Drylands Design Conference: Retrofitting the West, Adaption by Design
- Uncoupling the Water-Energy Nexus
- Anticipating Climate Impacts
- Maximizing Local Water Resources
- Creating Social Equity
Nowhere are the opportunities for global leadership in water-smart design greater than in the US West.Shifts in the economy, demographics, and the climate are requiring westerners to rethink the centralized, energy-intensive water systems of the 20th century.
The DRYLANDS DESIGN CONFERENCE, RETROFITTING THE WEST: Adaptation by Design, presented by the Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University in partnership with the California Architectural Foundation and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, March 23-24, 2012, in Burbank, California, will re-examine the built environment of the arid and semi-arid west as a vast field of opportunities for design innovation at a range of scales, from building systems to infrastructure and landscape spaces. The conference will present and debate a portfolio of design strategies generated in response to the challenges set forth in ALI’s Drylands Design Initiative:
- Uncoupling the Water-Energy Nexus
- Anticipating Climate Impacts
- Maximizing Local Water Resources
- Creating Social Equity
With a focus on the design of adaptation, this conference brings together multiple generations of designers, scientists, and policy makers to explore design leadership opportunities presented by a time of change.





