Designing for Transitions: Visioning, Backcasting & Assessing the Present Water Quality in Pittsburgh
By Team Autopoiesis: Kimberly Blacutt, Bea Maggipinto, Jocelyn Morningstar, Deeya Parikh, & Max Shim
This article documents our fourth assignment, Designing for Transitions: “Visioning, Backcasting & Assessing the Present” for the 2024 Transition Design Seminar taught by Terry Irwin and Gideon Kossoff at CMU. Our team has been tackling the wicked problem of water pollution in Pittsburgh for the duration of this class and we have seen how it connects to other wicked problems in Pittsburgh and beyond. By developing a desired vision of the future in which the problem of water pollution in Pittsburgh has been resolved, we aim to assess the present condition in light of our vision and design a pathway that transitions between the problematic past and present and the desired future.
Introduction
In our previous research, we first mapped the wicked problem of water pollution in Pittsburgh considering various STEEP facets; next we considered the hopes and fears of various stakeholder groups that affect and are affected by the problem and created a stakeholder relations map to visualize those; finally, we mapped the historical evolution of our problem over time, from the foundation of Pittsburgh as a borough to the present day. Through our research we developed a deeper understanding of the problem of water pollution in Pittsburgh and are now prepared to leverage that knowledge in developing a vision of a future Pittsburgh where water pollution has been resolved. In this exercise, we imagine how our vision manifests at different levels of scale — from the household, to the neighborhood, the city, the region, and finally, the planet. This visioning assignment extends the problem frame into the distant future and requires us to think deeply about how to get there.
Our working process
The assignment was split up into two parts, 4A and 4B. For the first part, our team collaborated to develop a long-term vision of a future in which water pollution in Pittsburgh is no longer a problem. In 4B our team assessed our vision against the current situation, in which water pollution in Pittsburgh is a major issue. As we assessed our present with a vision of a better future, we were able to see what existing elements we could bring forward in our vision and what aspects of today’s status quo would need to change. This backcasting helped us to create a decades-long-transition pathway that we hope will lead to the becoming of our desired future.
In our first team exercise, we imagined what desirable futures at different scales would look like, and in our second session, we considered a vision of the future that involved mutual aid or commoning at those different scales.
After our initial team visioning session, each team member agreed to develop a “facet” toward a more complete vision of a healthy water future for Pittsburgh. We considered our facets at different scales of everyday life such as the household, the neighborhood, the city, the region, and the planet. This scalar mapping made us consider what happened at levels above and below that supported our vision.
Pittsburgh and the Hydrocommons: A Future Vision for 2075
Our team developed a vision for Pittsburgh’s hydrological future which we’ve named “The Hydrocommons.” Our vision contains various “facets,” that have impacts across scales. The facets are: Embodying the Hydrocommons: A shift in cultural perspectives on water has inspired a newfound respect for waterways, aquatic ecosystems, and water in our bodies. Smart Water: Sophisticated water data monitoring catches irregularities in chemical levels and offers quick solutions. Happy as a Clam: Club mussels and the aquatic ecosystems they are part of are thriving in the Allegheny and beyond. Regenerative Hydrocycles: The responsible management and recycling of water is in sync with a world powered by renewable energy. & Pure Sips: The elimination of toxins and the addition of beneficial minerals into the water supply leading to improved overall health metrics amongst consumers. These facets are explained in detail in the sections that follow.
Embodying the Hydrocommons
We imagine the future of Pittsburgh’s community to embrace the idea of hydrocommons, that cycle of water that goes through our bodies, and is shared with other bodies of water and other human and more-than-human bodies. The idea that the 70% water in our bodies doesn’t “belong” to us, but to the ecosystem, enables the possibility to imagine a new ethical system that considers the entanglement of human bodies with ecosystems through the water that travels through them [1]. We imagine ideas of entanglement will slowly permeate global culture as an understanding of humans’ interconnectedness with nature develops. This is a fundamental change in mentality, considering ourselves as an interconnected part of nature, rather than perpetuating anthropocentric views of control over it.
