Collaborative Research: Co-designing Infrastructural Futures in Alaska

气候变化、水土流失和不合适的住房对阿拉斯加北部数十个村庄的基础设施构成了严重威胁。在许多这样的社区，人们必须决定是原地保护，进行有管理的撤退，还是完全搬迁。每一个决定都会严重影响民生福祉。该项目调查阿拉斯加土著社区用来适应气候变化的住房战略，以及如何通过让更多的用户视角参与规划过程来改进这些战略。通过外展活动和参与性研讨会，研究人员将与阿拉斯加土著社区和政策制定者合作，制定、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。这项研究探讨了基础设施规划项目中如何使用联合设计实践，以及这些实践对社区如何决定是否进行原地保护、参与有管理的撤退或搬迁产生的影响。本次调查以五个相互交叉的研究目标为指导：(1)收集居民近几十年来在住房项目中的经历；(2)确定住房专家在设计基础设施解决方案时使用的专门工具、交流方法和建模活动，以及(3)绘制住房决策中包含的信息和专业知识的图表；(4)通过创建多模式表格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)建立沟通学术研究、建筑科学政策和丰富的当地经验的桥梁。该项目将及时获得阿拉斯加住房未来的奖学金，并增进对参与式气候适应战略的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.