Practices

Sites

2000-present
Cities across China
A flood-resilient planning and landscaping initiative that harnesses ancient technologies of vegetal filtration to slow and absorb flood water, while also creating areas of biodiversity that reduce the city’s heat and pollutionRead more
2018-present
Barcelona, Spain
A housing cooperative that provides decent, non-speculative housing by repurposing industrial premises, challenging the traditional notion of private space through shared facilities and communal spaces, and exploring new models of organising living spacesRead more
2017-present
Oxford, UK
An economics think tank that promotes a holistic understanding of the economy along social and environmental axes in order to prioritise climate justiceRead more
1994-present
USA and online
A research organisation producing writings, exhibitions, and an online repository documenting land use in the US, considering economic, aesthetic, botanic, scientific, agricultural, social, and political aspects, encouraging multiple ways of looking at land and its issues and environmental historyRead more
1983-present
Chiapas, Mexico
A decentralized community in Chiapas, Mexico, considered the most significant recent agrarian movement by Indigenous communities, they embrace territory as a network of relationships and prioritize a situated alternative to dominant patterns of living, decision-making, and place makingRead more
Since precolonial times
Philippines
A traditional Filipino practice of mutual support that demonstrates a shift towards participatory approaches and solidarity, creating a culture of community organizing and governance towards post-capitalistic imaginariesRead more
2014-2020
Girona, Catalunya
Making strategic connections to steward an emergent masterplan based around creative partnerships, pilot projects, and minimal resource consumption. Generating collective knowledge and sense of ownership, whilst redesigning systems of value and the architects’ role in long-term projects Read more
During 1990s
Ogoniland, Nigeria
A non-violent campaign for environmental protection that sought to protect land and communities from international petroleum extraction and industry in Nigeria, working through grassroots methods of political writing and decrying the ecological and social violence inflicted by extractive industryRead more
2000-present
Brussels, Belgium Lumumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo
A photography and installation-based art practice that looks at urban design and archives as infrastructures of colonialism and contributors to climate damageRead more
2018-present
Tzoumerka, Greece
An open lab to cooperatively design and manufacture tools for small-scale agricultural production, providing peer-to-peer and open-source practical solutions through mutual coordination networks, and aiming to reach a commons-centric economy and societyRead more
1999-present
Jujuy, Argentina
A movement that emerged against inequitable neoliberal policies in Argentina and evolved into a political party in 2012, embracing unemployed workers, marginalized queer, and Indigenous women, transforming resistance into action through spatial subversions and transformative community buildingRead more
2000-present
Sudan
a women’s rights organisation advocating for the rights of women and girls to enhance their roles in development processes and decision-making across SudanRead more
2014-present
Turtle Island, USA
A manifesto for decolonisation and Indigenous liberation, related to the Green New Deal, which emphasises the relationships of people to land as the key question of environmental activism Read more
Established mid 17th century
Hinterlands of Brazil
Settlements formed by enslaved Africans who escaped from plantationsRead more
2006-present
Devon, UK
A community-led strategy for disconnecting the local economy from fossil fuels whilst building international networks of solidarity and cooperation. An exemplar for how decarbonisation can also deal with wider issues of climate breakdown Read more
2011-present
Liverpool, UK
Community-led project engaged in rebuilding Granby, a Liverpool neighbourhood that had fallen derelict after decades of poorly-planned regeneration initiatives. A successful Community Land Trust that rebuilt several houses with and for its residentsRead more
2018-present. Developing earlier work going back to 2007.
Sápmi, Norway
A travelling archive and online equivalent for sharing and developing knowledge of Sámi architecture, which also makes space for wider discussion about Indigenous architecture, focussing on cultures of resourcefulness and ingenuity Read more
2019-2022
Chile
A proposed national constitution, written collectively by over 150 people representing diverse backgrounds and perspectives, calling for widespread legal, economic, social, and ecological reform, including the recognition of the rights of natureRead more
2018-present
Berlin, Germany
An urban infrastructure, ecosystem, and artist-run organisation located in a rainwater-retention basin that questions urban infrastructure by appropriating the basin as a public space and reimagines education as a continuous learning site, challenging the traditional institution “university”Read more
2001-present
Madrid, Spain
Distributed architectural and urbanism open office that enquires into new ways of urban practice aiming to create dynamic and collaborative working environments, building a radically open cooperative structure and embracing multiple levels of agencyRead more
1991-present
Schumacher College: Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, UK
New forms of educational institutions that break from modern disciplinary “education for industry”, developing trans-disciplinary and immersive forms of learning in community Read more
2005-present
Pakistan
An initiative for protecting the climate, and a material and skills heritage, from globalised interventions. Using social enterprise, construction, repair, and education projects, the foundation combines spatial and social empowerment in a hands-on approach to craft conservation and climate justice.Read more
2001-present
Bhuj, Gujarat, India
A collective of professionals, artisans, and craftsmen working at the grassroots level who invest in vocational training and research into traditional knowledge systems, working with communities for inclusive development, and resilience against climate changeRead more
2012-present
Balearic Islands, Spain
A multi-disciplinary social housing office within the local government that has redesigned systems of production and procurement to develop high-quality buildings using local materials Read more
Since 1980s/90s and ongoing
Global (this entry focusses on the UK and Germany)
Encampments targeting focal points of climate breakdown, such as power plants, extraction sites, road building, and airport expansion, raising awareness, confronting people with the violent operations that make their lives comfortable and can force long-term changes in policy and culture Read more
2013-present
New York, USA
A programme of coastal infrastructure in response to the increasing threat of storm surges and flooding, which combines regenerative reefs with community programmes, ecological education, and capacity-building Read more
2009-present
Northwest coast of the Northern Territory, Australia
A media collective using video and installation to communicate issues of environmental devastation, land restrictions, racism, and economic exploitation, and a sense of heritage and cultural resistance to these issues.Read more
2014-present
Maryland, USA
A collective formed with the dual purpose of returning land to Black farmers, and Black farmers to the land—combining the politics of land rights with an ecological sensibility, supporting legislation, and advocating for linking decolonisation and climate action Read more
2019-present
Bermo, Dakoro and Diffa, Niger
Portable kitchen gardens maintained by women in Niger as part of a scheme that is both concerned with the immediate, local scale of food production and supports the wider goal of climate justiceRead more
2020-present
Warsaw, Poland
A project in the Zakole wetland region, which aims to raise awareness of its ecological importance and make it accessible to people while promoting the non-human rights to the city and future scenariosRead more
2011-present
Europe
A theoretical and practical research project, which identifies the relationship between economic precarity in design practice and the inability to do good progressive work, prototying and developing tools for redesigning forms of practice Read more
Especially since 2019 and ongoing
Global
Agile, democratic, and interdisciplinary networks for building change towards decarbonising the industry, by constructively rethinking architects’ daily work and their role within wider cultural transformations relating to energy and climate Read more
2007-present
Global
A coalition working for gender equality, women's rights, and climate justiceRead more
2010-present
Kreßberg, Germany
Regenerative community which has formed through a cooperative exploring new models of economic relations based on Community Supported Agriculture and solidarity economy and providing free education and facilities for scientific researchRead more
2015-present
Europe
Research into material reuse including upcycling secondary materials into new building products, and the design of systems that create financially-viable processes for using waste as a resource Read more
2016-2017
North Dakota, USA
A coalition of Indigenous and climate protesters who build a protest camp to defend lands threatened by the construction of an oil pipelineRead more
Since the 1980s, but especially in the past decade
Global
A form of food production based on regenerating the capacity of soils to sequester carbon and foster biodiversity, with implications for labour, economy, and the temporality of spatial practice Read more
2020-2021
Global London, UK
Research project using multiple visualisation techniques to map spatial and social injustice as a form of ethical and environmental advocacyRead more
