Socioresilient Infrastructure: Materials, Assemblages, and Systems at the Intersection of Equity, Sustainability, and Resiliency

This exciting international cross-sector and cross-disciplinary workshop will be focused on “Socioresilient Infrastructure: Materials, Assemblages, and Systems.” Infrastructure is foundational to supporting a healthy, inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous nation and society. There is an urgent need for modernization, innovation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of infrastructure, and, in addition, the development of infrastructure which supports the ability of human communities to equitably cope with and adapt to stresses and shocks such as social, political, environmental, or economic change. Currently, there is an acute amplification and inequitable distribution of risks and vulnerabilities, and an opportunity to shift from an extractive (resources and labor) to regenerative (sustainable and equitable) modality. 

This workshop aims to advance an intellectual framework for the acceleration of use-inspired convergence research in this area of national importance by integrating exciting advances across length scales from materials (i.e. materials science and engineering, chemistry, and mechanical engineering) to assemblages (i.e. civil, structural, and environmental engineering, architecture, art and design) to systems (i.e. engineering systems, computer science and engineering, urban studies and planning including civic design and engagement). Broad technical topic areas will include emerging approaches to socioresilient and circular materials design, structural engineering, and intelligent infrastructure systems. It will incorporate and center cross-cutting humanistic and socially-focused research in material culture, social justice, equity-based, community and participatory co-design, environmental and social life cycle assessment, sociotechnical and sociological analysis (i.e. social sciences, STS, history).

This workshop will involve cross-sector engagement and will bring together leaders from academia, industry (i.e. established and startup companies in the materials, infrastructure, and construction industry, materials and infrastructure-focused venture capital firms), non-profit community-based organizations, philanthropy, and government entities (e.g. municipalities, smart cities initiatives, etc.). The merging of ideas, new computational and manufacturing technologies, and research methods across disparate disciplines is expected to lead to advances in the development of equitable, inclusive, and sustainable research, translation and commercialization and education in the field of socioresilient infrastructure.

This workshop is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Station1 (Lawrence, Massachusetts), and will be held digitally.

The capacity for this workshop is approximately 100 participants. If interested in attending, please fill out the following application.  For more information please email Jonas Brunschwig at: jonasb (at) mit (dot) edu.