Collaborative Research: Co-designing Infrastructural Futures in Alaska

气候变化、侵蚀和不合适的住房对几十个北方阿拉斯加村庄的基础设施构成严重威胁。在许多这样的社区，人们必须决定是就地保护，进行有管理的撤退，还是完全搬迁。每一项决定都严重影响生计和福祉。该项目调查了阿拉斯加原住民社区为适应气候变化而采取的住房战略，以及如何通过在规划过程中纳入更多的用户观点来改善这些战略。通过推广活动和参与式研讨会，研究人员将与阿拉斯加原住民社区和政策制定者合作，开发，分享和评估可能的住房解决方案。该项目将生成可公开访问的多媒体产品，以教育，参与和传播设计原型，当地资源，数据和搬迁规划工具。本研究探讨了如何在基础设施规划项目中使用共同设计实践，以及这些实践对社区如何决定是否就地保护，进行管理撤退或搬迁的影响。五个交叉的研究目标指导这项调查：（1）收集近几十年来居民在住房项目中的经验，（2）确定专门的工具，沟通实践和建模活动，住房专家通过这些工具设计有阿拉斯加原住民社区和没有阿拉斯加原住民社区的基础设施解决方案，（3）绘制住房决策中包含的信息流和专业知识，（4）通过创建多模态形式来比较分析和探索各种数据集，以扩大对规划活动的参与，以及（5）建立连接学术研究、制定科学政策和丰富的地方经验的知识库。该项目将产生及时的奖学金在阿拉斯加的住房未来和促进参与性气候适应战略的理解。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Climate change, erosion, and poorly suited housing pose serious threats to the infrastructure of dozens of northern Alaskan villages. In many of these communities, people must decide whether to protect in place, undertake a managed retreat, or relocate entirely. Each decision seriously impacts livelihood and well-being. This project investigates housing strategies that Alaska Native communities are using to adapt to climate change and how these strategies might be improved by involving more user perspectives in planning processes. Through outreach activities and participatory workshops, researchers will work with Alaska Native communities and with policymakers to develop, share, and evaluate possible housing solutions. This project will generate publicly accessible multimedia products to educate, engage, and disseminate design prototypes, local resources, data, and relocation planning tools. This research explores how co-design practices are being used in infrastructural planning projects and the impact that these practices have on how communities make decisions about whether to protect in place, engage in managed retreat, or relocate. Five intersecting research objectives guide this investigation: (1) Gather insights on the experiences of residents in housing projects in recent decades, (2) Identify the specialized tools, communicative practices, and modeling activities through which housing experts design infrastructural solutions with and without Alaska Native communities, (3) Map the flow of information and expertise included in housing decisions, (4) Comparatively analyze and explore various data sets through the creation of multimodal forms for broadening participation in planning activities, and (5) Establish access to knowledge that bridges academic research, building science policies, and the rich stores of local experience. This project will generate timely scholarship on housing futures in Alaska and advance understanding of participatory climate adaptation strategies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.