Climate Change and Place Roundtable Discussion

Climate Change and Place Roundtable Discussion Climate change has already started to transform the physi- cal, ecological, and social configuration of places around the world. The meanings and experiences of place are also certain to change significantly. Given the acceleration of this issue in our day-to-day practices, Places convened a “virtual” roundtable to explore the changing reciprocity of climate and place from different disciplinary perspectives. In solicit- ing contributions from leading thinkers on this subject, we especially seek to understand how the design of places might help communities reduce and adapt to the predicted impacts of climate change. We offer the following comments as part of our continuing analysis of the importance of place. —The Editors Ecological Design and the Role of Nature Think about where you’re sitting. How would it be dif- ferent if the sea were twenty meters higher? If rainfall dropped to a tenth of what’s normal? If rainfall doubled? If the summer started in the spring and lasted through the autumn? Think about what runaway climate change would mean where you live. Imagine your life in a carbon-neutral society. Imagine burning no fossil fuels, and getting your electricity from wind, solar, hydro, and wave energy. Imagine living in a superinsulated house in a walkable community. Imagine eating less meat and more locally grown vegetables. Imagine throwing nothing away, but recycling everything. Imagine failure, and imagine success. And imagine them right where you are now. Alex Steffen World Changing Seattle, WA Climate change is global in scale and consequence, and any solution will require sustained international political cooperation. Climate change will influence every human endeavor, and solutions will also require individual engage- ment and action played out at a local scale. Mitigation strategies to temper the extent of future climate change and adaptation strategies to address changes already initiated will profoundly influence where, what, and how we build. Climate change has intensified political and public interest in environmental performance targets. “Net-zero- energy” and “carbon-neutral” buildings require radical reductions in energy demand, the use of passive strategies, and greater deployment of onsite renewable energy collec- tion—all of which are geographic and climate dependent. Climate change has also caused a reevaluation of more fundamental approaches to community and building design and their relationship to natural systems. Beyond the current emphasis on greater energy self-reliance at the individual building level, there are opportunities for creative synergies with adjacent buildings and surrounding natural systems. Moreover, after a managed restoration of degraded ecosystems, permitting natural systems freedom to mature toward greater diversity and resilience according to the constraints and opportunities afforded by place is the basis of regenerative design. Within this local context, regenerative design seeks the considered co-evolution of human and natural systems, and the act of building initiates this process. A fully matured global information system will likely enable participation in a global culture in tandem with this re-establishment of regional identity and place-specific building practices. Raymond J. Cole, Ph.D. Professor and Director, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Climate change challenges the human spirit. How do we act in a world in which our very presence has created threats to our existence and that of all species? Can we summon the will to change our behavior? Perhaps most importantly, do we possess the wisdom to know what to do? Ecology tells us that everything is connected. Ecological design renders these connections visible, reminding us of our rightful place in kinship with the natural world. Eco- logical designers are mindful of the impacts of our designs, looking both upstream and downstream, and consider- ing effects over time. Ecological designers also take their cues from nature, creating artifacts and places powered by the sun, composed of safe and healthy materials in closed cycles, celebrating what we learn from nature by mirroring its wondrous diversity. Climate Change Roundtable

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