The 4th ICAADE (International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering) is scheduled for October 9th-11th, 2023. It will be held in Cottbus, Germany at the Brandenburg University of Technology’s Institute for Floating Buildings. As such, it will include both amphibious and floating architecture, and thus the title will be the International Conference on Amphibious and Floating Architecture, Design and Engineering. The call for abstracts is now open and the submission deadline is June 5th. To learn more about the conference and topics, visit the ICAADE website. If you wish to receive future news and updates, please sign up on the ICAADE website. We will not be sending out further notifications about ICAADE 2023 via the BFP newsletter email list.
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WATER IS OUR FRIEND: PROJECT UPDATE
The BFP team is currently engaged in the research project Water is Our Friend: Flood-Resilient and Climate-Adaptive Amphibious Housing for Indigenous Populations in Canada. The project is focused on promoting resilient communities and creating new flood resilience knowledge by blending Indigenous knowledge and western science and exploring amphibious architecture as an innovative flood mitigation and climate change adaptation strategy for our Indigenous partner communities. Our research challenges existing paradigms, to shift flood management practices from the imposition of control over nature to a paradigm of acceptance, accommodation, and acknowledgment of the spirituality of water.
The research team will co-create specific research goals, objectives, and methods with each of our Indigenous partners, to meet the particular needs of each community and align with its Traditional Knowledge and cultural practices. The research team is adopting the approach of Two-Eyed Seeing as a way to blend Traditional Knowledge and Western science and to decolonize our Western research methods. The project team now has a partnership with Peguis First Nation, located in Manitoba. Team members have also visited First Nations in British Columbia and are working to develop partnerships there. A workshop will be held in November at the University of Waterloo to bring all project participants and team members together and facilitate more in-depth discussion.
The project team is Elizabeth English, Brent Doberstein, Zhao Pan and John Straube from the University of Waterloo, Laurie Pearce from Royal Roads University, Robert Mills from First Nations Emergency Services Society, Emily Dicken from North Shore Emergency Management, William Sutherland from Peguis First Nation and Julie Wright and Elena Christy from Partners for Action.
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ASCE ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE |
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April 12 - 14, 2023
The theme of the American Institute of Civil Engineers Architectural Engineering Institute 2023 Conference was "Climate Conscientiousness and Resilience: The Need for Integrated Building Solutions". Elizabeth English gave a presentation entitled "Amphibious Architecture: A Novel Strategy for Flood Resilience in the Face of Climate Change", which focused on the development of amphibious architecture and case studies highlighting its global applicability as a flood risk reduction strategy.
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STATE OF THE COAST CONFERENCE
May 31 - June 2, 2023
The State of the Coast conference is an interdisciplinary forum to exchange timely and relevant information on the dynamic conditions of Louisiana’s coastal communities, environment and economy. Elizabeth English will be presenting a poster at this year's conference.
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ADAPTATION FUTURES 2023
October 2 - 6, 2023
Adaptation Futures brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, industry representatives and communicators to present their work on climate adaptation, discuss emerging and relevant issues, and build networks. This year's conference is a hybrid format to facilitate participation from around the world. Elizabeth English will be presenting a paper at this year's conference.
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YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS RADIO STORY
December 30, 2022
The Buoyant Foundation Project's research was recently featured on Yale Climate Connections' Radio Stories series. Elizabeth English discusses amphibious retrofit construction and its potential application for Indigenous communities with Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and Senior Research Scientist at the Yale School of the Environment.
Read/listen to the story here
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CLIMATE-FUELLED DISASTERS: 4 POSSIBLE WAYS TO STOP DISASTER
November 23, 2022
The BFP's projects in Vietnam and USA were featured on PreventionWeb, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction's knowledge-sharing platform. The article, by Dr. Roslyn Prinsley, discusses mitigation strategies for increasingly frequent climate disasters with a focus on Australia.
Read the article here
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September 27, 2022
The video and accompanying article by CNBC producer Lindsey Jacobson discusses how amphibious homes and floating cities could protect coastal and flood-prone communities from future sea-level rise and flooding. The work of the BFP is featured alongside Oceanix City, a prototype for a floating city in Busan, South Korea. Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG, is the lead architect on the project. Also interviewed are Philipp Hofmann, CEO of Oceanix, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program, and Elizabeth English, Founder and Director of the BFP.
See the video here (13:27)
Read the article here
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BETH VINCE |
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Beth Vince is the Project Coordinator for the Buoyant Foundation Project. As the Project Coordinator, Beth manages project development, planning, pursuit of funding opportunities, administrative duties, carries out research activities, and assists with supervision of undergraduate research assistants. Beth recently graduated from the Waterloo School of Architecture with a Bachelor of Architectural Studies. Beth is interested in ethical sustainable design and architecture, particularly low-tech sustainable solutions and responsible material use, as well as community-based design.
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Our project Vulnerable in Vietnam was exhibited throughout the month of October 2021 in the Global Best Practice Programme under the theme week 'Climate and Biodiversity'. This theme week focused on areas including climate change, disaster risk management, and at-risk areas.
Due to the pandemic, Expo 2020 Dubai had been postponed one year to 2021 - 2022. Dr. Elizabeth English gave presentations and attended workshops at Expo events that took place in October 2021 and January 2022.
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OUR PAST NEWSLETTERS |
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Catch up on our previous newsletters!
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Amphibiation Nation V.5: Fall 2022
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"Vulnerable in Vietnam" pro-ject exhibited at Expo 2020 Dubai, collaborative flood adaptation project with First Nations communities, recent press, featured research, publications and more.
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Amphibiation Nation V.4: Winter 2021
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BFP amphibious housing project in Vietnam was featured on UN-Habitat's Urban Agenda Platform, recent press, featured research, awards, publica-tions and more.
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Amphibiation Nation V.3: Summer 2020
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TEDx talk at Manhattan Beach, BFP selected for EXPO 2020 Dubai, ICAADE 2019 Conference, update on the NRC Pavilion, new BFP website, awards, recent press, papers and more.
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Amphibiation Nation V.2: Summer 2019
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ICAADE 2019, amphibious housing project in Vietnam, flood-resilient housing for First Nations communities, interviews, awards, recent press, and more.
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Amphibiation Nation V.1: Summer 2018
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Prototypes installed for amphibious housing project in Vietnam, NRC Pavilion prototype nearing test phase, recent press, and meet the BFP team.
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