FRAMEWORK
In the UrbanEngineers Framework, the city is a system represented as the intersection of natural and human elements. Natural elements are grouped by Geography, Resources, and Climate. Human elements are grouped by Density, Mobility and Lifestyle.
Because sustainable and resilient cities are about a delicate interaction between these natural and human elements, like gradients along a spectrum of informed choices to be made, this framework becomes a thought model to test possible scenarios.
CONTEXT
With the UrbanEngineers Framework, standardized K12 subjects like physical geography, earth science, biology, human geography, engineering design and social studies can be mapped back to ideas represented within the city system.
CREATING YOUR CITY STORY
The UrbanEngineer Framework is an elegant metaphor around which to organize ideas, themes and standards, but it is not a curriculum!
The concepts of change, resilience and adaptation are not static. They require robust but flexible teaching structure to deliver content effectively and efficiently.
To build one that speaks to the inherently interdisciplinary and dynamic process of designing our resilient future, we were inspired by curriculum design theories from Institute of Play, Understanding by Design, P21.org, UN2030 SDGs, STEM/MakerEDU and Systems Thinking.
View HouseStories NAAEE Webinar, and read "The Case for K12 Systems-Based Urban Resiliency Curriculum" for more detail on the curriculum development process. View highlights from global program pilots.