Just Environments Lab

A white gallery corner lined with deep blue panels of photographs, maps and text runs above a long trestle table strewn with papers. A tall blue banner reads "REDESIGNING TO ADAPT TO FLOODS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS," and a timeline marked ERA 01, ERA 02, ERA 03 and ERA 04 stretches across the wall, where a woman in a rust-colored dress reaches up to touch a map beside five numbered blue squares, 01 to 05.
Name
Just Environments Lab
Description
A research and design lab in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design that works on policy and design for just environments before and after disasters. Directed by Danielle Zoe Rivera, the lab centers hazard mitigation for under-resourced communities and co-produces research with them. In California it has studied the flood history of the Pájaro Valley with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, shown in an April 2025 exhibit at Bauer Wurster Hall that combined archival research, a flood timeline and maps, and it has worked on recovery after the Los Angeles fires. The lab began in 2018 at the University of Colorado Boulder under the name Comunidad and took its current name after moving to Berkeley in 2021.
Type
en Lab
Founded
2018
Founder
Danielle Zoe Rivera
Contributors
Eliza Breder
Affiliation
UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Climate & Ecology Themes
Adaptation and Resilience
Sea Level Rise and Flooding
Fire
Environmental Justice
Climate Justice
Ecological Domain / Habitat
River / Stream
Watershed
Methods & Approaches
Community-Based Practice
Participatory Research
Archival Research
Mapping / GIS
Advocacy
Discipline / Field
Arts & Design
Law & Policy
Audience / Engagement
Community
Government / Policy
Academic / Research
Geographic Scope
Statewide
Watershed / River Basin
Location
Bauer Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Website
just-environments.org
Rights
Rights held by institution
Current Status
Active
Item sets
California Art & Climate Archive
UC Berkeley
Media
A white gallery corner lined with deep blue panels of photographs, maps and text runs above a long trestle table strewn with papers. A tall blue banner reads "REDESIGNING TO ADAPT TO FLOODS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS," and a timeline marked ERA 01, ERA 02, ERA 03 and ERA 04 stretches across the wall, where a woman in a rust-colored dress reaches up to touch a map beside five numbered blue squares, 01 to 05.Just Environments Lab 1