Abstract
Our societal conversation has shifted from climate denial to despair, but between these extremes lies hope, a necessary ingredient for effective action. Research shows that many people feel loss and grief due to climate change and environmental degradation. Students preparing for environmental careers must confront these difficult emotions and channel their despair into action. This podcast and accompanying website feature seven recent graduates of the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, in conversation about their environmentally visionary master’s thesis projects and their experiences bringing these ideas into their professional work. To produce this project, we used the research tools of architects – the case study and collective discovery – to create new knowledge and perspectives. These tools contribute to solving architectural, social, political, economic, and environmental problems holistically. Trained to think about the big picture, our school’s disciplines engage stakeholders to envision and collaborate on innovative strategies. Academic research on podcasts is still emerging, but data on the medium is considerable and its effects are growing; the New Yorker has claimed that the medium is ‘humanizing the news”. In combination, this tool presents an exciting opportunity to explore how to broaden the impact of architectural sustainability research through the following questions: 1) Can built environment designs that prioritize sustainability features and seek to repair environmental degradation be made more accessible through a storytelling medium; and 2) how does the medium of the podcast accelerate student conversation and leadership around sustainable design and activate the role of hope?
Presenters
Julie GabrielliClinical Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Planning, Preservation & Real Estate, University of Maryland, Maryland, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2024 Special Focus—Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Environmental Humanities, Architecture, Podcast, Sustainable Design, Innovation, Climate Change, Leadership
