Climate Change: Designing for the Future-Climate Change Designing for the Future Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The webinar "Climate Change: Designing for the Future" features authors from the book "Climate Change and the Built Environment," presenting innovative approaches to resilience and sustainability in infrastructure design.<br /><br />Amy Seek and Amanda Ludlow discuss a nature-based living systems approach to stormwater management, emphasizing flexible, multi-benefit green infrastructure solutions. Examples include Philadelphia's Green City Clean Waters program, river floodplain and wetland restorations in Connecticut, and stream stabilization projects in Virginia. They highlight a transformative project in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood, where traditional flood infrastructure is replaced by multifunctional wetlands and green corridors that manage water, reduce flood risk, enhance community amenities, and mitigate subsidence.<br /><br />Nicole Boothman-Shepard and Kelly Mayorano present Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) resilient infrastructure planning and design following the 2013 catastrophic floods in the Rocky Mountain region. They detail CDOT's "Build Back Stronger" strategy, use of risk-based resilience assessment tools, enterprise-wide policy changes, and integration of resilience into early planning (US 34 PEL study). Challenges include balancing environmental concerns, funding, and political dynamics. Multi-hazard considerations, such as wildfire impacts on flood severity, inform adaptive designs.<br /><br />Elizabeth Bradford and Luce Bassetti introduce a performance management framework to embed sustainability and resilience across projects and organizations. They stress broad definitions of resilience and sustainability, the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration, and ownership at all organizational levels. Bassetti underscores integrating social equity and justice principles, highlighting disparities in recovery capacities faced by vulnerable communities compared to critical infrastructure. Both advocate for breaking silos, embracing innovation, and engaging stakeholders to develop scalable, repeatable strategies that serve current and future generations.<br /><br />Overall, the program advocates holistic, flexible, and equitable design solutions that leverage natural systems and transdisciplinary collaboration to enhance infrastructure resilience and sustainability amid climate uncertainty.

Keywords

Climate Change

Built Environment

Resilience

Sustainability

Stormwater Management

Green Infrastructure

Floodplain Restoration

Wetland Restoration

Infrastructure Planning

Risk-Based Assessment

Performance Management

Social Equity

Transdisciplinary Collaboration