Automated system test schedule
Abstract
In this paper we present two transdisciplinary design studio initiatives from the University of Technology Sydney. Each studio positions design students as curious interlopers, invited to explore the question of how to reimagine cities that support biodiversity and enhance human resilience. The first, Urban Ecologies: Re-wilding the City Through Design, was a design studio informed by the Ecological Urbanism Framework (Spirn 2011), and stimulated by the notion of a “rambunctious garden,” (Marris 2013): a hybrid of wild nature and human management. The studio combined diverse disciplinary perspectives; it utlised ecosystem mapping and cartography, fieldwork, direct observation and systems thinking, as well as participatory, speculative & experimental design methods. The studio developed students’ skills in collaboration and teamwork, with an emphasis on experimentation and the exploration of new contexts for design practice. This approach supported nimble and responsive problem-focused thinking and making. The second project involved a design thinking challenge for UTS Design students in relation to a much larger project: The B&B Highway: Bed & Breakfasts for Bees, Birds, Butterflies and Biodiversity. The aim was to connect students with a live research project that had strong connections with a community partner. The larger state-wide project has established pollinating gardens and habitat for endangered insects, birds and other pollinators through a network of green urban corridors. Through a two-way engagement between students and project managers, the project involved iterative garden design, stakeholder consultation and visual communication methodologies. In both projects, students explore how a city functions as a complex set of ecosystems, and how to identify points of intervention. The learning experiences, associated research and project outcomes seek to enhance connectivity between human and non-human species at both an empathetic and a consequential level.
Dr Tania Leimbach is a creative producer, writer and theorist, specialising in conceiving and brokering innovative strategies towards promoting sustainability, with a particular focus on socially engaged practices and novel forms of creative education. All of her work is underpinned by a commitment to environmental and social justice. She completed her doctoral studies at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and is now an ISF Honorary Research Fellow.