Designing Nature’s Half:
The Blog
News and education about landscape conservation and design.
AI Is Infrastructure: From Project Planning to Landscape Design
Artificial intelligence is often described as software, but a new United Nations University report argues that it is also physical infrastructure. If AI will reshape our landscapes through its demands for energy, water, transmission, and land, are project-by-project decisions still enough? This essay explores why the future of conservation may depend on moving from project-by-project planning to intentional landscape design.
World Oceans Day: What Strong Marine Protected Areas Require
What makes a marine protected area strong?
World Oceans Day 2026 focuses on the importance of strong marine protected areas, but the answer extends beyond oceans alone. Drawing on firsthand experience from the management planning process for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, this reflection explores why conservation depends not only on protection, but also on continuity. From marine protected areas to landscape-scale conservation, transformational conservation ultimately requires the institutions, governance systems, and decision processes capable of sustaining conservation across social-ecological systems and through time.