Resilient Belize Urban Design Studio: Envisioning Climate Justice for Mesoamerican Reef Communities

Congratulations to all the GSAPP Urban Design students graduating this week - we are so proud of their work and exciting to bring together our partners through the Resilient Reefs Initiative Belize! 

We began studio with a week-long workshop during which we engaged directly with local officials from the Belizean Government, advocates from local and international NGOs, and students and faculty from the University of Belize to identify key issues as well as community strengths. We ended with a final review that brought local stakeholders, global experts, and distinguished design faculty back together again to discuss the student work and its applications in Belize. 

The studio spent a semester unpacking marine & fisheries restoration, climate mitigation, and local jobs & prosperity can combine across the system in different sites and scales. They explored positive, regenerative “ridge to roof to reef” visions for key towns, cities and farms along the coast by focusing on green-blue infrastructure,  eco-tourism, ocean-based renewable energy including wind and tidal, new housing and urban typologies, coastal design & zoning  and regenerative agriculture.

Check out the incredible depth of research, spatial plans, and urban design scenarios on the Studio's StoryMap: Resilient Belize, Envisioning Climate Justice for Mesoamerican Reef Communities