The idea of hydrocommons, used by Astrida Neimainis today for the first time [2], and elaborated by other scholars, was a necessary shift in perspective, needed during the climate crisis, to shift our anthropocentric views that were considering nature as a resource with an extractive mindset. From this perspective, societies had to readapt fast to understand that our survival is directly linked to our impact. Water seemed an easier way to envision this entanglement, which made it easier to understand from a wider audience than other theories. In a moment in which clean freshwater was becoming increasingly scarce due to overuse and pollution, this concept spread quickly over the years. Even governments and international bodies such as the UN, adopted it in their policymaking, extending the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the more-than-human, starting from water. In Pennsylvania, the issue with PFAS in the waterways brought a moment of crisis. Universities and research institutions at Carnegie Mellon and Pittsburgh University jointly worked on biotechnology systems that helped clean up the water. The day that all the water was finally purified is still celebrated in the city of Pittsburgh with a festival in which the local community remembers the time of hardship when the water was unsafe to drink, honoring its value and its capability of connecting us to nature.
On an individual level, we imagine this changes the perception of the body and the relationship with water and how it interacts with the ecosystem, with an increased responsibility of keeping the water clean for one’s health, and that of those around us we cherish. Considering water as part of our body, we see a closer relationality with it, a willingness to not waste water and keep it clean for everyone’s benefit. Taking this view on a local level, we imagine the community having a greater respect of life in general. As watery beings, humans and more-than-humans live in a balance that humans have learnt to keep, going towards a symbiosis with it. Natural resources are no longer extracted, but part of an idea of circularity of taking and giving back, maintaining balance and regeneration. The very concept of time changes towards a more biological understanding of it, rather than one based on production. We imagine the community having moments of celebration of water with rituals such as festivals. 70 years is not that far in the future, so we imagine them having a memory of how things have changed for the better. On a global level, this change of perspective helps societies around the world strengthen the policies and treaties so that drinking water isn’t wasted. Technologies to purify water are shared as an open source, and there’s cooperation between areas with abundance of water and those that lack it.
Smart Water
Another facet of our vision for the year 2075 is called “Smart Water.” This is a filtration system that not only helps filter household water but allows the residents to monitor the chemical and pollutant levels within the water. This system helps to create a herd mentality in neighborhoods and regions that have the highest quality of water, as water quality becomes a sense of pride for communities in years to come.
Thanks to advancements in technology in the past couple of years, the ability to produce high-tech filtration systems has become common practice. So the cost of the filters is incredibly low. These filters not only purify the water but also have the ability to detect any pollutants that the water contains. This can alert the user if their water quality is changing and if they are being exposed to pollutants that could cause potential health problems later in life. Data from these filters will be collected by a water purification department within the Pittsburgh Water Authority to see if there are any trends in pollutants. This allows the department to narrow down the root cause and take action to fix the problem. Funding for the department will come from regional governments, as water quality has become one of the focal points for government campaigns. Citizens across the country now have a herd mentality about water quality and making it the pride of their community. The aim is to have the best water quality throughout the country, making it such a key platform for politicians to run on when campaigning for office. Overall throughout the world water is no longer taken for granted in the global north and pride in having good water quality takes hold. This means that the technology to filter water becomes more abundant and accessible to the global south, so more countries gain access to clean water.
The establishment of this sophisticated water data monitoring system helps to eliminate issues of poor water quality throughout Pittsburgh so that there is less health risk to those who live there. This new up-and-coming technology brings water quality to the forefront of society and makes water quality a popular topic. This change in mindset allows clean water to not be taken for granted and brings communities together to eliminate any root cause of pollution affecting their water.
Happy as a Clam: Restoring Bivalve Health
In a facet of our vision called “Happy as a Clam” we imagine that, in 2075, endangered species in the Allegheny watershed, such as the clubshell mussel, are no longer endangered and instead are thriving and serving to regenerate aquatic ecosystems throughout the whole region. This is thanks to the ecosystem health improvements in the past decades.
In years past, the heavy metals previously polluting the river have been carefully extracted and have even been re-used by nearby industries that now find much of their raw, material inputs within contaminated and polluted areas or landfills. Additionally, the brownfield sites of abandoned mines have since been redeveloped into recreational parks and with those changes, abandoned mine drainage is no longer an issue. Advances in agriculture, where the fertilization of crops is done in a more targeted and controlled manner, have made past issues such as excessive agricultural run-off in the waterways a non-issue. Furthermore, industries have developed ways of reusing, recycling, and treating their waste on site and have not been allowed to release any toxic contaminants into Pittsburgh’s waterways and aquifers.
