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The future of the human species is bound up in how we design, plan, and live within emergent extremes in global ecosystems. Paralysis in the face of contentious issues, uncritical acceptance of traditional roles, sectors, and hierarchies, and unquestioned long-held truths inhibit development of new ideas and approaches to design effectively. To instigate new approaches, we have invited designers, planners, historians, and social scientists to talk about Everyday Ecosystems: the boundless communities we are part of—a cocktail of cultures crossing economic and class strata with overlapping gender, racial, and spiritual identities—that complement but also compete with each other and conflict internally for rights and means to perpetuate their cultural identities, social relations, and environmental resource needs and desires.

Speakers will present a “zombie” idea or theory that one of their projects contests through design, planning, or projective research and analysis. Together, we aim to develop principles that will establish a foothold from which to launch a new approach to design and planning discourse based neither on privileged solutions by experts nor abdication of authorship in lieu of community determinism.

Free and open to the public – Zoom registration required. Check out our event calendar for more information.

October 22: Moderator: Thaisa Way,
Andrea Johnson, Amy Lerner, Sierra Bainbridge, Lindsay Campbell

October 29: Moderator: Thaisa Way
Kate Orff, Elizabeth Hénaff, Andrea Parker, Erika Svendsen

November 5: Moderator: Tim Maly
Maria Villalobos, Cassie Fennell, Heather McMillen, Denise Hoffman Brandt

November 12: Moderator: Denise Hoffman Brandt
Liz Barry, Ana Maria Duran, Matthew Seibert, Julia Czerniak