Democratic Landscape Transformation 2025 - Team 9

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Seminar process at a glance

Seminar process: Click to enlarge. We meet weekly online at 18 pm CET on Wednesday from April 2 to July 2, an additional meeting opportunity is weekly from 12 00 - 13 00 pm CET

Background of your team

Please present your team briefly. Which linguistic and cultural perspectives does each member bring in? Which disciplinary backgrounds are present in your team? Note: if you prefer to stay anonymous on this wiki, you can also use initials only or a nick name

• Lady Diana Choque Olivares, everyone can call me simply Diana, a Peruvian architect and urbanist with professional experience in Peru and Brazil. I speak Spanish (native), Portuguese, and English. Growing up in the Peruvian Andes and studying in Brazil has given me a strong understanding of both indigenous Andean cultures and Brazilian urban and landscape dynamics. My disciplinary background includes Architecture, Urbanism, and Landscape Architecture, with a focus on sustainable design, informal settlements, and community-driven projects. Through my international education and work experiences, I aim to integrate South American, indigenous, and global perspectives into our discussions, promoting inclusive, ecological, and socially just design approaches.
• Freeman Taylor, I bring a North American perspective, I come from Victoria, BC, Canada. My disciplinary background is in Horticulture, Biology, Geography and Environment. I am grateful for this seminar because Landscape Democracy takes shape in many different forms all over the globe, I aim to use the knowledge in I gather in this course to inform my project work during the IMLA program and throughout my design career the future.
• Makó Donatella Anna, I came from Hungary, Budapest. My backgound entailes ecology teacher, and I worked for wild life rehab too. In my opinion, crating a sustainable future is a must, one way to do it is educating the next generation, getting them familiar with the concept of enviromental protection and global problems early on. From my view learning Landscape designing is a great for opening more chanses for a better world.
• David Drew Zhang, Hello, I’m David, a landscape architecture student with a background in fine art and a strong interest in spatial storytelling and human-centered design. I speak English and Mandarin. Growing up between New York and Maryland, I’ve been surrounded by diverse architecture and cultural experiences that have shaped my creative outlook. My bicultural background informs my view of landscape as a space for cultural expression, performance, and movement. I’m especially interested in community-based projects that foster connection, identity, and inclusive public spaces.
• Sebastian Kern, I'm from Stuttgart/Germany and currently a master student of Landscape Architecture in Nürtingen/Germany. I speak German, English and Italian. Originally an agricultural engineer, I decided to focus more on urban and landscape planning, design and environmental sustainability. As a member of the district committee of central Stuttgart, I constantly also face democratic landscape challenges - I'd be happy to share some of my political experience.
• Sepideh Alebouyeh I’m an Iranian architecture student, currently based in Italy. I speak Persian, English and Italian. My academic and disciplinary background includes Architecture, Urban Design, landscape design with a focus on sustainability, reuse, community engagement. Having studied in Iran and Italia, I bring a blend of traditional and contemporary, global and local, technical and artistic approaches. I’m excited to contribute to our team’s diverse vision and to learn from the different cultural and disciplinary lenses we each bring.

Your Landscape Democracy Manifestoes (Phase A)

Here you can add here the links to the manifestoes you have presented on April 23. Please make sure that the links are accessible. You can also add them directly here on the wiki, they need to be png or jpg format then.

• Lady Diana Choque Olivares, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DXC47_6beAN0eZUMjaIxoDAO05ubAMOO/view?usp=sharing
• Makó Donatella Anna, https://drive.google.com/file/d/12hZnWshgSV4GX7PPXAiHd6P_zAPt3H5b/view?usp=sharing
• David Drew Zhang, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K8ltXrwvkEdU4E7bFbpB_M6AdVbgHj1X/view
• Freeman Taylor, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hun-_vqNtByQJNhiwZEONiKjk5QygetL/view?usp=drive_link
• Sebastian Kern, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kOMD4sHiOpRu0GuX-0aFxL1tM6skf1FP/view?usp=drive_link
• Sepideh Aleboueyh https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BIkVT1Kgm1k3NdPc_gjBun7mn_D6xu5f/view?usp=drive_link

Entering the Process: Activism, Community and Power (Phase B)

Global Landscape Democracy Role Models and Design Activism

• Due: May 14

At the beginning of phase B we ask you to identify people who are already active for democratic landscape transformation. These can be planners and designers, NGOs, collectives or activists, or people operating creatively at the interface of these categories. 'Design activism' is a possible overarching category. We created a list some time ago, but it has a very US/European focus, due to the history of our project. We really want to expand this and hope you can bring in new people and movements from around the globe.

