Problem-Solvers, Change-Makers and Change-Ambassadors, This is for You

What will we leave behind? How can we fix the future? Will we leave the world a better place than we found it? These questions have been haunting me for years.

Right now, I find myself very envious of you - architects, interior designers, landscape architects - for you hold incredible power. The power to shape the built environment in which we live, love, work, play, and die. You are - by design - problem solvers and I feel lucky to have the privilege to curate topics that help you solve today’s biggest challenges. That’s my small contribution and I take it very seriously. Yours is much greater.

This is why, in 2020, we - at DAS - are rolling out a series of 12 action-oriented 1-hour live webinars aimed at what design professionals can do to foster prosperity while protecting the planet. In the first quarter alone, we will be tackling hunger, energy, and peace. No, we won’t solve it. We know that. What we hope to achieve with this series is to highlight how the built environment interacts with these issues and encourage you - the practitioners - to be the catalysts of change. To become both change-makers and change-ambassadors. Our intent is about asking better questions and having better conversations with all stakeholders in every community. It does feel overwhelming and - it is - but we owe it to future generations to at least try.

Not only are we aligning each of the presentations in the series with one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals listed below. We are also aligning our entire course offerings around these critical issues facing humanity in the 21st century:

I hope you will consider participating in this food-for-thought-and-action series. Here are easy steps you can take to get started:

1. Share this post to help spread the word.
2. Take a look at the UN’s playful “Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World”, pick 3 to 5 things you can do, post them in the comments below, share them on social media or, better yet, talk to your loved ones and colleagues about it.
3. Get involved in the series as a participant or as a facilitator (or suggest one).

Kudos for reading this post, you have taken the first step. You are well on your way to becoming a change-maker and a change-ambassador. Now, keep the momentum going.

In the end, there is no silver bullet but there is formidable power in the compounding effect of small and consistent changes.