Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy (RESTORE) within an Adaptive Neighbourhood Design

The current paper presents the activities carried out by a Working Group (WG2) within the frame of the COST ActionCA16114 ‘RESTORE: Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy’. The content is divided into two parts: a brief overview of the ongoing work within RESTORE, and a detailed analysis of the tasks performed in the Working Group tackling the Regenerative Design Process (RSD). With the term “Restorative Design”, is identified the activities of design, construction and building operation to regenerate the local natural systems to a healthy state and supporting their capability for self-organization and regeneration. The objective is thus to improve the built environment restorative quality, considering current and future climatic scenarios, focusing on the revision of the energy demand, and on the outdoor human comfort The paper presents a series of urban methods and design cases studies that engages in newer, continuous and healthy, relationship with the unique ‘place’ of intervention in light of climate adaptation. The envisaged results direct a change on the path of “to perceive” “to adapt” and “to develop” the urban environment and to define recommendations for science based interdisciplinary design processes.