A Relational Framing for Ecologically Supportive Communities: A Decolonial Alternative to “Sustainability” in the Built Environments

Abstract

A relational framing that sees reality as a web of interdependent relationships has the ability to guide ecologically supportive ways of living for all species. To better inform decision-making for (community) designers, this work unpacks relationality into key “entry points”–including kinship, situatedness, trust, and reciprocity–that can orient an ecological community towards building and maintaining quality relationships. I investigate how current environmental assessment methods and frameworks, situated within inherently unsustainable capitalist modernity, can still be useful as part of the conversation, with other ways of listening and knowing, to guide ecologically supportive communities. Using these many ways of listening, this work investigates how the proposed entry points of my relational framing were repeatedly experienced in ecological, intentional, and anarchist/autonomous communities and collectives. I present how these experienced patterns are informed-by (and re-inform), my entry points in a way that is interactive and editable for communities in their locale. The resulting messy co-becoming that emerges from this web of relationships and experiences uplifts current community examples and demonstrates the diversity of potential futures that can embrace and thrive at the end of capitalist modernity to continually experiment into beautiful ways for all beings to live together in ecologically supportive communities for generations to come.