Living with nature
Client
Municipality of Aínsa-Sobrarbe
Country
Spain
Work
Design Research
Life-Centered Design
Together with the municipality of Aínsa- Sobrarbe, we facilitated a co-design session to explore opportunities to preserve the Natura 2000 land we have in our area. And how we, as a local community, can benefit from the thriving nature around us. This session was the first physical workshop since the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic.
Unbeaten Studio is based in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees; we live surrounded by beautiful nature. When the Ayuntamiento of Aínsa-Sobrarbe asked us to help protect this extraordinary land and its species, the only answer was YES!
What is Natura 2000?
" Stretching over 18% of the EU's land area and more than 8% of its marine territory, Natura 2000 is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world. It offers a haven to Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats.
Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right. It stretches across all 27 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The aim of the network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats, listed under both the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive." (source: ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/).
The design
It becomes more critical to design with nature in mind and make decisions that put nature first. With this project, we could do this.
Nature protection is something we should do together. That is why we invited 15 different stakeholders to join the workshop. We would have liked to ask more, but the COVID19 situation didn't allow us. The chosen stakeholders work, relax, and live from nature, such as farmers, outdoor companies, hunters, fishers, representatives of nature & bird associations, mountain bike representatives, and the outdoor sports communities. A colourful mix from our municipality, not everyone was equally pro-preservation. Before the workshop, we sent each participant a questionnaire to try and understand their views on nature preservation and the role of the community. We used the output of the questionnaire as input for the co-design session.
We organised a 2 hour World Cafe style session around these three topics and questions:
NATURE: What does the nature of Sobrarbe need to thrive and survive?
COMMUNITY: What can the people of Sobrarbe do that benefits nature and its well-being?
ECONOMY: How can we create a way of life that benefits both nature and the local economy?
These questions aimed to explore scenarios that go beyond the standard outdoor tourism experience. Diving into what we need as the local community to serve the Natura 2000 lands and let them thrive.
We shared the results in a report with the council of Ainsa- Sobrarbe and the participants of the session. The goal is to select the most valuable and achievable scenarios and start working to bring them to life. It is always a great experience to work with the Town-Hall of our region.
Press
Our co-design session got the attention of the local press. Read about it here.
What our client thought about the session:
“Professional, accurate, fun, dynamic and motivating. This is what working with Unbeaten Studio is like.
The result could have not been better. A way to get the best out of all the stakeholders involved to build new realities.
Thanks Marce and Jeroen. Inspiring”
Life-Centered Design
We went beyond human needs with this project and looked at what nature and its ecosystems need to recover and thrive. Life-Centered Design is a new methodology developed by Unbeaten Studio to improve life on our planet. Click below to learn more!