Water Week event sparks in-depth discussion around community-driven urban planning
Followed by Latest IPCC report and the start of UN Water Week, which brought together more than 70 researchers, government officials, consultants and academics on March 21 to Accelerating and rethinking water action in citiesCo-hosted by the Columbia Climate Institute, Columbia GSAPP, Urban Design, Columbia World Project, Dutch Government and Deltares, attendees came together to discuss alternative solutions and approaches to urban water action.
The morning begins with presentations and framed comments from the organizing team. Thad ParowskiManaging Director Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes Provides a community-focused practice and an accountability-based lens to guide the day. Furthermore, he provides a space to explore how professional practice and academia are mutually responsible for the decolonization of urban water-based planning.The critical importance of this issue was underscored by the following statements rajiv joshi Johanna Lovecchio of the Climate Action Team at the Columbia Climate Institute; Kate OrffDirector of Urban Design, GSAPP, Colombia; Dennis Van Peppen, Manager, Global Issues and Water, Enterprise Netherlands.
Throughout the first half of the workshop, moderators emphasized the importance of community-driven, place-based and nature-based solutions in reimagining resilient communities and cities. In particular, speaking of the relationships that exist between the community and its design partners, the speakers emphasized the importance of building trust, meaningful and consistent engagement and feedback loops, and accountability for a transparent planning and design process. Participants also reflected on what is needed to accelerate climate action in cities, and how this future can be achieved.
Krishna Mohan of Water as Leverage said the group aims to bridge the gap between the community, experts, policymakers and financiers. The aim is to develop the best catalytic solutions for climate action and sustainable development. People are the most important drivers of change, so they are also at the heart of the Leverage on Water initiative.
The City of Cartagena and the Dutch government are developing the Water as Leverage Cartagena – Construyendo con el Agua program to increase the city’s climate resilience. The program aims to support the design and execution of sustainable infrastructure projects in an inclusive manner. Climate resilience is critical to the quality of life of citizens and the economic competitiveness of cities. The Cartagena Plan embarks on a transformative journey that turns the greatest challenges into opportunities for the city.
Caption: Current students Hailey Basiousy (Climate and Society), Di Le (GSAPP Urban Design) and Caroline Weinburg (GSAPP Urban Design) introduce their work in Water Urbanisms Design Studio and Imagining Climate Justice and Resilience: Double Displacement at the Water’s Edge Works in Colombia.
Carrie Grassi, Associate Director for Climate Ready Infrastructure, New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, spoke about the East Side Coast Resiliency Plan Redevelopment Design Tour.
Damaris Reyes, executive director of the Good Old Lower East Side community organization, also spoke about the Rebuild by Design East Side Coastal Resiliency project.
Fueled by the early presentations, attendees then broke into smaller groups to discuss the idea of abandoning purely technocratic definitions and processes, and what it means to be an “expert.” They also discussed the challenges of working in siled agencies that lack bridges and accountability to the communities they are supposed to serve. Finally, the panels discussed ideas and examples that centered on Indigenous and community knowledge, approaches that also respected the ways in which technology planning and academia have compromised these relationships in the past.
When participants work in small groups, they gain many benefits, including:
- We should bring emotion and spirituality back to project work – making our personal relationship to the project visible.
- We should have a platform for failure. We need to admit our mistakes and learn from them.
- Location-based proposals and community expertise matter.
- We should create more spaces for listening and knowledge sharing, and more parameters for transparency.
- Let go of abstract thinking and anticipating past results, and “expert” thinking.
- More education is needed to develop future leaders.
- We should shift our investment focus toward enabling environments, governance mechanisms, resource and benefit sharing models, and community-driven projects.
end one way, Peter TwymanDeputy Director of the Columbia World Project, Jaap Slootmaker, Director General for Water and Subsurface at the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water, and Aria Torres Cordero, a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Columbia World Project, delivered the closing remarks. All three reflect actions we can all take to put our community at the center of our work, lead with humility and authenticity, and better learn from our mistakes to improve in the future.
