Danielle Dagenais est spécialiste des infrastructures vertes et bleues (IVB) urbaines et des services écosystémiques rendus par ces dernières. Ses recherches portent aussi sur l'étude des comportements de différentes espèces végétales dans les IVB et leur apport aux performances de ces dernières qu'aux outils d'aides à la décision pouvant appuyer les planificateurs dans leur implantation à grande échelle dans une visée de bénéfices multiples pour les populations.

Ses objectifs de recherche sont:

• de contribuer à identifier des critères de sélection des végétaux pour les IVB
• produire des connaissances sur les composantes microbiologiques des IVB
• favoriser l'implantation raisonnée des IVB pour en tirer des bénéfices multiples pour la population
• collaborer à coconcevoir des IVB appréciées des populations.

Afin d’accroître la qualité de vie des individus, mon travail porte sur les enjeux de justice et de durabilité au sein des territoires urbains, l’intégration de l’intelligence artificielle dans le processus de design et d’aménagement, et le développement d’une démocratie interactive au service des citoyennes et des citoyens. 

Je développe ainsi une expertise dans l’articulation d’enjeux émergents qui sont au cœur de débats sociaux d’aujourd’hui : le climat, l’environnement, les nouvelles technologies, la démocratie et l’éducation. Mon travail porte sur l’analyse de données massives, quantitatives et qualitatives auxquels s’ajoutent des activités de design prospectif et de création de politiques publiques.

Me recherches et mon enseignement contribuent à questionner le rôle des données de tout genre (numériques, analogues, visuelles, historiques, etc.) dans la production du savoir sur les villes, la société et l’environnement.

Pour toute question ou collaboration, vous pouvez me contacter directement par courriel.

The research topics which have caught much interest form me are not limited to-

• Measuring and assessing Social Value in architecture.
• Evaluating inclusiveness in the Urban Architecture and Public Realm.
• Investigating Autonomous Building Processes in coastal settlements.
• Autonomy in the built environment, housing, and informal settlements.
• Exploring indigenous building techniques and vernacular architecture.
• Climate change impacts and adaptation.

Current ongoing doctoral research-

Re-evaluating the Social Value of Architecture in the Public Realms through Inclusiveness and Environmental Justice.

The city, precisely the urban area, can be interpreted as “The city in its growth is defined by its artifacts, leaving open many possibilities and containing unexplored potential.” akin to Aldo Rossi in his “architecture of the city”. Alongside, the city can be seen as the product of the generative-functional systems of its architecture, and thus of urban space, where the architecture of the public realms is the treatise of necessity, workability, and quality of the public spaces that connect and engage buildings and other activities, while some may occur on private property, at all scales. However, unfortunately, from “the first city”, "Magical city" to “garden city” all the models have intended for the smooth functioning of the city, as a machine, and mere beautification. After shifting the focus on efficient transportation systems public realms and open areas have lost their qualities and values due to the dominant role of transport. Consequently, they have lost their primary functions of meeting and relationship places. Eventually, architecture is divorced from its function; it is collective memory, a pure, sophisticated formal game. Lately, in the 20th century, a major emphasis has been put on smart cities and environmental sustainability, which has transformed the city of the 21^st century into a city of paradox, more conservation-minded. While busy with all these, professionals have ignored one of the most critical elements of the ‘triple bottom line’ of sustainability, social value. Alongside, people’s social aspects have been neglected during the creation of public realms. Therefore, they have become artificial and isolated. And it has become a burning question "what are the qualities of an inclusive public realm and how to consider it?" An easy answer can be the inclusion of ‘social value’. But the reality is, it is not so easy. Henri Lefebvre first debated people’s rights to the city, where “The right to the city” is a motto. It is not undeniable it is the base of the notion of ‘social value’. However, in the modern era, lately, there has been a shift, and “The city is the people” has led to the issue of the inclusion of common people. Participation of different stakeholders is needed for inclusive urban architecture.

Design value in the built environment is currently understood to be the sum of environmental, economic, and social value. But we can question, argue, and debate with this definition in stating that "A whole is greater than the sum of its parts." While environmental value is generally measured in embodied and operational carbon (sometimes with the addition of biodiversity), there are several recognized methods for measuring economic value. Although architects often do not like to see themselves as an increment of economic gain, they create a huge amount of social value that they very often fail to record or capture. It is noteworthy that, though there are existing practices for measuring economic and environmental value, there are no agreed measures of social value. Until this value is expressed in a format that can be fed into policy and procurement, it will remain invisible, leaving economic and environmental value as the sole dominant currency of built environment transactions.

The major aim of this research is to ensure a collaborative approach through the participation of individuals and different stakeholders for creating social value and a unique identity for the public realm. The specific objectives are:

1. To explore different stakeholders and their roles in designing inclusive public realms.
2. To investigate public realms of diverse urban contexts, for design parameters, from inclusiveness and environmental justice approach both at the neighborhood level and city level.
3. To evaluate these design parameters, collaborating inclusiveness and environmental justice, in different public realms.
4. To develop a ‘social value index’ for inclusive architecture based on the performance of these design parameters.

Isabelle Thomas est spécialiste des questions de développement durable, de vulnérabilité urbaine et de développement régional. Ses recherches portent également sur la croissance urbaine intelligente avec une perspective internationale, et l’utilisation des systèmes d'informations géographiques pour favoriser le développement durable.

Lise Walczak est doctorante en aménagement à l’Université de Montréal sous la direction du professeur Gérard Beaudet. Ses recherches portent sur le lien entre métropolisation et patrimonialisation des banlieues québécoises. En parallèle de ses études doctorales, elle intègre l’équipe de recherche ARIAction, motivée par son désir de travailler sur les questions relatives à la préservation du patrimoine culturel et la résilience urbaine.