Collaborative Research: Co-designing Infrastructural Futures in Alaska

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

Climate change, erosion, and poorly suited housing pose serious threats to the infrastructure of dozens of northern Alaskan villages. In many of these communities, people must decide whether to protect in place, undertake a managed retreat, or relocate entirely. Each decision seriously impacts livelihood and well-being. This project investigates housing strategies that Alaska Native communities are using to adapt to climate change and how these strategies might be improved by involving more user perspectives in planning processes. Through outreach activities and participatory workshops, researchers will work with Alaska Native communities and with policymakers to develop, share, and evaluate possible housing solutions. This project will generate publicly accessible multimedia products to educate, engage, and disseminate design prototypes, local resources, data, and relocation planning tools. This research explores how co-design practices are being used in infrastructural planning projects and the impact that these practices have on how communities make decisions about whether to protect in place, engage in managed retreat, or relocate. Five intersecting research objectives guide this investigation: (1) Gather insights on the experiences of residents in housing projects in recent decades, (2) Identify the specialized tools, communicative practices, and modeling activities through which housing experts design infrastructural solutions with and without Alaska Native communities, (3) Map the flow of information and expertise included in housing decisions, (4) Comparatively analyze and explore various data sets through the creation of multimodal forms for broadening participation in planning activities, and (5) Establish access to knowledge that bridges academic research, building science policies, and the rich stores of local experience. This project will generate timely scholarship on housing futures in Alaska and advance understanding of participatory climate adaptation strategies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.