Forward

Dr. Leann Andrews

Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture

E+D (Ecology Plus Design)

PI, One Health Scholars Program

Penn State

This design activism studio builds upon an existing relationship I and my Peruvian and U.S. colleagues have nurtured with the community of Claverito through the InterACTION Labs program over the last seven years. Through the lens of a real community, this course helps students understand how much of an impact design of the built environment can have on human and non-human life, and that change for the better can happen through informed and inspired design. The work that you see in this studio book tackles a wide range of “wicked problems” that loom in our interconnected global community: climate change, pandemics, species and ecosystems loss, rapid urbanization, fading of Indigenous cultures, informal settlements, and extreme social inequity. This studio also connects to the One Health Scholars program to provide a unique applied and transdisciplinary education opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students in landscape architecture, veterinary sciences, and public health.

While grounded in the realities of the community of Claverito, the design ideas found in this book are to be seen as academic exercises, and the residents have been informed, and reminded, of this throughout the semester and afterward. That said, these ideas are intended to spark conversations, both amongst themselves and with decision-makers and external advocates, on how the community of Claverito sees their future. It is the hope that both vernacular and professional built solutions may evolve from the conceptual ideas of students. It is also the hope that students will carry these skills with them to positively impact the many communities they will encounter in their future careers.

The final design ideas were presented to the community of Claverito on July 16, 2023, and received with excitement, hope, and planning. The results of the hard work of students, the One Health Scholars, the teaching and administration team, and especially the residents of Claverito may be seen with time.