The Stuckeman School is hosting a research symposium March 2-3, 2025 that focuses on the place of animals in design. Titled “Biophilia: Designing for Animals,” the event is being organized by Andy Cole, professor of landscape architecture and ecology and director of the Ecology plus Design research center at Penn State.
“Increasingly we are recognizing that our built and natural environments are shaped and inhabited by many ‘others,’ only some of whom are human,” said Cole. “Participatory, inclusionary, and community-based design and research practices are opening to the voices and experiences of multiple publics, and new collaborative relationships are emerging that include the more-than human participant as client, co-citizen, and companion.”
Keynote speakers for the event, which will be held in the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus, are:
- Doug Tallamy, T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and founder of Homegrown National Park, a grassroots effort focused on raising awareness about the biodiversity crisis and urging people to address the issue by adding native plants and removing invasive ones.
- Nina-Marie Lister, professor and graduate director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University and founding principal of PLANDFORM, a creative design practice focused on advancing designs for green infrastructure that protect biodiversity and support equitable, accessible, and healthy community-based solutions.
A call for papers and posters will be announced by late summer 2024. Submissions from those exploring the full range of biophilial design, from megafauna to microbes, and their intersection with natural and built environments are welcome.
Contact:
Andy Cole
cac13@psu.edu