There is much talk of this era, the Anthropocene, from doom-saying to promise-making. This world of cities is a human creation, incubating power and pleasure, pathology and poverty. What irony is it, that in our cities we talk loudly of climate and culture while our landscapes languish and nature grows quiet? But the era, like the earth, is neither enemy nor ‘other’. We, humans, are the material of its being: creative, calculating, fertile and fearless. We bring our baggage, bartering and bullying through its doorway. We trade extraction today and pledge conservation tomorrow. We perpetuate injustice, war, and waste. But yet, we dream, imagine, and hope. And still we design. The paradox of climate change is that it is both a human-designed problem, and likely, humanity’s greatest design challenge. Our ability and ingenuity to design differently—for adaptation, humility and compassion—is now paramount. We know what to do, how to be, and even how to get there, but we must (re)design to make it so—from governance to goods, from economy to ecology. We speak the words: Sustainable. Resilient. Adaptive. Emergent. Words that stain pages with alternating lament and intent. But words are not enough; we must invest with humility in the material of nature and the language of landscape, in compassionate design that adapts to change, adds value, builds performance, reveals beauty, and makes meaning from experience. The Anthropocene is the era to design with nature now: design to (re)affirm a culture of nature, to honour the earth, and the lifeforms and landscapes that sustain us all. 

Associate Professor + Graduate Program Director
Ryerson University
School of Urban + Regional Planning

Ryerson University updated Lister