OUR APPROACH TO URBAN DESIGN
Our design process is rooted in Etiological Design which celebrates the Story of Place guided by ancestral Coast Salish protocols, values and teachings.
Through a process of combining Indigenous research methodologies, primary archival research, trauma-informed practice and oral history we daylight hidden histories. We re-centre the design narrative in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and ancestral teachings from Time Immemorial to address the needs of the present. We communicate and collaborate with Drawing on over 809 generations of accumulated knowledge our team re-centres Indigenous sovereignty and agency in the design process.
We use a Co-Creation process based in Ancestral Governance and protocols with the wider community to develop a unique Story of Place.
Story of Place from an Indigenous perspective deepens our connection to the land, empowering us to build in respectful relation to the lands, waters and skies. Inherently rooted in sustainable, accessible, circular, actor-network thinking. Our approach addresses pressing intersectional needs such as climate change, red-lining, sea-level rise and biodiversity loss.
We are committed to uplifting and celebrating local Indigenous, BIPOC, Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer visions for the future of urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, urban policy and planning. We plan on doing this through capacity building, solidarity and co-creation with communities and members of those communities with these lived experiences so their agency and voices are respected in every level of these design processes.
