Design for co-habitation. A practice-oriented exploration into inclusive multispecies design strategies.

The 21st century is a critical juncture in the history of our planet. By the end of this century scientist expect the extinction of 20 to 50 percent of all living species on earth and a global warming of our planet of 2 degrees. Meanwhile the planet is facing a growing pressure on natural resources and enormous challenges regarding soil-, air- and water pollution. In order to face this environmental crisis, a fundamental shift is required in the way we design, construct and manage our environment. Landscape (design) has been claimed as medium to tackle and understand many of these environmental challenges. This new perspective in landscape design requires other ways of thinking about our cities and landscapes as environmental systems with complex underlying chemical, biological, social and economic processes. The research aspires to explore the potential of a new framework for landscape design practice that is science based, nature focussed, design driven and co-productive. The main focus of the research is to advance applied knowledge within the practice of landscape design through different case studies. The case studies focus on specific data and knowledge in the fields of hydrology, ecology, geology or environmental engineering and search for new methods of analysing, designing and representing integrated landscape systems in relation to todays’ environmental challenges.