Designer, activist, academic,
and author of Lo—TEK,
Design by Radical Indigenism.
A leading expert of Lo—TEK nature-based technologies for climate-resilience.
Her eponymously named studio brings creative and conceptual, interdisciplinary thinking to urban projects and corporate clients interested in systemic and sustainable change. Julia regularly teaches urban design at Harvard and Columbia University.

Global Reef Resilience Initiative
Date: 2018
Location: Cairns, Australia
Project Team: Julia Watson + Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes + 100 Resilient Cities + ARUP
Client: The Great Barrier Reef Foundation
The Resilient Reefs Initiative brings together resilience experts and managers from five UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral reefs: New Caledonia, Ningaloo, Palau, Belize, and the Great Barrier Reef, with a mission to address the challenges these ecosystems and their communities face.
As a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, Julia supported the efforts to help both communities and ecosystems respond to urbanization and climate change, by developing the first comprehensive model for resilience-based management, ensuring long-term protection and adaptation. Coral reefs, which provide food, jobs, and coastal protection for over a billion people worldwide, also sustain a quarter of all marine species. Valued at $10 trillion in ecosystem services, they hold deep cultural and spiritual significance for Traditional Owners whose histories span more than 60,000 years.
In response to climate change that is catastrophically impacting reef systems across the globe, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation launched the Resilient Reefs Initiative, a pioneering partnership that works with local reef managers and communities to develop adaptive solutions. Engaging over 3,000 reef beneficiaries and forming 10 partnerships with First Nations groups, the initiative has also introduced four Chief Resilience Officer roles in reef management. This global effort is the first to integrate resilience planning for both reefs and their communities, striving to protect and restore these vital ecosystems as climate threats intensify.

