DREAM Dialogues

Co-design process from resilience in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Place: Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Date: In progress

Team: Miriam García, Paola Cuitiva, Manuel Esteban, Lena Cissé, Monica Copaja

Working within the framework of resilience means activating the evolutive and adaptive capacity of systems, reducing their vulnerability through change and self-organization. This condition has placed resilience at the center of reflection between disciplines such as ecology, engineering or sociology. Also, at the intersection of scientific research and design, since natural systems, human systems and human-natural or socio-ecological systems are complex adaptive systems, which can only be explained from the ideas of ecological resilience . Resilient thinking has been described by authors such as (Walker & Salt, 2006) and has influenced the research line of several scientists related to urban and metropolitan planning. From this perspective, planning must include certain attributes of resilient thinking in order to improve the governance of socio-ecological systems (Ahern, 2011, Allan & Bryant, 2011, Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche, & Pfefferbaum, 2008). These are: Diversity, or have different options to adapt to a wide range of circumstances; redundancy, or having multiple elements / components that provide similar functions in the event that others fail; multifunctionality, to support the diversity of responses required after a disaster; modularity, to allow individual modules to continue functioning in case others fail; the network and multiscale connectivity, or the construction of elastic networks through redundant circuits; governance crossings, which refers to redundancy in government structures; and ability to adapt with innovation, to encourage learning and experimentation in the development of standards at the local level. In addition, three dimensions of resilience must be addressed within the planning context; the physical, environmental and social dimensions.

The approach of resilient thinking suggests including the seven attributes of resilience in planning instruments to obtain a plan more adaptable to unexpected changes, typical of socio-ecological systems. These attributes can be considered in one or more of an instrument, but the set of documents that make up the planning instruments of a community must include them as much as possible. Similarly, the three dimensions of resilience must be addressed in urban planning in order to improve the community's resilience.

DIÀLEGS DREAM is a governance laboratory, a framework for reflection / action, participated by representatives of administrations, politicians, as well as various economic and social agents, aimed at the definition of metropolitan actions from the perspective of resilient design. It is a creative action that seeks to acquire skills and generate new opportunities for self-organization.

The objective of the conference is to explore, imagine and debate, from the resilient thinking, on how it is possible to generate favorable conditions that provide diverse solutions to the current and complex social, economic and ecological needs. These conversations will also make visible the compatibility and / or conflicts of actions, plans and projects in the framework of strategic territories of the AMB.