UNESCO Chair in Urban Landscape logo

Projects build for and by communities through transdisciplinary research and design

Community-focused

Our projects are co-created with citizens, organizations, and municipalities. This way, we generate knowledge that is inclusive, applied, and transformative—ensuring communities remain at the center of innovation and urban change.

Intersectoral

We bring together design & planning, social & human sciences, and natural sciences & technology. We adopt best practices of interdisciplinary research and transdisciplinary knowledge production and communication.

Creative

We advance knowledge through making and experimentation. By blending design, science, and art, we generate critical and imaginative responses to urban challenges, producing outcomes that are both scholarly and transformative for communities and institutions alike.

Partnership projects

  • AI & Cities

    An international platform connecting cities, universities, NGOs, and companies to ensure AI is responsibly designed and governed for the common good.

  • Rivers in Commons

    A multi-institutional research partnership studying the role of continental rivers in fostering biodiversity and social inclusion in urban communities.

Core projects

  • AI DEI Public Space

    A co-created AI tool to measure and improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in Montreal's public spaces, developed with MILA and the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities.

  • AI Alignment for Inclusion

    Using AI to generate visual representations of inclusive public spaces in Montreal, shaped through community workshops and citizen feedback.

  • Nplex

    A web application showcasing exemplary modest design projects across Montreal to promote sustainable and inclusive urban design practices.

  • UNESCO Studio Phnom Penh

    An international design studio bringing together students from Montréal and Phnom Penh to reimagine sustainable urban neighborhoods along the Mekong River.

  • Urban 5G

    Research and design guidelines to mitigate the visual impact of 60,000 5G antenna installations on Montréal's urban landscape, in partnership with city and telecom stakeholders.

Thesis projects