University of Washington, Seattle Campus
Husky Union Building (HUB) Lyceum
May 7, 2014  8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

See Below

Pacific Northwest Geodesign Forum: Geodesign for a Sustainable World
University of Washington, Seattle Campus
Husky Union Building (HUB) Lyceum
May 7, 2014  8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
for registration go to…
http://depts.washington.edu/pgist/slcn/pnw-geodesign-forum
Students are free, all others $25.

The Pacific Northwest Geodesign Forum brings together faculty, staff, students, and community partners interested in geospatial information technologies to create, evaluate, and monitor sustainable solutions to challenges in the Pacific Northwest region and beyond. Such challenges are often complex and in many instances both the problems and solutions involve large geographic areas. Collaborative use of geospatial information technologies underpinned by a geodesign approach enables better data management, analysis, and visualization for fostering solutions in these situations.  Geodesign can be defined as “changing a geoscape by design”; a geoscape being an inter-relation of land, water, air, built, and human-scapes.  Geodesign combines geospatial sciences and design using geospatial information techniques that offer innovative spatial-temporal solutions to complex problems, e.g., sustainable management of ecosystem services as a combination of natural and built water systems.  The goal of the Forum is to provide participants with a level of understanding about geodesign frameworks, concepts, and geospatial information tools that can implement them for addressing sustainable solutions to complex community problems at varying spatial-temporal scales. We hope that building of understanding moves toward a geodesign community of practice.

The morning sessions will include presentations about
Why Geodesign? Its Character and Benefits
Challenges for Geodesign in the Region and Beyond
Geodesign as a Socio-Ecological Approach to Puget Sound Recovery
Making Ecosystem Valuation a Widespread Reality
Greening the Region Using Stormwater Infrastructure
Geodesign Tools and Methods
Cases Using Geodesign Tools and Methods

Forum discussions in the afternoon will include Community-University partnering opportunities for exploring solutions to complex problems. Some of those problems and solutions are likely related to teaching, research, and/or service activities that faculty, staff, students and professionals might have pursued over the past few years in community and university partnerships. Such partnerships could benefit from a geodesign approach that emphasizes understanding collaborative understanding of interventions and impacts that change the world.

The Forum discussions will be participant-driven rather than organizer-driven. The HUB Lyceum room will be set up with 22 tables for seating eight participants and thereby enable 1 or 2 discussions at each table on topics of your choice. Discussion topics will be selected by participants seated at the tables, and thus all participants are encouraged to voice their interests in these discussions. Perhaps topics will be motivated by a need for more in-depth discussion about presentations in the morning, or by topics that emerge through discussion.  All discussions are likely to contribute to building community of practice and offer directions for next steps to continue building for geodesign community of practice.  Bring your geodesign topic of interest!