ARCHITECTURE expert Jonathan Glancey has helped launch an initiative promoting a better built environment for future generations.

Mr Glancey, an architecture and design critic, joined Dorset delegates at the 'Places for People' conference at Charlton Down.

The event marked the birth of a new Design and Heritage Forum for Dorset, which brings together planners, conservationists, architects and the arts sector to champion creative design for a better built environment.

Its aim is to ensure that future developments in Dorset are easy on the eye and right for the county.

The forum's chairman, West Dorset district councillor Stephen Friar, said: "Dorset is blessed with beautiful towns and villages, each with its own character and style.

"As we continue to provide new homes, buildings and public spaces for people in Dorset, we need to consider how to blend the new with the old and how to design more sustainable buildings for the future.

"At the Places for People event we explored how architecture and design influence our lives - often without us even realising it. Good design can improve our quality of life, benefit our health and even help reduce crime."

The forum brings together representatives from Dorset County Council and other local authorities, the Dorset AONB Partnership and Arts Council, plus architects and developers.

An important aspect of the forum is to explore the role that artists can play in the design process.

Several Dorset developments have successfully engaged artists to work with architects and the local community to bring a new creativity to the design process.

Mike Hoskin, cultural development officer for Dorset County Council, said: "Artists can play an important role in the creation of new developments.

"It is something which we hope can become a part of the process of designing places for people across Dorset."