Ep. 228: Lo-TEK’s Julia Watson on Applying Indigenous Knowledge to Climate-Adaptive Design [encore]

Ep. 228: Lo-TEK’s Julia Watson on Applying Indigenous Knowledge to Climate-Adaptive Design [encore]

From Clever with Amy Devers by Amy Devers

March 31, 2026 · 1h 1m · Episode 228

About this episode

Julia Watson discusses the application of indigenous knowledge to climate-adaptive design and her work with Lo-TEK.

Julia Watson, a landscape architect, author, and educator, developed a passion for global cultures and knowledge as a child in Australia, inspired by her parents' National Geographic collection. She has since dedicated her career to exploring traditional knowledge systems and their application to contemporary design challenges like extreme weather, waste management, and population growth. At the heart of Watson's work is a profound respect for indigenous knowledge systems and a commitment to applying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to climate-adaptive design. Through her work with Lo-TEK, including the recently launched Lo-TEK Office for Intercultural Urbanism, and her books, Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism and the upcoming Lo-TEK Water (November 30 release), she strives to facilitate the equitable exchange and implementation of indigenous knowledge and technology to the crucial and complex challenges of our evolving world. Images, links and more from Julia Watson on our website! Special thanks to our sponsor - Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale. Clever is hosted & produced by Amy…

People in this episode

Host: Amy Devers

Guest: Julia Watson

Topics covered

  • indigenous knowledge
  • climate-adaptive design
  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge
  • landscape architecture

Keywords

  • Lo-TEK
  • sustainability
  • urbanism
  • cultural knowledge

Sponsors

Wix Studio

Mentioned in this episode

Products: SOUR, Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, Lo-TEK Water

Books & works: Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism

Places: Australia

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