#BUCPUA students access leaders at sustainability of the built environment lecture

On June 1, Master of City Planning candidates Luis Quintanilla and Monique Yaptenco attended Paul Hawken’s lecture on sustainability of the built environment. This event was co-hosted by the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) and the American Institute of Architects New England Committee on the Environment. Following the lecture, both Quintanilla and Yaptenco participated in a reception consisting of public and private leaders in the fields of architecture, design, development, planning, and engineering.

“These types of events are definitely a great opportunity to build relationships and strengthen your professional skills as planner, because you can get to know people from different working fields and listen what they are doing in their organizations to improve their communities and cities. We had the opportunity to meet personally with the event’s main speaker, Paul Hawken, to exchange very interesting experiences and enriching points of view,” said Quintanilla after the event.

Hawken is a renowned environmentalist, author, and advocate whose conversation addressed how stakeholders such as engineers, builders, developers, and owners can meet the imperatives of the built environment.

“According to Paul Hawken, the impact of a wide span of suggested solutions to turn around climate change is ambiguous and not measured in a quantifiable and precise way.  The value added in Hawken’s initiative, Project Drawdown, is to do the math and provide a list of 100 realistic solutions that can effectively reduce carbon emissions and actually reverse global warming if implemented promptly and collectively.  An important aspect of Project Drawdown’s strategy is that its proposed solutions are available and ready to launch today, meaning they do not depend on futuristic technologies,” shared Quintinalla, who was highly engaged throughout the event.

“A couple of takeaways from the lecture are that we must use all of our influence as leaders and activists – at the community, city, state, or national level – to deliver the message about achieving sustainability, and that climate change is not happening “to” our generation but “for” our generation. We should not blame each other; this is the reason why we are here, and this is part of our mission now as human beings. We are not here to be weak or hopeful but to be fearless and decisive in order to take action toward enhancing our planet. So let’s go!” Quintanilla emphatically proclaimed.

For more information:

Project Drawdown:  http://www.drawdown.org/

#BUCPUA Urban Planning Association

– Courtney Thraen (MET’17)