When fire destroys root systems and soil structure, the first rain turns burned slopes into landslides. Post-fire crisis mitigation is the overlooked work that determines whether communities survive the season that follows.
Treader
Strategic Design (TD1)
2026
After an intense wildfire, the disaster is not over. Burnt, hydrophobic slopes are primed to fail, and the first rain triggers landslides and flooding that devastates communities downstream. Restoration practitioners are already there, placing erosion barriers by hand. The work is slow, physical, and impossible to complete at the scale the problem demands. Treader is a modular platform designed to work alongside these practitioners, not to replace their knowledge, but to carry their load. Inspired by the ant, it is small, light-footed, and terrain-conscious, designed to move through fragile post-fire soil without compounding the damage. The Spider module weaves biodegradable erosion netting directly onto burned slopes, working autonomously through the night within boundaries set by the practitioner. Three further modules: Sherpa, Woodchuck, and an open Module X, extend the platform across the post-fire practices. Looking beyond forest fires, in a world where the landscapes that matter most are also the most fragile; burned slopes, recovering wetlands, sensitive terrain. The most powerful thing a machine can do is be respectful of its place, follow where human judgement leads, and be sensible rather than pretentious. This philosophy emerged throughout the project, and it's called Humble Operations.
Mission: Coordinated Mobility
Strategic Design | 2026
In this project, students were asked to propose brand-led vehicle concepts for crisis logistics as part of Volvo Construction Equipment's future vision for 2036. Working as strategic design teams, students explored how mobility solutions could support disaster response and recovery while acting as positive brand ambassadors in crisis-affected contexts. The aim was to identify meaningful opportunities where Volvo CE's expertise, sustainability ambitions, and brand values could create value for customers, communities, and society through resilient and scalable mobility systems.
Process
The course began with team-building activities and the establishment of team contracts to support collaboration throughout the project. Students then immersed themselves in Volvo CE's brand, products, and strategic ambitions through a study visit, lectures, and workshops. This phase focused on understanding real-world challenges in disaster response, identifying stakeholder needs, and defining key project parameters.
During the Sense-Making & Strategy phase, each team developed its own strategic framework, design brief, and work plan, outlining target users, design opportunities, project goals, and milestones. This foundation enabled teams to explore distinct directions while ensuring alignment with Volvo CE's values and long-term vision.
The Exploration & Presentation phase encouraged a design workflow that combined 2D and 3D development. Students engaged stakeholders throughout the process to validate requirements and ensure concepts reflected both brand identity and practical needs. Supported by tutoring, lectures, and collaborative ideation sessions, teams developed and communicated their proposals through visualisations, presentations, and design narratives.
Outcome
The outcome was a series of speculative vehicle concepts and coordinated mobility solutions designed to strengthen disaster response and crisis logistics in 2036. Each proposal aimed to demonstrate how Volvo CE could extend its role beyond construction equipment by contributing to resilient, sustainable, and human-centred mobility systems. Final concepts were presented through team pitches, supported by slides, posters, and high-quality 3D visualisations, making a compelling case for further development and future implementation.
In collaboration with:
The companion relationship at the heart of the concept, the knowledge stays with the human, the machine carries the weight. *AI- and human generated environment
The work is done by hand. Restoration crews carry logs, place rocks, and roll out erosion netting on steep burned slopes in a race against the first rain.
Humble Operations: The design philosophy that in the most fragile environments, a machine's greatest capability is knowing is respecting its place.
The explorative sketch phase investigated ant and insect biomimicry as a formal language, seeking humbleness and awareness.
Treader's modular architecture allows the same light-footed base to carry the Sherpa, the Woodchuck, the Spider, or an open Module X, each responding to a different moment in the post-fire workflow.
The practitioners place boundary markers in the ground, defining where the Spider works autonomously, weaving biodegradable netting across the burned terrain through the night. *AI- and human generated environment
