The Landscape Lab: exploring social, ecological, and technological adaptation to water scarcity and climate change through stormwater management at the University of Utah

Keywords: stormwater green infrastructure, living lab, social-ecological-technical system, collaborative processes, place adaptation
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 4

Abstract

Maintaining resilience of fast-growing cities in the arid western US depends on adopting a dynamic, innovative relationship with water in the face of climate change. Green infrastructure (GI) is an approach to managing urban stormwater that holds the potential for cities in arid climates to take advantage of available rainfall and adapt to heat. GI stands in stark contrast to “gray” infrastructure in that it consists of living ecological communities embedded within urban landscapes, rather than buried drainage pipes. Thus implementation of GI generates place-specific complexities that are social, ecological, and technological in nature and often stifle adoption of the approach. The Landscape Lab (LL) is a demonstration stormwater management landscape on the campus of the University of Utah that reflects a collaborative “campus as a living lab” process. The process engaged university researchers and students, campus administration, planning and facilities, and local practitioners and agencies in an exploration of what it takes to make the GI concept native to northern Utah. It contains embedded experiments and supports a research program whose driving questions reflect the assumptions, concerns, and desires of this wide spectrum of participants. Furthermore, it serves to inform future campus planning, design, management, and sustainability efforts. I will present the details of the collaborative process, outcomes as manifested in the LL itself, and implications for the campus as a living lab concept.