2018-present
Global Led by mayors of cities including Yokohama, Paris, Freetown
A programme of research, education and campaigning led by a global coalition of female mayors who take a non-sexist approach to climate planning and foster women-led governance to help ensure equityRead more
Early 2000s-present
Andean and Amazon regions, South America
Quechua cosmovision informing a community-centric, ecologically-balanced, and culturally-sensitive lifestyle, an alternative model to development and growth rooted in situational awareness with the potential to evolve into a political project, possibly a constitution addressing all life-formsRead more
First Exhibited 2016 in Venice
Kurimoto, Japan
Firewood supply plant and farm that provides a local source of income and activity through carefully managed supply chains and low-intensity forestry. Supporting a relational network comprising architecture, forestry ecology, and supply chain economics with a social and ecological focusRead more
1995-present
Europe North America
An artist and research platform supporting projects that explore inter-relations between people and planet by focusing on rural space and food production; members’ multidisciplinary backgrounds diversify its methods, frequently combining scientific and traditional approaches to landRead more
1990-present
Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, UK
Long-term experiments into agroforestry, combining research, education, and prototyping—learning to work with diversity and to work within ecological systems by designing relations Read more
2019-present
London and North Yorkshire, UK
An academic-industry partnership programme of research, experimental pedagogy, and prototyping—looking into lesser-used timber as building materials, and making links between construction techniques, supply chains, and large-scale landscape managementRead more
1987-present
Barcelona, Spain
Zoning policies that create pedestrianised areas for green space, community events, cycling, and walking within highly dense urban spaces of Barcelona, resulting in an improvement of both environmental and social aspects of life in the cityRead more
2018-present
Aponte, Colombia
A decentralized network of various sites across the entire territory, facilitating river-learning, forest-learning, and chagra-learning in research gardens, and creating a place for dialogue between imposed and situated knowledge, a “pluriversity” safeguarding the rainforest and its communitiesRead more
2014-present
Sheffield, UK
An urban infrastructure strategy that combines green/blue infrastructure with economic and social benefits, reversing the modern infrastructural imagination to see the benefits of re-integrating ecology in citiesRead more
2019-present
UK-wide
A campaign led by journalist Will Hurst at The Architects Journal to champion retrofit and reuse over demolition and rebuild, targeting regulatory, professional, and financial structures Read more
First presented in 2017
Florida, USA
A web-based data visualisation and analytic toolkit to enable multi-stakeholder risk-management and enable better conversations and decision making by bringing together disparate information visually and spatially Read more
2006-present
Hong Kong, China
A research and design collaborative based at The University of Hong Kong, working in long-term collaborations with villages to develop interventions for rural development Read more
1992-present
Freiburg, Germany
Cooperative for the joint acquisition of houses that are transferred to collective ownership in order to create long-term affordable housing and space for initiatives outside the marketRead more
2007-present
Zurich, Switzerland
A radical housing co-op that challenges the norms of private and shared space to provide a model for significantly reducing individual consumption whilst making the most of communal luxury Read more
2022
Book and video game that present a theoretical approach to achieving a balance between human needs and the health of the planet, in an age of ecological crisisRead more
2015-present
Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
An educational and economic infrastructure project about aquaculture and food, which reframes community in localised and holistic ways including more-than-human beings. Bringing together technical and imaginative methods in a situated co-design process focusing on social and climate care Read more
2011-present
Global USA
An international network of academics and educators formed to examine the link and distances between architects, their design, and the labour conditions within the construction industry Read more
2017-present
London, UK
Public Inquiry into the facts and causes of the Grenfell Tower fire, exposing the interconnected webs of denial operating within and around the construction industryRead more
UK USA
Worker-led groups campaigning for unionisation and wider industry reforms, linking issues of labour exploitation and entrenched hierarchies within education and practice to climate breakdown Read more
2002-present
Kolkata, India
The world’s largest sewage-fed aquaculture, a complex of wetlands located east of Kolkata, treating the city's sewage and utilising the nutrients to sustain fish farms and agriculture, generating significant environmental, economic, and social benefits for the communityRead more
2017-present
London, UK
An activist-research lab which combines scientific and data-driven investigation with social and racial justice principles to create tools for better understanding urban health inequality Read more
2011-present
Madrid, Spain
A series of protests, demonstrations, and occupations in Spain against austerity policies, which transformed into ad hoc socio-spatial experiments to create neighborhood initiatives and alternatives while emphasizing provisionality as a key principle of spatial productionRead more
2019-present
Southwestern Colombia
An Indigenous media production collective making film, radio, and multimedia projects about issues of land dispossession and the importance of traditional knowledge and stewardshipRead more
1988-present
Global
An international body for assessing the science related to climate change, widely recognised for its comprehensive and authoritative assessment reports, using scenarios in an attempt to lay the ground for action Read more
2022-present
45 countries across Africa
A journalism drive supporting local reporting on climate justice, including reparations, climate finance, just transition, and energy access and supporting local journalism advances in education and empowerment as a people-centred, rights-based, just, and inclusive approach to information and debateRead more
1980-present
Zurich, Switzerland
A nearly fifty year-old urban policy combining health, ecology, and cultural motivations for changing the use and planning of urban rivers Read more
2012-2017-present
Lancashire, UK
A progressive procurement policy for keeping institutional budgets within the local area as a means of generating social and environmental benefit from money that was already being spent Read more
2005-present
Global in cities including London, New York, Berlin, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Accra, Cape Town, Durban
A global coalition of city governments supporting each other to implement climate justice initiatives across areas including housing, transportation, and employment.Read more
2001-present
Washington, USA
Legal and jurisprudential theory of inherent rights for ecosystems and species, similar to fundamental human rights, subverting the human-centered perspective of environmental law that has gained awareness, recognition, and actual legal personhood status for natural resourcesRead more
1977-present
Kenya
A charity helping Kenyan women work, grow seedlings, and plant trees to bind the soil, store rainwater, provide food and firewood, earn money for their work and gain a greater sense of agency and collaborative strengthRead more
2017
Bordeaux, France
A retrofit and extension of 530 social housing units, based on the refusal to demolish and a commitment to work with the existing—which questions the logic of obsolescence and the need for the new by redefining luxury and abundance Read more
1991-present
Cuba
Grassroots initiatives for urban allotment gardens selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and medicinal herbs cheaply in their immediate locales without transportation or intermediary companies and ensuring food sovereignty, while fostering community solidarity and climate awarenessRead more
2015-present
Barcelona, Spain
An open-access online atlas that catalogues social conflict over environmental issues around the world as part of a drive for greater transparency and a culture of critical inquiryRead more
1997-present
Japan
An association that helps people buy or adopt and repair old houses using traditional methods and materials, fostering mutual aid through a volunteer network of shared skills and toolsRead more
2020-present
Ladywood, Birmingham
An organisation connecting neighbourhood-scale actions and aspirations with planetary-scale challenges through creative engagement, reimagining possibilities, and building new systems Read more
During 2000s
Canada
Environmental campaign using direct action techniques such as blockades, media activities, demonstrations, and banners, to call for greater legal protection against the logging industryRead more
2006-present
New York, USA
an investigation into urban self-sufficiency by testing boundaries and advocating for harmonising needs and resources at different scales from household to planetary, in order to understand mechanisms of self-reliance and self-sufficiencyRead more
2015-present
Chile
A foundation working across heritage, architecture, and social work through programming for young people, participatory design, and research—breaking down the language barriers that prevent citizen participation in defining their own heritageRead more
2002-present
Berlin, Germany The Hague, Netherlands
An online platform which categorizes and evaluates the potential functions of various materials, promoting the idea of an endless lifespan for these resources through practices of repurposingRead more
2000-present
Karelia, Finland
An organization focusing on climate change, Indigenous policy, and research in Northern communities, prioritising embodied experience, challenging conservation strategies and advocating for Indigenous communities as integral part of local ecosystems to become a major force in global climate policyRead more
2021-present
Maastricht, Netherlands London, UK
A crowd-sourced online archive of materials that supports and promotes transitions towards more sustainable artistic practices, and provides workshops and open-access resources on sustainable materials and methodsRead more
1997-present
Abuja, Nigeria (and four other offices across Africa)
A non-profit, non-party-political, non-religious NGO facilitating education programmes and public works projects for Nigerian women on water management, conflict resolution, land rights, and tree-planting; with gender fairness foregrounding the importance of intersectional thinking when approaching climateRead more
2009-present
Chicago, USA
A foundation and extensive set of built prototypes for “Regenerative Neighbourhood Development”: ecologically-driven transformation of left-behind areas in post-industrial cities Read more
1984-present
Brazil
A movement representing the interests of landless, poor and Indigenous people, using education, direct action, and media to achieve land reform, and understanding its task to resist both social and ecological degradation through extractive agro-business and industryRead more
2007-present
Amsterdam, Netherlands
A programme offering capacity building and training for environmental activists, community leaders, and grassroots organisations while leveraging the Friends of the Earth International network to amplify their voices for global advocacy and changeRead more
2015-present
Global
A coalition of climate justice groups led by Indigenous people and people of colour who organise talks, campaigns, and publications to address eco-racism and white privilege in direct action tactics for climate justiceRead more
2021-present
Berlin, Germany
A citizens' referendum that successfully mobilised support for housing justice in Berlin, advocating for the expropriation of major private housing companies, whose grassroots campaign has sparked public discourse and highlighted the urgent need for affordable, equitable housing solutionsRead more
2018-present
Freetown, Sierra Leone
A woman-led policy agenda for municipal and local governance, aimed at facing climate change by foregrounding gender equity in climate justiceRead more
2022-present
UK
A proposal for a new form of land ownership, based on root-cause analysis to identify the underlying systemic causes of housing inequality, and reimagine the fundamental functions of property within economy Read more
2019-present
Kyangwali Refugee settlement, Uganda
Provision of solar powered stoves in community kitchens for women so they no longer have to spend time searching for firewood or burn charcoal and instead rely on completely renewable energy, fostering a sense of community to come together and cook togetherRead more
2020-present
Northern Indian Ocean region (currently Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand)
A network of researchers and practitioners building and sustaining collaborative partnerships aimed at democratising knowledge production in South Asia, and creating frameworks for a more distributed and democratic research culture that includes other forms of knowledge and knowledge production Read more
2005-present
Brussels, Belgium
An online platform and research programme, later supported by a deconstruction consultancy, to make informed connections between designers and secondary resources—redesigning systems of construction to include secondary materials Read more
1998-present
Zurich, Switzerland
A means of carbon reduction in rich countries in order to achieve global equity on a planet with limited resources, the 2,000 Watt Society proposes drastic reduction in energy consumption combinating technological innovation, behavioural change, and spatial planningRead more
2010-present
Madrid, Spain
A network of urban gardens in Madrid exchanging knowledge, experiences, and resources to promote urban gardens and advocate for public policies that has successfully linked various social actors, activists, and collectives, resulting in a legal framework for urban gardensRead more
1993
New York, USA
A book that exposes the need for architecture to respond to the unique conditions of places, such as climate, culture, and community; using language and code as design tools, the volume provokes readers to rethink future scenarios and design practicesRead more
2012-present
Cologne, Germany
A non-industrial agricultural network of private households that covers the production costs and receives harvest yields in return. A transparent partnership between consumers and producers that adopts sustainable agricultural practices and creates bi-directional relationships around food production, distribution, and consumptionRead more
2010-present
It started off in Austria, Bavaria in Germany and South Tyrol in Italy
Global social movement proposing an alternative economic model benefiting people, the planet, and future generations, and aiming to move away from the capitalist financial model, also suggesting an assessment and certification tool for other forms of economic valueRead more
2012-2017
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Plan for constructed wetlands for a renewable, decentralised urban water cycle—demonstrating the integration of technical design with social justice through a democratic and accessible urban infrastructure Read more
1977-present
Mali
A farming cooperative whose members also use theatre, radio, photography, and film to raise awareness about the social and ecological importance of permaculture in bolstering communities in the wake of colonial occupation, economic migration, drought, and increasing climate changeRead more
2017-present
Europe
A network of networks to connect and promote organisations involved in designing and creating alternatives to the norms of how things are designed, sold, distributed, and used Read more
1994-present
Langholm, Scotland UK
A community development trust that has purchased 5,200 acres of land, creating a nature reserve as part of a wider economic regeneration project that breaks up large estates formerly owned by private landownersRead more
1977-present
Belbes, Egypt
An initiative that transformed desert land into fertile soil using organic agriculture and established a community around it. They focus on sustainable agriculture to restore soil vitality and promote biodiversity while advocating for holistic farming regulationsRead more