological problems for people. At the same time recent social events have led her to believe that there is a need for more education in this area to ensure the safety of society and thus increase social cohesion.
feedback：She believes that it is useful, but probably only for the overall national pride aspect which is the planning of overall goals, but probably not for the discipline of individual behaviour.
Participant 2：
Gloria He（University of Waterloo BS Financial Analysis and Risk Management UCL MSc finance）Maximum number of days in isolation: 19 days
Firstly she chose scenes of people buying coffee in coffee shops because she feels that coffee culture has become a staple of the younger generation in China. Secondly she chose tourist spots after the epidemic because she felt that tourist spots were places where people could get closer, but because of the epidemic these places lost their vitality.
feedback：She believes that organising events in public spaces is helpful for social cohesion, as attending events can make new friends and help them make new connections and self-confidence, as well as addressing some of the psychological issues of isolation.
Participant 3:
Shanxue Gao（UAL MA Furniture design）Maximum number of days in isolation: 10 days
She believes that the Chinese tradition of respecting the elderly and loving the young makes for a cohesive society, and secondly square dancing in a public space is a good recreational and social activity to promote social cohesion, so he has chosen these elements.
feedback:She believes that China need to reduce prejudice against certain vulnerable groups might help improve social cohesion and bring groups together. And organising such events in public spaces can shorten the distance between people and create empathy, thus improving social cohesion.
Participant 4（No collage, just a few interviews）:
Haoxuan Chen（Nanjing normal university MS geography information science）Maximum number of days in isolation: 30 days
When it comes to Chinese cohesion he thinks of history and culture, because these legacies have a certain influence on the cohesion of people nowadays and there is a sense of pride in the culture. He sees the quarantine of the epidemic as also a manifestation of social cohesion, because of the national policy that everyone is willing to follow.
Feedback：He believes that holding events in public spaces is helpful because they can bring people together, and even if there is no way to radiate too much during the event, it is possible to improve social cohesion through constant promotion, from the community to the street to the whole city.