With nearly half of the total land area on Earth currently dedicated to some form of agricultural production, a focus on countrysides and on agrarian change is more urgent than ever. Many types of agricultural practices are linked to climate and biodiversity crises, exhaustion of natural resources, depletion of soil fertility, and disadvantaging local population. An awareness of the consequences of industrialisation of agriculture, including its addiction to pesticides, fertilisers and fossil fuels, is growing. These issues call for new approaches in design disciplines and practices too. But how can then designers respond? Can design become ecological, and go beyond-the-human and beyond-the-built, to engage with the environment as a whole?
Milica Topalović will talk about urbanisation processes in several countrysides in Europe and the world, and speculate on the possibilities for regional (agro)ecological design.