OUR CALL
We live in the age of the anthropocene. It is an epoch in which humans and our societies have become a global geophysical force. As Paul J. Crutzen, the Dutch atmospheric chemist who coined the term explains - "Human activities are exerting increasing impacts on the environment on all scales, in many ways outcompeting natural processes." A major engine in this human-dominated system is the urban environment. Growth rates in these landscapes, both in terms of urbanized land and population are increasing; impacting biodiversity, ecological processes, and ecosystem services. Long-term ecological research by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and others have identified these patterns in urban ecology. However, we continue to build the world faster than we study it.
The Experimental Design Competition (EXD), seeks a new way forward that integrates ecological science and design processes. It builds on the Design Experiment model, which asks that we reflect as we shape, that we test while we implement, and that we modify as we learn. The age of the anthropocene challenges us to reinvent and reimagine how we build the world. This event is an opportunity to do that, as well as, an opportunity to strengthen the collaborative relationships that are necessary to sustain these efforts.
The Experimental Design Competition (EXD), seeks a new way forward that integrates ecological science and design processes. It builds on the Design Experiment model, which asks that we reflect as we shape, that we test while we implement, and that we modify as we learn. The age of the anthropocene challenges us to reinvent and reimagine how we build the world. This event is an opportunity to do that, as well as, an opportunity to strengthen the collaborative relationships that are necessary to sustain these efforts.
