Regenerative Practices for Exhausted Landscapes

Abstract

Students will be introduced to a range of landscape practices that regenerate soil health and enhance biological integrity through the research of five projects in a range of climatic and geographical conditions. Through the lens of each site, traditional and pioneering approaches in designing with living systems will be critically discussed.

Objective

Through the lectures, students will learn about key parameters for designing landscapes with the goal of regeneration, as well as gain perspective on ecological topics including succession, disturbance, and management. Additionally, the course will examine the potentials and challenges of these practices to influence landscapes at a territorial scale. Through a series of fieldwork sessions, students will explore how to read a site through a rigorous and creative practice of observing, measuring, and recording.

Content

The course will be composed in two parts: a series of lectures and a series of field sessions at the Garden of the 21st Century at Hönggerberg . The lectures will introduce key regenerative practices for five sites in varying climatic and ecological contexts. Each site is a Garden of the 21st Century, a collection of projects within the Chair of Being Alive that are located in Switzerland, Spain, Chile, and the United States. In parallel to the lectures, students will spend time at the site on Hönggerberg conducting fieldwork and drawing their findings.

Resources