Collaborative Design Strategies for Climate Change Adaptation

This paper discusses the outcome of a collaborative design studio that aimed to investigate climate adaptation strategies for ten Bayside municipalities in Melbourne, Australia. The studio was part of a larger, 3-phase project titled Bay Blueprint 2070 in a partnership between the UN Global Compact Cities Programme and RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design. The aim of the studio was to identify potential adaptation strategies for 10 municipality ‘hotspots’ vulnerable to increasing coastal and catchment flooding by working with local governments, the CSIRO, and key stakeholders. The studio adopted a research approach that focused on testing future scenarios for each of the hotspots. Four scenarios were identified, the first two based on representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 8.5 Extreme and Moderate RCP 4.5. The second two focused on differing approaches to adaptation. Using the 4 scenarios, students were asked to investigate potential adaptation strategies in their responses and to explain how they considered the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. These responses then were presented to key stakeholders for feedback. The final project outcomes provided a catalyst for conversations around what adaptation could look like and could be like into the future as an aid for decision making.