On May 14, every team member introduces a landscape democracy activist/or design activist individual or group. Please add the people you introduced, you may also add the presentation material used with a downloadable link:

• Raquel Rolnik - Brazilian Architect and Urban Planner, added by Freeman Taylor, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eALa4gw0QWPRw1yF7id5BLfbVvmR8_S9/view?usp=sharing
• Ama Amancaes - Peruvian grassroots, interdisciplinary collective, added by Lady Diana, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f-Bv4pqM4WTuZBCMI1GnAJxp9Crg2o8q/view?usp=sharing
• John F.C. Turner - British architect and theorist, added by Sepideh Alebouyeh, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MXEVHJRXVlW4RbPWuhvGnGQSLYnafCMR/view?usp=sharing
• Walter Hood, African American Landscape architect and public artist by David Zhang, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16Do8_sg4be4FAJJwl-cHNat9qNp8LQbZ?dmr=1&ec=wgc-drive-globalnav-goto
• Sebastian Kern, Agricultural Engineer, German Green Councillor, added by Sebastian Kern
• team member, xxx

Your Team's Landscape Democracy Challenge (Phase B)

• Due: May 21

Context and Location

Briefly describe here the context the landscape democracy challenge you selected on April 23, 2-3 sentences, you may add the link to the manifesto that already exists

Landscape and Community Map

Present here a visual representation of the landscape and community context of the area. What are the main spatial features? Which actors can you identify and how are they related to the area? Which values exist and for whom? What is at risk and why? Try to generate creative/conceptual/synthetic representation

Power Map

Based on the landscape and community context depicted above: How is power distributed? Who and what has a lot of power? Who and what has no power? Who and what is strongly affected by the landscape democracy challenges? Who and what is less affected? Are these actors connected or disconnected? Any veto-players known? Try to generate creative/conceptual/synthetic representation

You can present your results in this gallery:

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Your Team's Landscape Democracy Vision and Ideas (Phase C)

• Due: June 18

Collective Vision

“Lima Reverdece” envisions a network of thriving, green, and dignified neighborhoods where every resident, regardless of origin or status, actively co-creates a livable and just landscape. This vision reclaims neglected areas and transforms them into regenerative spaces that nourish life, build identity, and restore ecological balance in the city’s most vulnerable edges.

Riconanda Del Sol Reclaimed: Our Collective Vision

Let the - Rinconada del Sol, community be a place that is resilient, inclusive, green, accesible, equitable, and hopeful, where children, families, vulnerable women, and neighbors can walk safely, have the right to a quality public space, connect with nature, feel identified with their living landscape, reclaim dignity, collect water, share stories, and shape the land together.

A prototype of the first step

How would you enter the process? Which prototype could activate it? How would you introduce the prototype to the community?

You can present your results in this gallery:

Sensory Playground Prototype

Prototyping Group 9

Cross-cutting activity: Readings, concepts and definitions (Phases A - D)

• Due: July 2, 2025

While working in your group, please start to express your personal understanding of the relation of landscape and democracy in the form of a concept map with linking words or any other diagrammatic representation. Please make your maps very visual and not just verbal. Think critically about why one map differs from another.

The final product is a shared concept map that integrates the various understandings present within your team.

About concept mapping

Before starting the exercise you can read this article by Joseph D. Novak & Alberto J. Cañas about Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. This paper gives a good explanation of how concept maps are conceived and developed.

You can use any tool you like for producing your concept map. However, since the result needs to be submitted digitally we recommend the following open source software for producing your maps:

• Cmap Tools >>> you can also work with your group on the Cmap cloud doing a shared map
• VUE - The Visual Understanding Environment
• Use a shared whiteboard to develop your integrated concept map, such as MIRO or MURAL
  

Whiteboard

How to present your concept maps

• Possible format: JPG (for wiki upload) or link to any other resource
• We give you below a draft image gallery where you can add pictures of your map (in JPG or PNG format)
• You can present your integrated understanding as one concept map or your present individual ones and the integrated one.
• Add as many additional materials as you need

Overview of your concept maps (individiual and integrated)

Sepideh Alebouyeh

Sebastian Kern

Freeman Taylor

Diana Choque_Concept Map

David Zhang

Integrated Concept Map Group 9

Please finish with a short reflection (Phase D)

Due: July 9, 2025

• Q. What are the similarities and differences in your team regarding your understanding of what democratic landscape transformation is?
  • A. Within our team, we share a common belief that democratic landscape transformation means designing with communities, not just for them. We agree that it involves inclusive participation, social justice, and environmental regeneration, especially in vulnerable areas like informal settlements. However, our understandings differ in emphasis: some team members approach it from a more ecological and systems-based perspective, focusing on restoring environmental functions and resilience, while others see it primarily as a tool for social empowerment and reclaiming space, centering the rights and voices of historically marginalized groups.
• Q. In how far did the seminar lectures and readings help you to clarify this?
  • A. The seminar lectures and readings were fundamental in clarifying and deepening our understanding of democratic landscape transformation. They provided both conceptual frameworks and real-world case studies that helped us move beyond vague ideals of “participation” or “community engagement.”
• Q. What will you take home from this seminar?
  • A. What we will take home from this seminar is a collective rethinking of our role as designers in processes of landscape transformation. We’ve come to understand that democratic landscape transformation is not just about participation as a step in a project, but about shifting power, valuing local knowledge, and co-creating spaces that reflect the needs, dreams, and identities of communities. The seminar helped us see design as a political and cultural act, one that requires deep listening, long-term engagement, and care. Through the lectures, readings, and shared reflections, we’ve gained new tools and perspectives that we can apply in our own contexts, especially in places marked by informality, inequality, or environmental fragility. Most importantly, we leave with a stronger sense of responsibility and motivation to work in ways that are inclusive, grounded, and transformative.