The elimination of these related problems has the clubshells content, and while they’re still worried about aquatic predators above them on the food chain, many live long lives, (up to 50 years) and produce various offspring. Throughout their lengthened lifespans, the clubshells do their part to keep the ecosystem healthy. After all, these bivalves are known as ecosystem engineers, and are experts at recycling “nutrients that enter waterways from human and agricultural sources.”[3] In 2024, it was already understood that bivalves like the clubshell had the capacity to address water quality issues such as eutrophication, and today they are doing their part in a healthy ecosystem. In the past the clubshell was struggling in its development from glochidium toward adulthood since it was struggling to attach itself to fish gills which is part of its development.[4] The fish gills it was trying to attach to were previously clogged by heavy metals, but now those fish are healthy and the little glochidium can successfully attach themselves onto the fish on their path towards maturity. The clubshells along with the other 49 species of mussel that were previously endangered in the Allegheny are doing great. They are improving the quality of the water and are balancing the ecosystem.
Regenerative Hydrocycles
In an era marked by water scarcity and pollution, we imagine a world utilized by “Regenerative Hydrocycles”. The concept of regenerative hydrocycles emerges as a holistic approach to water management, aiming to restore and maintain the natural water cycle for sustainability and resilience. This method involves several sustainable practices, including rainwater harvesting, where households install rain barrels to collect rainwater for gardening and outdoor washing, significantly reducing the demand for treated municipal water. Greywater recycling, another pillar of this approach, repurposes water from sinks and laundry for irrigation, lessening the need for fresh water in landscapes. Community-driven efforts like establishing gardens that use harvested rainwater and organizing tree planting days not only enhance urban green spaces but also improve rainwater infiltration, reduce runoff, and naturally filter pollutants.
At a larger scale, cities can invest in Green Infrastructure Development and Urban Waterway Restoration, removing concrete channels and reintroducing native vegetation to urban rivers and streams to improve water quality and biodiversity. Integral to regenerative hydrocycles is the collaborative effort towards integrated water sources management, focusing on protecting water sources, restoring wetlands, and controlling pollution from various activities.
This shift towards regenerative hydrocycles represents a critical change in our interaction with Earth’s water systems, aiming to regenerate the planet’s water cycles and revitalize ecosystems worldwide. Through collective action and a commitment to sustainability, we can ensure clean and safe water for all living beings, restoring the harmony between human civilization and Earth’s natural water systems.
Pure Sips
Within the “Pure Sips” facet of our imagined future, the water quality in the Pittsburgh households in 2075 is not only devoid of harmful chemicals, but are not enriched with beneficial compounds that had been depleted over the years. Certain minerals such as silica have been reintroduced into the water, leading to a reduction in health complications such as kidney failures, liver diseases, neurological conditions, and overall physiological imbalances.
Through an interoperable system that spans from households to regional water authorities, data is collected at several points within the water distribution and purification system. Monitors in households allow immediate and precise interventions in the case of introduction of chemicals into their water supply. Similarly, the water discharged from households is met with similar, thorough filtration and testing systems that test the water quality for contaminants and subsequently removing those, while re-introducing minerals that had been depleted or destroyed during the journey. The replenishment of essential nutrients and minerals into each phase of the water distribution and cleansing process through precision intervention aided by real-time data collection ensures that the corresponding environment, whether it be humans, marine life, or flora and fauna, are appropriately fed with their required nutrients. The overall improvement in quality of life owing to the consumption of purified, enriched water reinforces the collective consciousness around water preservation with the local Pittsburgh community.
Backcasting & Assessing the Present Water Quality in Pittsburgh
In the next part of our assignment, the objective was to design a transition pathway from the present to “Pittsburgh and the Hydrocommons,” which is our Vision for 2075. Throughout this process, we drew from strategies and concepts from Cosmopolitan Localism, Common and Mutual Aid, Pluriversality, and Manfred Max-Neef’s Theory of Needs. During this assignment we needed to remember that this was our chance to think boldly, and to embrace ideas that might sound impossible.
To do this, we needed to analyze and classify aspects of the status quo into two main groups — things that should be changed and things that should be conserved. Things that should be changed are apt for dismantling — they aren’t working anymore and need to transition out. When we ask, what should we keep? We understand what we need to conserve and maintain. Similarly, we needed to assess what emergent or nascent ideas or practices might ignite the transition (we remembered through our previous research that innovations and ideas at the niche had the power to percolate into the landscape). To determine what innovations might serve as our catalysts, we asked “What existing innovations and practices can disrupt business as usual and ignite the transition?” and “What pieces of our future vision are already here in the present?” Of course, there are many perspectives from which to consider these questions, so again, our team took a systematic approach and returned again to our useful STEEP categories. From those perspectives we came up with a rich inventory of what was working, what wasn’t and what our potential catalysts might be. Our inventory and assessment of the present is visualized and further explained below:
Social
What’s In: Pittsburgh has pockets of communities that are environmentally active and often congregate to protect its rivers. The boating/rowing/fishing community has an interest in keeping the waters clean, presenting the possibility of strengthening their ability to use, promote and protect the quality of the water in the three rivers.
