The Earth Stewardship Initiative (ESI) brings together students of environmental science and landscape architecture (fellows) with professional ecologists, city managers, and planners at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) annual conference. Through learning-by-doing, participants collaborate in research and design to shape resilient, sustainable cities. We present a case study from ESI 2017 in Portland, OR, that explored green infrastructure as a community amenity, educational tool, and climate adaptation strategy. In advance of the ESA conference, fellows and city partners co-produced three green infrastructure-related focal themes to guide development of designed experiment proposals; (1) resilient landscapes through spatial planning, (2) biodiversity, aesthetics, and public value, and (3) climate change adaptation and education. Before, during, and after the ESA conference fellows collaborated with the city in an iterative process of designed experiment proposal co-production. Participants aimed to help the city further understand and improve its green infrastructure to meet its multifaceted sustainability objectives.
Results/Conclusions
ESI fellows proposed the city of Portland (1) use spatial analysis to locate and design soil-appropriate green infrastructures; (2) link schools, residents, aesthetics, and ecosystem function in bioswale design, research, and management; (3) bridge public and private lands to manage watershed-scale hydrology; and (4) plant street trees and create high albedo surfaces to mitigate urban heat islands in vulnerable communities. By using existing datasets and city initiatives, proposals could be readily implemented by city managers. Fellows, as partners with the city in a transdisciplinary training forum, worked on real-world city projects in a design process guided by the scientific method. Designed experiment proposals demonstrated how planning projects can serve as an actionable ecology for the city, although the process revealed to fellows the challenges of making science actionable. ESI trained the next generation of ecologists, urban planners, and designers in transdisciplinary thinking to address social and environmental issues. ESI provides a model for similar programs within supportive environments, such as the ESA annual conference, where ecologists and designers work outside disciplinary and professional norms to shape resilient, sustainable cities.