Thomas Jefferson University | SDN 900-901 | Fall 2023 - Spring 2024 | Professors Robert Fryer + Saglinda Roberts
"Natural disasters are devastating. All forms of disaster have the potential to reset whole communities back to zero, leaving those impacted with the remains of what was once familiar. Designers and developers, community leaders and governments are often turned to for answers. The way they prepare, react to, and respond to disaster has profound impacts on the course of a community’s development, their culture, and their identities in the long term. However, current ways of planning, preparedness and response find themselves short of being truly sustainable, adaptable and community centric. Plans often aim to return to normal, rather than being future-forward and sustainable for the community they are set to help.
An evolution in the way disaster preparedness and response plans are created is needed to push current preparedness practices into a more sustainable future. For that, a multi-part, sustainable and culture-centric toolkit was developed with the goal of fostering collaboration between community members, stakeholders, designers, and developers. A multi-day event that is applicable to all types of disaster and all scales was developed to allow anyone to foster a collaborative effort in creating a preparedness and response plan for their communities." (Cambara, 2024)
Document Links
- Thesis Research Paper:
- SRC Primer Document:
M.S. Sustainable Design Final Thesis Presentation - Spring 2023
Thesis Summary Board - SRC Information showcase for TJU Graduate Fair