designed ecology

Our relationship with the natural world is rapidly shifting. The effects of a rising population, urban sprawl and consumer culture are made clear in several reports from biologists and conservationists. From city noise altering bat echolocation calls, to urban sprawl affecting bee pollination and artificial light pollution causing higher melatonin (stress levels) in birds, there is mounting evidence of the damage caused by human activity. Hundreds of reports the world over show how anthropogenic outputs such as noise, light and waste are irreversibly forcing detrimental adaptations and even generational evolution on to many species. We forget that we are the biggest cause of evolution on the planet right now, says Suzanne MacDonald, a psychologist and biologist at York University in Toronto, Canada, who studies urban raccoons. We have this view of the wild as a pristine place and of evolution as something that happens in the wild, she says. But humans in cities are changing the animals now. The reports that evidence our damaging effects on various species, in the most part, do just that - evidence the problems. What I suggest through the work undertaken at Designed Ecology is that design can progress specific scientific knowledge, in particular, that surrounding urban selection pressures, from a static piece of information that is passively consumed, to action, public engagement and in some cases a permanent solution. I believe design can do what the reports alone cannot. I dont, however, want to seem as though I am underestimating the power of science, rather, I am suggesting a collaborative approach as a designer, working with experts from several fields to come to effective interdisciplinary solutions to the issues in question, be that architectural, print, exhibition, installation etc. - Lauren Davies, Founder & Creative Director