Cities are vibrant places at the busiest intersection of a constantly changing socio-ecological world. Urban ecologists, planners, and designers all deal with these changes in some capacity. While none of us exist as monoliths within our practice areas, generally, ecologists study change; planners manage change; and, designers design for and implement change. Despite so much overlap in what we do, we often fail to communicate or collaborate with each other. Those who study change in systems need to inform the way we manage, plan, and create policy for more resilient futures. Those who design change need both the data and analysis that science provides and a planning framework to guide multidisciplinary technical knowledge within a multi-scaler context. This ideal synergy ultimately results in progressive policy insured by the rigor of science and bolstered by nuanced collaboration.
Results/Conclusions
Ecologists are increasingly aware of the importance in studying ecological change through socio-cultural and economic lenses. This shift in ecological perspective has led to more opportunities for planners and designers to see the relevance of ecological knowledge in their own practice, and recognize opportunities to advocate for multifunctional goals. As our fields and practices become increasingly interconnected, it is vitally important to understand potential differences in values that stem from disciplinary frameworks. How do underlying values of both individuals and communities drive the research, planning, design, and policy-making in your city? Have you experienced conflict in your city because of the different values of different groups? What all too often is missed is the opportunity to acknowledge that while values may be dissonant, goals do not have to be. How can planners, designers, and ecologists be allies for each other’s values by collaborating with each other to further multifunctional goals? Interdisciplinary teams are a necessity to move the needle forward if multifunctionality is important to a resilient future. This session uses several key case studies of interdisciplinary planning and design work as examples of how values that inform the creation and implementation of urban projects do not always clearly align with the multitude of goals they can and should accomplish.