Tugba Altin
Affiliations
Sessional Instructor
School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
Doctoral Researcher
University of Calgary
Contact information
Background
Educational Background
PhD Environmental Design, University of Calgary,
PhD Studies Global Urban Studies, Rutgers University, 2021
MSc Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design, Politecnico di Milano, 2018
PGDip Advanced Urbanism, Bauhaus University, 2016
BA Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Bilkent University, 2015
Biography
Tuğba Altın is a PhD candidate in Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, specializing in disaster recovery, community resilience, and the psychological bonds people form with their environments. Her research focuses on understanding Place Attachment (PA) and the emotional, cultural, and psychological impacts of climate-induced disasters, with a specific emphasis on the Lytton Creek Fire of 2021. Employing innovative qualitative methodologies such as walking audio sessions and photo elicitation, Tuğba delves into the lived experiences of affected communities, exploring how memoryscapes influence recovery and adaptation planning. Tuğba's multidisciplinary background is complemented by her extensive research and teaching experience, spanning climate emotions, forced displacement, urban resilience, and participatory methodologies. She has been actively involved in collaborative projects addressing climate adaptation, community healing, and cultural resilience. Her work not only contributes to academic discourse but also informs practical strategies for disaster recovery and sustainable urban development.
Research
Areas of Research
Abstract: In an era of pronounced climate change impacts, the 2021 Lytton Creek Fire offers a stark example of the profound emotional and cultural consequences accompanying physical destruction. This study investigates Place Attachment (PA) — the emotional and cognitive bonds people form with their environments — to comprehend the disruption of cultural identity and land connection. Central to this is exploring the 'memoryscape', or how communities remember and emotionally engage with their environment post-disaster. The research employs an interpretive phenomenological approach, enriched by hermeneutic insights, focusing on the lived experiences of the Lytton community. Innovative methods like walking audio sessions and photo elicitation are used to delve into the community's memoryscape, enabling real-time articulation of memories and feelings in the altered landscape. These approaches offer a more nuanced understanding of the changes in PA following the disaster. The findings underscore the necessity of addressing both physical and emotional traumas in adaptation and recovery efforts, advocating for strategies that are culturally sensitive and emotionally resonant. This study contributes to climate change discourse by highlighting the critical role of memoryscapes in shaping community recovery and adaptation planning after environmental disasters.
Keywords: Disaster Response and Recovery, Trauma Recovery, Innovative Qualitative Methods, Person-Place Relationship
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| DSGN 303 | Transscalar Design Studio I – Large Scale | Fall 2024 |
Projects
Climate change is escalating extreme events globally, with North America's intensifying wildfires as a prime example. Canada, particularly, has seen an alarming rise in wildfire frequency and severity, making the 2021 season a national wake-up call due to unprecedented temperatures and widespread impacts. The 2021 wildfires highlighted the urgent need for a reassessment of disaster response. Beyond the immediate economic and physical toll, these events deeply affect communities' sense of home, identity, and safety-known as place attachment (PA), triggering significant emotional and non-economic losses and damages(NELD). This research project focuses on Lytton, BC residents, severely affected by the 2021 wildfires, to examine the role of person-place relationships (PPR) in climate response. It aims to understand how communities rebuild their sense of PA, navigate the recovery from NELD, and reimagine their lives post-disaster. By understanding PPR, the project seeks to inform climate response policies that are culturally and contextually relevant, supporting community recovery at both local and national levels. Incorporating insights from various academic disciplines, institutions, Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders, and disaster response organizations the project adopts a trauma-informed, reflexive, and collective approach to knowledge construction. Its novel approach complies transdisciplinary research framing by emphasizing mutual learning, aiming to knowledge construction with society not for it, to foster a more effective and empathetic response to climate-induced traumatic events. The novel approach to the project contributes to the broader climate response discourse, advocating for an integrated approach that addresses both economic and non-economic damages to support comprehensive community recovery and resilience building in the face of escalating climate events.
This project is funded by The Transdisciplinary Scholarship Connector Grants Program at the University of Calgary.
This research addresses swifter, more effective responses to displacement in the urgent global refugee crisis, characterized by both traditional geopolitical factors and emerging environmental causes. Acknowledging the transnational nature of this challenge, the study proposes an innovative AI-driven design automation technology to expedite the creation of well-organized refugee camp layouts, ensuring immediate and provisional settlements that foster both safety and integration. This endeavor holds potential for broader applications beyond refugee contexts, including military and industrial facility layout design. By significantly reducing design time, enhancing construction efficiency, and accommodating diverse needs, this research contributes to the innovation of more secure, efficient, and sustainable solutions in refugee settlement design and beyond.
As the lead graduate researcher under Dr. Jinmo Rhee, I am responsible for conducting an in-depth literature review on temporary shelter design, examining the mental and physical impacts of shelters, and exploring their real-world applications for diverse forcibly displaced populations. This includes analyzing current practices and the theoretical and structural guidelines set by organizations such as UNHCR, the Red Cross, and other relevant agencies.
The Anti-Eugenics Project, founded by Dr. Jack Tchen (Rutgers University) and Benedict Ipgrave (University College London), is an interdisciplinary network of scholars, organizers, cultural workers and artists working to understand and bring awareness to the continuing legacies and harm of eugenicist ideologies. The Anti-Eugenics Project seeks to excavate and examine the lasting effects of eugenics and in doing so, begin to dismantle the politics and systems of exclusion— the founding eugenicist ideology that some humans are “fit” and and others are “unfit”— that continue to plague in our society in the forms of racism, classism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and other forms of social tyranny.
More about the project: https://antieugenicsproject.org/about/
Awards
- The SAPL Dissertation Writing Fellowship, University of Calgary. 2024
- Eyes High International Doctoral Scholarship, University of Calgary. 2024
- Transdisciplinary Connector Grant Recipient – Initiating Stream, University of Calgary. 2024
- Conference Scholarship Recipient, 7th International Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference. 2024
- Emerging Scholar Award Recipient, Sixteenth International Conference on Climate Change. 2024
- Ph.D. School Fellow – Dilemmas and Opportunities of Fieldwork in Disaster Studies, The NEEDS Conference. 2023
- Travel Grant, University of Calgary. 2023
- Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) – International, University of Calgary. 2023
- SARE Research Fellow, Rutgers University. 2022
- Jim and Jean Cragg Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Calgary. 2021
- International Graduate Award, University of Calgary. 2021
- Partnerships for Listening and Action by Communities and Educators (PLACE) Fellow, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 2020
- Travel Grant, Rutgers University. 2020
- Presentation and Travel Grant, Congress for New Urbanism. 2019
In the News
- Measurements and Metrics in Disaster Management. Cambridge Disaster Research Network. (2024)
- Habitat For Humanity’s Women Build 2022. (2022)
- Dis-placed Attachment. Politecnico di Torino.
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