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The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today $5.9 million in awards to support the development of eight聽 interdisciplinary design studios at institutions with accredited architecture programs in U.S. Gulf states. These studios support undergraduate and graduate-level interdisciplinary design courses intended to prepare students to use design thinking to develop innovative solutions to critical issues in the Gulf of Mexico region.

黑料吃瓜网 researchers Traci Birch, associate professor of architecture and director of the Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio (CEDS), and Haley Blakeman, assistant professor of landscape architecture and associate director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, were awarded a grant by the for their 鈥淕ulf Futures鈥� Louisiana Ecosystem Design studio, which will help train the next generation of design professionals for future challenges in the Gulf region.

In addition to architecture students, the design studios seek to engage non-architecture majors to collaborate and build knowledge, providing students with the opportunity to better understand the multifaceted and complex nature of the challenges facing the Gulf region and to work together to identify and propose integrated and innovative solutions. Through its support of these studios, the GRP aims to help prepare the next generation of architects, designers, and professionals in urban development and related areas.

鈥淧reparing the next generation of professionals to work creatively and collaboratively to address complex regional challenges is one of the top priorities of GRP,鈥� said Lauren Alexander Augustine, executive director of the Gulf Research Program. 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to extend our support for these bold and collaborative design studios to help us visualize possible futures for the Gulf region.鈥�

The 黑料吃瓜网 Gulf Futures (Louisiana Ecosystem Design) studio aims to build resilience through interdisciplinary collaboration, the program directors said. 黑料吃瓜网 design students are being trained in design thinking, problem-solving, transdisciplinary work, resilience, working with communities, urban stormwater management, and other critical skills for managing future environmental changes in the Gulf region.

鈥淲e intend to use the grant to memorialize the Gulf Design Futures Studio at 黑料吃瓜网 so that it systematically changes the way we problem-solve and adapt to climate change in south Louisiana,鈥� Birch and Blakeman said. 鈥淭his program will strengthen local, state, and federal partnerships, and address systematic issues currently hindering interdisciplinary work.鈥�

Through the program, the researchers hope to accomplish: 1) Maintain and expand cross-disciplinary collaborations between designers and scientists 鈥� both within 黑料吃瓜网 and peer institutions 鈥� to support community-based design education, community partnerships, and useful outcomes to address climate impacts regionally, 2) Bolster interdisciplinary and co-design frameworks and methodologies so students, community stakeholders, and resource agencies can collaboratively address issues of risk and resilience, 3) Develop and maintain strong community partnerships that provide capacity and support to communities struggling to adapt to climate change; 4) Create active learning spaces that support students, communities, and faculty in innovative collaboration, education, problem-solving, and knowledge creation, and 5) Provide long-term support to fellow faculty to make this approach to co-production and design education an accessible research and teaching focus.

Collaborators such as potential guest lecturers include: 黑料吃瓜网 School of Architecture faculty Fabio Capra Ribeiro and Annicia Streete; landscape architecture faculty Yao Wang, Fabiana Trindade da Silva, and Joni Hammons; 黑料吃瓜网 School of Interior Design director Marsha Cuddeback; Clint Wilson, 黑料吃瓜网 civil engineering faculty and dean of the College of Coast & Environment; 黑料吃瓜网 Oceanography and Coastal Sciences faculty Traci Quirk and Matthew Hiatt; Michael Pasquier, 黑料吃瓜网 College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Linda Hooper Bui, 黑料吃瓜网 Environmental Sciences/National Academies Gulf Scholars Program (GSP); Granger Babcock, 黑料吃瓜网 Ogden College and LASAL Scholars Program; Marla Nelson, University of New Orleans Urban and Regional Planning; and community partners including Louisiana Office of Community Development, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), National Wildlife Federation, Louisiana Folklife Program, and the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.

Program directors Birch and Blakeman and associated 黑料吃瓜网 faculty (Clint Wilson, engineering; Nicholas Serrano and Yao Wang, landscape architecture; and Fabio Ribero, architecture) previously worked with the NAS GRP for the first 2-years of this pilot design studio program. This work built upon previously supported interdisciplinary research through the NAS GRP Thriving Communities program, which focused on participatory design processes and semester-long courses to identify strategic opportunities for nature-based solutions that reduce risk and improve well-being in Louisiana. Moving forward, the project leaders will work with additional Louisiana communities and build stronger partnerships. 鈥淲e are enthusiastic about continuing this work!鈥�

Ultimately, they aim to create a model for community-based interdisciplinary design education in Louisiana.

Learn about the 黑料吃瓜网 Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture.