Reimagining 2025: Living with Fire
Design Challenge
As part of our Reimagining 2025: Living with Fire program, Wonder Labs is delighted to announce three winning teams for our 2021 Living with Fire Design Challenge! These incredible student-led teams are pursuing bold ideas to reimagine how their communities can live with fire in just, inclusive, and sustainable ways. For details on what the teams are working on, see here.
Each team is comprised of at least three students, one faculty advisor, and one community partner. Teams receive an award of USD 10,000 each, access to a highly experienced mentor network, and pathways to future funding opportunities. The awards will enable teams to co-develop ‘reimagining living with fire’ projects with communities at high risk of wildfire impacts. Teams will have six months, from 1 June until 30 November 2021, to complete their projects. Learn more about the objectives of the Living with Fire Design Challenge here.
2021 Cohort
Reimagining Community Wildfire Protection Planning in Ventura County, California
A team from the University of California Santa Barbara in partnership with the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council will focus on the meaningful inclusion of socially vulnerable communities in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) in Ventura County’s Wildland Urban Interface. For details on their project see here.
Reimagining defensible space in Santa Barbara County, California
A team from the University of California Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden will create science-informed recommendations on wildfire-centric plant maintenance, species selection, and placement. For details on their project see here.
Reimagining community resilience in Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colorado
A team from the University of Colorado Boulder in partnership with the CU Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities and the Boulder Watershed Collective aims to develop creative programming for wildfire adapted forest ecosystems and communities using a 100-acre forest thinning/meadow restoration project in Gold Hill, CO. For details on their project see here.
Inclusive evacuation planning for Marin County, California
In June 2021, Wonder Labs also awarded USD 5,000 for a Design Challenge submission received from UC Berkeley. As part of this award, the UC Berkeley team completed an 8-week summer project with Zonehaven AWARE to augment inclusive evacuation planning efforts in Marin County, California. This summer project contributes to community-centered research and visual design for more inclusive evacuation planning. For details on their project, see here.
Mentors
We are also pleased to announce four inspiring mentors who will guide the Design Challenge teams with interdisciplinary thinking, industry best practices, and human-centered design thinking: Amy Berry (The Tahoe Fund), Daniel Godwin (The Ember Alliance), Faith Kearns (California Institute for Water Resources), & Greg Kochanowski, AIA, ASLA (LA Forum for Architecture & Urban Design). Learn more about our mentors here.
Follow updates on the Design Challenge projects on Twitter: @WonderLabs1
Each team is comprised of at least three students, one faculty advisor, and one community partner. Teams receive an award of USD 10,000 each, access to a highly experienced mentor network, and pathways to future funding opportunities. The awards will enable teams to co-develop ‘reimagining living with fire’ projects with communities at high risk of wildfire impacts. Teams will have six months, from 1 June until 30 November 2021, to complete their projects. Learn more about the objectives of the Living with Fire Design Challenge here.
2021 Cohort
Reimagining Community Wildfire Protection Planning in Ventura County, California
A team from the University of California Santa Barbara in partnership with the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council will focus on the meaningful inclusion of socially vulnerable communities in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) in Ventura County’s Wildland Urban Interface. For details on their project see here.
Reimagining defensible space in Santa Barbara County, California
A team from the University of California Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden will create science-informed recommendations on wildfire-centric plant maintenance, species selection, and placement. For details on their project see here.
Reimagining community resilience in Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colorado
A team from the University of Colorado Boulder in partnership with the CU Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities and the Boulder Watershed Collective aims to develop creative programming for wildfire adapted forest ecosystems and communities using a 100-acre forest thinning/meadow restoration project in Gold Hill, CO. For details on their project see here.
Inclusive evacuation planning for Marin County, California
In June 2021, Wonder Labs also awarded USD 5,000 for a Design Challenge submission received from UC Berkeley. As part of this award, the UC Berkeley team completed an 8-week summer project with Zonehaven AWARE to augment inclusive evacuation planning efforts in Marin County, California. This summer project contributes to community-centered research and visual design for more inclusive evacuation planning. For details on their project, see here.
Mentors
We are also pleased to announce four inspiring mentors who will guide the Design Challenge teams with interdisciplinary thinking, industry best practices, and human-centered design thinking: Amy Berry (The Tahoe Fund), Daniel Godwin (The Ember Alliance), Faith Kearns (California Institute for Water Resources), & Greg Kochanowski, AIA, ASLA (LA Forum for Architecture & Urban Design). Learn more about our mentors here.
Follow updates on the Design Challenge projects on Twitter: @WonderLabs1