What’s Out: There seems to be a certain apathy or inaction in the Pittsburgh community regarding water pollution. Being a fairly segregated city, housing and education inequalities are impacting part of the less privileged communities.
What’s Exciting: Water and sewage authorities seem willing to be transparent and swiftly alert the community when there’s a problem (e.g. boil water alerts). Air pollution seems to be higher on the agenda and citizen-science-led, so there’s a potential to use similar systems to alert communities democratically.
What’s Working: The values we have are in perpetual motion, evolving every day. In relation to water, ideas like the hydrocommons are being written and thought about today for the first time. These challenge mainstream anthropocentric views in favor of visions of entanglement that promote a different understanding of the human-nature relationship. This has the potential to change mindsets about our relationship with nature.
Technological/Infrastructural
What’s In: In addition to being a major source of energy to run daily activities, these petrochemical companies also provide employment to a large number of people within the area, which is a factor integral to prosperity and growth in Pittsburgh.
What’s Out: The use of PFAs for fracking and other oil extractions methods used by large petrochemical companies that lead to the elimination of harmful chemicals into the public waterway systems should be dismantled.
What’s Exciting: Alternative methods and chemicals used for fracking — which do not involve the use of hydraulics and PFAS — could be used to reduce, and subsequently eliminate, pollutants released. Additionally, an entire switch to renewable, environmentally conscious sources of energy that do not put pressures on water sources could be implemented.
What’s Working: The advancement in precision technology could lead to precision water monitoring such as IoT-enabled sensors and AI-driven analytics for real-time monitoring of water quality and usage across all operations. This technology would enable immediate adjustments to reduce water usage and prevent contamination events before they happen.
Economic
What’s In: Businesses that have economic incentives that prioritize sustainable water practices and pollution reduction. Public and private businesses that fund and facilitate water conservation and treatment projects
What’s Out: A capitalistic view of water companies that puts profit growth at the center of their operation rather than citizens’ health. Industries that contribute heavily to pollution without fair environmental regulations and economic sanctions.
What’s Exciting: Water companies could be state-owned and be offering a service for the benefit of the community, caring to provide clean water and not pollute the environment. In principle, other countries have this implemented already, even though they are isolated realities.
What’s Working: Emerging markets for sustainable water technologies and a growing sector of green tech/ infrastructure finance. Economic growth in sectors that support sustainable water solutions, showing a shift towards valuing environmental health as part of a strong economy.
Environmental
What’s In: We need to preserve the biodiversity that exists within our aquatic ecosystems and ensure that any currently endangered native species be protected and aided. We need to continue efforts to install green infrastructure that treats stormwater on site and uses plant material to both slow and purify stormwater.
What’s Out: Heavy metals in the water, combined sewer overflows, pollutants from agricultural runoff and abandoned mine drainage all need to be dismantled, meaning transitioned out and removed from our aquatic ecosystems.
What’s Exciting: There have been incredible advancements in bioacoustic technology and there is potential for sensors, signals and machine learning to help people better understand, monitor, and plan aid for the environment.[5] Bioacoustic technology could be used to better understand the needs and behaviors of different species in the aquatic environments in Pittsburgh.
What’s Working: There are some amazing recent projects, such as the climate-adaptive green infrastructure project “Living Breakwaters”[6] where partially submerged structures provide oysters, fin-fish and other aquatic species with habitat but also serve to break waves and reduce beach erosion along the South Shore of Staten Island, preserving the space for human use and serving as a protective barrier against anticipated storm events.
Political
What’s In: We need to continue efforts to keep the public engaged in the problem of water pollution. Residents in Pittsburgh are concerned about their water quality and the effects it will have on their health. When residents can stay properly informed about the problems, they put pressure on politicians to pass bills to make improvements to regulations regarding water pollution.
What’s Out: Political interference in administrations across Pittsburgh tends to put ill-equipped management in charge of departments, such as the PWSA, because these are the people who will help them get re-elected. This poor management leads to malpractice such as dumping sludge into the water and inaccurate water quality reports.
What’s Exciting: Public access to water quality reports allows residents to stay self-informed about matters relating to water quality, instead of waiting for something bad enough to be put onto the news. This means the residents will have resources and supporting evidence to take to their political representation and demand a change. Putting pressure on politicians is the best way to get their attention and make change.
