This thesis investigates the urgent concerns of water scarcity and excess on the island of Crete, identifying their implications for the island's future in the face of climate change. It recognizes the interconnectedness of geological, ecological, and human systems, using water scarcity and excess as a lens to understand these relationships and improve planning and design methods.

The thesis critically examines current planning instruments used by the government and planners and argues that they often fail to capture the dynamic nature of elements like water and soil. It advocates for a more sensitive, climate-resilient approach, encouraging local communities to actively manage their environment with care. The research embraces diverse methodologies, including critical cartography, to analyze the island's complex systems, particularly water and soil processes. Fieldwork, involving observation, photography, and research, supports an understanding of Crete's physical, cultural, and environmental systems.

The research analyzes Crete's past and present through a multi-scalar approach, investigating its geological formation, topography, materiality, and cultural heritage. The project focuses on the eastern part of the island as a case study, highlighting its vulnerabilities, such as flooding, drought, and desertification due to human activities and climate change. Later, it proposes strategic interventions like water retention landscapes, natural water flow restoration, riparian buffer zones, and temporarily flooded agriculture. It also promotes soil restoration through reforestation, agroforestry, and regenerative agricultural practices.

By repositioning the relationship between landscape, water, and humans, the aim is to foster a climate-resilient future for Crete, offering insights that could serve as a paradigm for other islands facing similar challenges globally. Finally, it emphasizes the need for a shift in planning and design approaches, encouraging decision-makers to recognize the interconnectedness of human and natural systems.

This thesis undertakes an extensive examination of the Ligurian and Maritime Alps region, deeply intertwined with its distinctive landscape features and closely tied to its identity. Its objective is to illuminate critical aspects of this territory through meticulous observation.
Drawing from a solid theoretical foundation grounded in local literature, the study aims to outline ongoing processes while identifying key territorial characteristics. Advancing from conventional research methods, the thesis incorporates poetry and local literature to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the region.Four primary territorial subjects undergo in-depth investigation: terraced landscapes, river catchments, flora, and horticultural structures. Commencing with an acknowledgment of cultural impoverishment and the corrosion of local identity, the thesis seeks to explore the emerging sense of displacement, tracing its origins and attempting to narrate marginalized stories at risk of being forgotten. Furthermore, by analyzing the current state of the region, the investigation aims to portray the environmental degradation occurring within the examined milieu.

The proposed project builds upon the concept of caring practices, showcasing the diverse array of existing and extinguished caring practices within the region. Drawing from a defined novel methodology, the design encompasses both a tangible and intangible component.
The tangible aspect illustrates how simple, locally sensitive actions can lead to precise interventions in the area, sparking new territorial processes aimed at revitalizing a “way of life” deeply intertwined with the land, environment, and human experience, a way of life currently under threat. The expected interventions lean towards conservative and philological restoration, with the objective of mitigating the ecological drift while concurrently healing the lost identity of the landscape under examination. Conversely, the intangible aspect highlights existing practices of "mattering" and "caring" within the region, offering examples of current good practices and suggesting new ones. Ultimately, this project on matters of care seeks to underscore the need to expand conventional design methods to include the intangible aspect, laying the groundwork for a shared methodology applicable to further development and research.