Our spatial measures have developed from the exploitation of ecology (1900s) to its conservation (1960s) , currently (2000s) we are looking towards shepherding nature by integrating them into our constructed systems. However this spatial management perspective overlooks the innate benefits resulting from the synergy by co-habitation of human life, non-human life and the environment. The proposed project recommends to look into a partnership with nature to join the intrinsic dynamics this planet offers, instead of trying to dominate them. This suggested co- habitation could be a chance to synchronize with the changing processes of our environment, which might lead us towards adapting progressively to them.
The project claims to regenerate the multi- equilibria state of marine ecosystems and develop an evolutionary adaptation through an ecosystem succession approach(Davoudi et al., 2013; Hale et al., 2009; Munang et al., 2013). This entails the gradual transformation of constantly obsolete infrastructures towards hybrid evolving systems consisting of Infrastructural Ecologies (Belanger, 2009; Brown, 2019; Reed & Lister, 2014).The idea is to use a mixture of soft and hard infrastructures that reintegrate the biodynamics of ecology, so that it can be colonized by socio- ecological elements. Hence the interplay of the anthropic designs and environmental processes would support the creation of habitats that allow a shared expansion space for dissimilar activities to meet (ecotone enhancement). To propose such infrastructures it was necessary to understand the dynamics of the different marine ecosystems in terms of time cycles, longevity and interdependencies. The consideration of this temporal dimension of socio- ecological elements in the design, allows the proposed changes to eventually be coupled to the pace of environmental processes. Hereafter ecosystems could be able to embrace climatic risk, since they no longer present a hazard, but a trigger of transformation.
Sources:
Belanger, P. (2009). Landscape As Infrastructure. Landscape Journal, 28(1), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.28.1.79
Brown, H. (2019). Infrastructural Ecology: Embedding Resilience in Public Works. Public Works Management & Policy, 24(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X18784602
Davoudi, S., Brooks, E., & Mehmood, A. (2013). Evolutionary Resilience and Strategies for Climate Adaptation. Planning Practice and Research, 28(3), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2013.787695
Hale, L. Z., Meliane, I., Davidson, S., Sandwith, T., Hoekstra, J., Hatziolos, M., & Davidson, N. (2009). Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Marine and Coastal Ecosystems. Renewable Resources Journal, 11.
Munang, R., Thiaw, I., Alverson, K., Mumba, M., Liu, J., & Rivington, M. (2013). Climate change and Ecosystem-based Adaptation: A new pragmatic approach to buffering climate change impacts. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5(1), 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2012.12.001
Reed, C., & Lister, N.-M. (2014). Ecology and Design: Parallel Genealogies. Places Journal, 2014. https://doi.org/10.22269/140414