What’s Working: The use of the internet and social media allows for information to spread rapidly about poor water quality, pollution, and malpractice coming from departments in charge of water quality. This allows for a more rapid response and action since the information can spread more readily, again allowing residents to put pressure on politicians to take action.
Transition Pathway and Conclusion
In our final step of this assignment we mapping steps along a transition pathway in which our vision was the desired outcome. At this point we had discussed and agreed upon our grand vision for Pittsburgh and the Hydrocommons we needed to design a transition pathway — or action items — that would lead toward it. We did this by discussing ‘near-casting’ (5 -10 years out); ‘mid-casting’ (25–35 years out) and ‘back-casting’ (50–60 years out) goals. We also kept in mind our assessment of the present to come up with the following plan:
Near-casting goals: 5 -10 years out
The Clean Up Our (Water) Act of 2025 has the goal of getting PFAs and toxic metals out of all Pittsburgh waterways by 2050. Spectrometry tests that indicate a list of PFAs, metals and the limits which they should never exceed will be used to determine the success of the clean up. To achieve this goal, research institutions across Pittsburgh including Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh have been awarded millions of dollars in grants to develop biotechnology systems that help clean up the water at the level of the city and region and also offer Pittsburgh citizens simple yet sophisticated ways of self-monitoring and cleaning the water they use at home. In addition to the Clean Up Our (Water) Act, the Pure Sips Foundation has been jointly created by the PWSA, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh to ensure that new toxic chemicals, metals, and other contaminants don’t make it into the waterways. The Pure Sips Foundation develops tools for industrial and agricultural organizations to reuse, recycle, and treat their waste on site to ensure they do not release toxic contaminants into Pittsburgh’s waterways and aquifers.
Mid-casting goals: 25–35 years out
The Declaration of More-Than-Human Rights & the Pure H2O Festival
After years of pressure by the environmental communities around the globe, the UN has finally agreed to extend the Declaration of Human Rights to the more-than-human. This ensures that bodies of water, animals and plants are included. Animals were the first ones to be included, followed by forests and oceans. Lakes and rivers started to be included at a later stage after pressure from local communities. In Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania at large, the local communities came together with the indigenous and Amish communities to draft declarations and laws to protect local waterways, including the cleanliness of water from human pollutants. During these years, the operations of cleaning the waters from PFAS had concluded, and the local community finally declared their water safe for humans and non, priding itself on being one of the first areas on the globe to reach 100% PFAS-free waters after being one of the most polluted in the US. To this day, Pittsburgh’s community celebrates the purification of its waterways with a festival that includes water activities, music and speeches honoring water as part of the hydrocommons.
Back-casting goals: 50–60 years out
The Aqua Forte Model & Community Water Futures
Pittsburgh is renowned not just for its transformation but as the epicenter of urban water sustainability, pioneering what is globally known as the Aqua Forte Model. This strategic framework, which propounds the interconnectedness of humans and their environment, positions Pittsburgh as the primary supplier of knowledge, technology, and practical solutions for cities nationwide aiming to revitalize their water systems. The city’s commitment to sharing its successes and lessons learned has made it a hub for workshops, conferences, and symposia focused on water sustainability, attracting global experts and practitioners. Central to the Aqua Forte Model is its robust community Water Futures initiative, which has fostered a culture of conservation and appreciation for water resources among Pittsburgh residents. Local communities are actively involved in water monitoring programs, contributing to the maintenance and continuous improvement of the city’s water systems.
Citations:
[1] Maggipinto, B., Nisi, V., Fox, S., Nunes, N., & Ainsworth, T. (2023, October 13). Aqueous logics: Towards a hydro feminism approach to sustainability. DRS Digital Library. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/iasdr/iasdr2023/fullpapers/151/
[2] Neimanis, A. (2009). Bodies of water, human rights and the hydrocommons. TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 21, 161–182. https://doi.org/10.3138/topia.21.161 [1]
[3] Killam, D. (2019, September 4). September 2019. Clamsplaining. https://dantheclamman.blog/2019/09/
[4] Freshwater Mussel life cycle. Freshwater Mussel Life Cycle : (n.d.). https://lsintspl3.wgbh.org/en-us/lesson/ilwhyy18-il-ilmussels/4?as_guest=True
[5] Bushwick, S. (2023, March 17). Squeak squeak, Buzz Buzz: How researchers are using AI to talk to animals. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/squeak-squeak-buzz-buzz-how-researchers-are-using-a-i-to-talk-to-animals/
[6] Living breakwaters. SCAPE. (2024, January 31). https://www.scapestudio.com/projects/living-breakwaters/
