The Sustainability Ambassador program is an organization dedicated to empowering local youth to catalyze community and sustainability for a real-world impact. Through ambassador programs, internships, mentor programs, etc., they are continuing to teach, motivate, and create a generational effort for a more innovative and sustainable future.
Kas Kinkead, OCI’s Principal Landscape Architect, recently sat in on their Water Quality and Puget Sound Ecosystem Integrity Workshop and spoke with a group of students on how that topic plays into her career and the work she does. Kas talked about how we as a community can learn to live together in a shared space and how we will view and interact with public spaces in the future.
She went on to discuss how we can learn from our environments around us. “As a person who loves the wilderness, and as someone who spent her life in the woods for the first 20 years, I trust plants more than pipes, and more soils than pavement. If you look around at our forests and where salmon are healthy in complete wilderness, that is the big picture on how you can frame solutions.”
In our industry, designers, engineers, architects, graphic designers, etc., can all find bring different aspects and ideas, along with clear communication, that will be essential for making any changes in the future. For example, a civil engineer needs to know how soils and people interact with a street, and a landscape architect needs to understand how drainage on a street works.
“Joining OCI, gave us a new opportunity to collaborate and have a seat at the table, and that is the only way we can make innovative change in our communities and future projects,” said Kas in closing.
Kas and OCI are excited to be involved in The Sustainability Ambassador program, that is actively inspiring young professionals to solve the stormwater challenges of tomorrow.
To learn more: https://www.sustainabilityambassadors.org/
