Ripple: a scalable, radically inclusive, and transdisciplinary approach for engaged design research on climate action

There is considerable desire for climate action in Ireland, yet in practice it may not be seen as relatable, actionable or relevant to the reality of people’s lives. Ripple: Making Connections between Water and Climate Change in our Towns, funded by Creative Ireland, aimed to co-create a novel approach to the design of climate-resilient green space in an Irish town, and develop tools that could be scaled up and out across projects and communities. The transdisciplinary team brought together skills from science, spatial design and the visual arts in a tangible way to demonstrate how local action can have a positive impact on climate adaptation in Irish towns, and provide communities with agency to transition to a more resilient future. The project sought to put people and communities at the heart of the design process through six public workshops, delivered through storytelling, co-design, making, and evaluation stages. Sixteen prospective ideas, that responded to a collaborative mapping of challenges relating to water, were co-designed and voted upon. The preferred idea, implemented in the third stage of the project, is a climate friendly, intergenerational amenity space and haven for wildlife, that slows rainwater runoff. A participatory Ripple Effect Mapping process was used to evaluate the project. This highlighted the need to build trust, use clear and consistent communication, avoid pre-conceived solutions, embed communities’ deep understanding of place, respect diverse opinions that coexist within communities, and deliver a tangible return on investment, if communities are to adopt nature based solutions for climate resilience.