The LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio Helps People Live with Water and Change

Who We Are

The LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio (CEDS) encourages disciplines that typically work independently—natural and social scientists, engineers, designers, and planners—to work together collaboratively and holistically on complex issues related to water. These interdisciplinary teams take a comprehensive or systems level approach to research and problem-solving, while focusing primarily on human settlement in deltas and coastal areas, flood protection, socio-economic sustainability, ecosystem design and restoration, and community resilience.

What We Do

The LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio (CEDS) addresses water challenges faced by people living and working in deltas and coastal areas around the world, as well as those impacted by extraordinary climate change incidents. CEDS works at different scales—from small city blocks facing urban stormwater management issues to multistate watersheds—studying the dynamic nature of water; its potential and actual impacts; and how people might safely live with it, in addition to moving it (with diversions) or holding and storing it (using levees and reservoirs).

Tackling Coastal Community Challenges

Modeling, Planning, and Designing with Change

CEDS serves as a national and worldwide model for addressing coastal resilience and adaptation through its interdisciplinary approach to research, systems thinking design methods, collaborative outreach, student mentorship, and high-performance computing. CEDS creates tools, resources, and practices that 1) expand existing capacity and understanding with new, innovative models of integrated research and design, 2) foster a holistic, systems thinking design approach using performance-based methodologies, 3) strengthen public information and education related to hazard mitigation, strengthening community resilience and sustainability, and systems design thinking, 4) encourage openness and collaboration among a wide variety of stakeholders, including local community partners, and 5) complement current Local, State, Regional and Federal initiatives

How We Do It

Connecting Disciplines and Promoting Systems Design Thinking

Similar to coastal communities and deltas around the world, Louisiana communities face tremendous, relentless challenges—including extreme weather patterns as a result of climate change, sea level rise, land subsidence, habitat degradation, marsh collapse, threat of inundation, and wetlands loss—many of which are not being solved because individual disciplines alone cannot cope with the complexity and enormity of the problems. Uniting researchers from traditionally siloed disciplines and directly engaging community members, LSU CEDS delivers a unique holistic approach that aims to serve as a national and worldwide model for ecosystem design methods and innovative, collaborative problem-solving. The results of this design experimentation provide a sound basis for major policy decisions and better adaptation through more sustainable land-use planning, protection, and education. The Studio works with a wide variety of project and program partners and invites you to contact us directly with questions or ideas for collaboration.

Mary Bergeron

Studio Manager

mberg41@lsu.edu