Our Methodology on Stakeholders
The Alaska Design Collaboratory approaches partnering as a relational and values-driven process rather than a procedural checklist. Collaborators are identified based on their lived experience, their proximity to the issue at hand, and their capacity to contribute to meaningful, long-term impact. Community members whose daily lives are directly affected by environmental and infrastructural conditions are centered within this framework. Their knowledge is treated as foundational to defining both the problem and the direction of potential solutions.
Alongside community voices, the Collaboratory engages a range of interdisciplinary partners, including architects, engineers, designers, researchers, anthropologists, and other professionals who have years of experience working within Alaska Native communities. Anthropologists and community-based professionals contribute cultural insight, historical context, and an understanding of social dynamics that shape how design interventions are received and sustained. Architects and engineers contribute structural, spatial, and material expertise, while designers and researchers support communication, usability, and iterative development.
Our mission is to bring all of these perspectives together in a participatory research network- the Alaska Design Collaboratory
Importantly, partners are selected not only for their disciplinary expertise, but also for their demonstrated commitment to ethical engagement and long-term collaboration. The Collaboratory prioritizes individuals who have shown sustained interest in supporting Alaska Native communities, who approach the work with cultural humility, and who value relationship-building over short-term project outcomes.
By intentionally weaving together lived experience, professional knowledge, and long-standing community relationships, the Collaboratory recognizes that knowledge is distributed across social, cultural, and technical domains. This layered approach strengthens the integrity of the design process and helps ensure that outcomes remain context-sensitive, sustainable, and aligned with the priorities of the communities they are intended to serve.
Effects
Universities are also a core component of the Collaboratory. Undergraduate and graduate students from a range of disciplines engage in sustained project-based learning. Students learn through traditional research methods and through interaction with other members of the Collaboratory, and by designing and prototyping. Every decision we make is shaped by a clear sense of purpose. The inclusion of interdisciplinary professionals and long-standing community partners directly shapes the effectiveness of this methodology. Anthropologists, researchers, and experienced community-based professionals help ensure that engagement strategies are culturally grounded and historically informed, reducing the risk of extractive or surface-level participation.
Together, these stakeholders influence not only the design outcomes but the process itself—shaping how problems are framed, how decisions are made, and how trust is built. As a result, the methodology becomes more adaptive, ethically accountable, and responsive to the complex social and environmental realities of Alaska Native communities.
How We Communicate
Our network spans geographical distance so we rely on both online and in person modes of communication. We also span many ways of knowing so we use the Lerman Critical Response Process for giving each other feedback. The CRP is centered on the designer and the process, and helps us listen, learn and give valuable feedback.