Rebuilding Resilience from the Ground Up: Lessons on Community from Plants
We loved having Research Fellow Giri Sharma with us over the summer. Giri is an MFA candidate in Design for Sustainability at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He approached us to learn about the process, approach, and findings from the work at Indigenous Ingenuities, towards his master’s thesis, “Selling Native Polyculture”. His aim is to build a business case that embraces polyculture in the suburban lawn context to rebuild suburban resilience and provide people with a means of building sustainability in their local neighborhoods.
Giri is a guest contributor to our Field Journal series, and has provided the following reflection and perspective on building and supporting community.
How We are Responding to Climate Change in Our Practice
Last week was Climate Week NYC 2025, and with that was even more coverage than usual on changes in weather and sustainability. It was well timed then, that leading up to it the not-for-profit organization Wild Ones reposted an excerpt from a piece by Kim Eierman: Dealing with Climate Change in Our Landscapes. Kim provides a well researched and easily digested summary of the impact of these changes and what we can do about it. You can read it for free here.
With this growing awareness of climate change and environmental degradation, as well as experiencing weather related challenges firsthand on their properties, we are being asked by homeowners more and more for eco-friendly practices and organic products for their yards. As ecologic design and care is at the core of who we are, we are both deeply appreciative of this media focus and the broad reach of organizations and individuals on these topics. At the local level, we aim to partner with clients and industry associates to implement and promote the importance of these practices in dealing with climate change, in conjunction with improving ecological function.