Interdisciplinary Dialogue Series, Dialogue 3 of 4: Climate Change and Disasters

This Dialogue Series focuses on conversations among scholars, community members, and students reflecting on the relationship between violence and built environment disciplines and practices and opportunities for peacebuilding.

Climate Change and Disasters: Trauma, Reconstruction, Planning, and Design

The rapid pace of climate change has surprised even climate scientists. The intensity and frequency of disasters that it causes or intensifies (heat waves, hurricanes, floods, droughts, rise of sea levels, wildfires, etc.) affect many human settlements and transform where and how communities can be reconstructed. Architecture, historic preservation, urban planning, real estate development, and related disciplines must respond to these processes. But more than being merely reactive, our disciplines can pioneer innovation and provide leadership for the needs for climate change adaptation and mitigation in our communities worldwide, and they can do so in a trauma-informed manner. Where and how are they doing so? What else do they need to be doing? How can the next generation of design and planning professionals best prepare themselves for the new world in which they will practice? What should educators do for them?