KEEPING CURRENT:A Sea Level Rise Challenge for Greater Miami

Description

KEEPING CURRENT:

A Sea Level Rise Challenge for Greater Miami
The South Florida region has become emblematic of the threats associated with climate change. Even on sunny days, the streets regularly flood at high tide. Just three feet of sea level rise would leave a substantial part of South Florida underwater. New ideas for the built environment, regional development, and opportunities for all of the region’s six million residents are urgently needed. The region must transform its infrastructure to protect everything from drinking water to homes and business from rising seas.

In recognition of the magnitude of these challenges, Van Alen Institute initiated a project to enhance resiliency in the greater Miami area and create visionary and implementable design solutions to sea level rise. The challenges respond to the following three criteria:

Replicable across South Florida
Responsive to the interrelated economic, ecological, and equity impacts of climate change
Aligned with the Resilience Strategy developed through the 100 Resilient Cities process.

Through an inclusive and community-engaged design process, the project will bring together numerous stakeholders to raise awareness and increase exchange of information between communities, businesses, and governments.



THE PROJECT

Keeping Current: A Sea Level Rise Challenge for Greater Miami is a series of open design competitions inviting interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions and ideas using the lenses of economy, ecology, and equity to adapt to sea level rise.



DESIGN CHALLENGES

Keeping Current is a series of design and ideas challenges inviting interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions and ideas to combat sea level rise through the lenses of economy, ecology, and equity. Employing community-engaged design practices and led by climate specialists, the challenges will produce two documents solicited in a competitive process by local municipalities within Miami-Dade County and one in response to an ideas competition circulated as a request for proposals by Van Alen Institute.

IMPLEMENTABLE MUNICIPAL CHALLENGES

Two municipalities within the Greater Miami area will each launch a challenge to interdisciplinary teams to design a comprehensive and replicable strategy to reduce flood risk and minimize the impacts of rising sea levels. Solutions will be designed for a specific site within each city but should be adaptable throughout the city and region. The cities will then leverage existing funds for on-the-ground implementation of the designs. If your municipality is interested in participating, please contact Jessica Lax, Director of Competitions at jlax@vanalen.org.



IDEAS CHALLENGE

We will launch an ideas challenge to uncover and develop engaging design solutions to everyday issues faced by the region. The ideas challenge will engage local high schools and emerging designers to better understand the impacts of sea level rise, and explore opportunities to address those challenges. The initiative looks to engage youth in the conversation about rising sea levels, while also building capacity and experience in the design field.

Community Engagement

Throughout each challenge, we will lead an inclusive community-engaged design process connecting challenge teams and municipal stakeholders with community members to incorporate local knowledge, feedback, and interests into the designs. The engagement process will be developed in coordination with Community Councils—formed specifically for each challenge—that include local experts such as residents, school leaders, religious institutions, and community centers.

Design Review from National Leaders

Lastly, teams will receive feedback from a review panel consisting of local and national leaders in climate-change research and policy, engineering, environmental science, design, and planning.
Information on each of the challenges will be posted here including details of the selected site, profiles on members of the Community Council, links to the solicitations, and information on public events.