to reason, decide and act. Knowledge first of all, then. Before a decision making process, like what a designer has to do in choosing "how, where, when, to whom and why".
That is, what factors to include in the design process. Which ones to exclude.
In essence, if we do not know, we run the risk of discarding a priori elements that are essential for correct design.
The course is therefore an opportunity to think about the incidence of environmental risk factors in the design process. to understand the fact that this risk is not so far away from us.
Housing or emergency planning is the theme that is often proposed in teaching activities, also because of its immediate effects: the result on the design of emergency housing units often has easily assessable productive outcomes. But this aspect often seems to be detached from the cultural and social contexts in which we are confronted in reality and, above all, it is a "consolatory" practice of knowledge that intervenes to help a dramatic situation.
Less spectacular and of uncertain outcomes is designing in highly compromised or highly vulnerable situations where the task of an urban planner or architect is instead to design consciously and responsibly.
Different and varied disciplines should be considered as support, guidance or support: geology and geomorphology, hydraulics, agro-meteorology, roads, risk and emergency management, law and norm, history and finally facilitation in decision-making and participation processes.
The aim of the course is to make people understand the importance and the need to use the scientific contributions of experts in the disciplines related to the project theme, in order to set up different scenarios according to the project choices made.
Finally, it will be an opportunity to discuss the theme of professional ethics, the role of the designer and his responsibilities. This theme is rarely dealt with at the various levels of teaching, school or university, but only comes back into vogue after the occurrence of disastrous natural events that good planning and territorial planning, based on scientific bases, can help to mitigate or stem.