Bamfield Codesign drawings

Some of the codesign drawings generated during the Coastal Biodiversity Youth Forum organized by Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.  The Forum combined a rich program of scientific sampling techniques, hiking, and diving.  To reflect on these experiences, youth codesigned that sweetspot between Wilderness chick and City dude.  We also spent some time codesigning for the Public Education progam.  Both the educators and the students made collaborative drawings to design an education program that meets the needs of students and educators and scientists. We are very grateful for the support from the Institute for Environmental Learning and the Real Estate Foundation.  

Trained teachers in Camosun bog

What are some first steps to help youth to participate in sustainable design?  Encourage them to explore nature within the city!  In collaboration with the Camosun bog Restoration Group and Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, I trained teachers from Metro Vancouver to identify bog species and to implement youth manual techniques  Where the Wild Things Are October Pro-D.  

Earthmakers Art Project

With the Camosun Bog Restoration Group, I will be engaging the Killarney Community to envision the ghost of a bog that once thrived in this neighbourhood.   Artist Pat Beacon, organizer of Earthmakers,  will then lead a community art project where participants create prints for a community mural.  For details on this free event,  click on the picture below:

Ecology and Codesign

Architecture and planning, ideally,  supports a great diversity of integrated human activity.  Stanley's co-design is about sensitively inquiring into a citizen's round of life and their desired environmental stimuli.  As an educator, I help youth respond to their environment by experiencing it as organisms within a living ecological system.

Together, we are currently developing methods to fine tune the connection between ecology and co-design.   I prepared some graphics to illustrate some ecological principles for teens so that codesigning their environment can be a part of their ecological education.  Some basic ecological concepts are illustrated below.

Wilderness in a City

We trained teachers in youth manual techniques at the Camosun bog pro-D event.  Camosun bog is an ancient ecosystem imbedded in the heart of a busy city.  It contains an extraordinary biodiversity of species such as carnivorous sundews and arctic starflower, cloudberry. On a wet, cold west coast monsoon, this bog glows with beauty and colour: The perfect location for demonstrating how a city emerges from the wilderness.

Susan, wilderness chick, enabled participants to learn 10 bog species in just 10 minutes, using silly memory tricks, one participant is being a little teapot and holding labrador tea.  

Stanley, city dude, led a City on the Wall activity to demonstrate the effect of urbanization on a pristine wilderness setting

Wilderness Chick

Vanessa Lee interpreted this gorgeous river slough

Vanessa Lee is leader of interpretation of Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, and a keynote speaker for Plan-it earth 2011.  She led an interpretive canoe trip after the EEPSA  meeting.  This group of BC environmental educators hold their meetings outdoors.  Today's was at Deas Island, a 5 minute drive from the city.  Our paddles dipped into green waters surrounded by cattails, eelgrass, skunk cabbage.  Sounds of red-wing blackbird, woodpeckers, marsh wren, eagle.  We passed an eagle looking sternly at us as we examined its nest. It was so close, we could see the white feathers on its head.  Herons fished in the reeds.   We floated by the wreck of a rum runner.  Under the bridge, we heard the roar of cars speeding towards the city, their occupants unaware of the biodiversity below them.

wreck of a rum runner dating back to the time of US prohibition.

The Urban Tsunami

Gapminder's mild mannered Hans Rosling, demonstrates the  scary world trend towards urbanization. It's pretty hard to miss in his unveiling of the "truth through statistics". Can we, as a species, design ourselves out of needing more than one earth?   The ecological challenges due to urbanization requires  an unprecedented collaborative effort from architects, engineers, landscape architects -  a charrette of epic proportions.  It's also an educational challenge for teachers to prepare our youth for the future.
The design solution lies not in buildings, energy efficient cars, gadgets, but the redesign and re-imagining of a life.