The regenerative urban ecology hubs: An alternative approach to the design and operation of pedagogical environments in the Toronto District School Board

Abstract

A novel approach to the dissemination of ecological knowledge in Toronto is urgently required: one that does not presume miracle support for new builds in the future but instead initiates its own regeneration today by reimagining latent sites of opportunities as hubs of ecological thinking. By synthesizing ideas of life-centered design, community participation and ecological urbanism into one quasi-architectural typology – the Regenerative Urban Ecology Hub –this thesis project contributes to the creation and dissemination of ecological knowledge with the population best poised to sustain positive change: children. By empathetically navigating the intersection of ontology, pedagogy and ecology, this thesis project imagines what roles regenerative architectural theory and design could have in restoring the dissemination of ecological values in the Toronto District School Board. In redefining how the facilities and operations of these vulnerable programs are conceived and designed, architecture can ambitiously elicit both a pedagogical reform and an urban rewilding.