How can built environment professionals prepare for this era of forcible displacement?

Resource scarcity, natural disasters and armed conflicts are driving forced migration levels well above historical levels, with the number of forcibly displaced people estimated to be over 84 million according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As the need for housing can be sudden and acute, architects, planners and other environmental designers must be equipped to quickly provide humane and agile responses.

This session assembles a global panel of faculty and practitioners concerned with the needs of refugees to speculate about this question and gather audience input in attempting to address it. They will humanize this growing challenge through video snapshots and personal stories connecting to migration. They will explain guidelines such as trauma-informed design and exemplars of empowering building collaborations, along with the many variables shaping the refugee experience that make general principles subordinate to situated approaches for generating housing solutions. Finally, the session will provide resources for further information and action.

Featuring

• Nancy Cheng, UO Architecture (moderator)
• Grace Aaraj, Archi-build LLC
• John Arroyo, UO Planning, Policy and Public Management
• Joachim Kieferle, Hochschule RheinMain
• Earl Mark, University of Virginia
• Kory Russel, UO Landscape Architecture and Environmental Studies
• Marziah Zad, Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluña

This event is part of the Global Justice Program with funds provided by Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace.