Location: Laurentian Main campus, room C-203

1.5 ConEd Learning Hours
1.5 AIA LU
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Professional design language is changing and has a fundamental impact on industry outcomes. This session establishes a common understanding on key terms, what they mean to design, and how the profession can employ greater sensibilities in our work. We will delve into the critical relationships of people, places, and spaces.

What is dignity and why is it important to design? This panel will use the following key approaches to respond to and support dignity:

• biomimicry (honouring the dynamics and genius of place to learn how to thrive and design in harmony with it);
  
• Indigeneity (honouring the dynamics of a place and moving beyond the idea of ‘doing less harm’ and to ‘occurring naturally in place’ and ‘placekeeping;’ understanding ‘place’ as a starting point–its people, history, and culture);
  
• JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; seeking to remove systemic barriers and bias to ensure all individuals are valued and respected for their contributions and are equally supported);
  
• resiliency (capacity of communities to survive, adapt, and grow together, despite chronic stress or acute shocks experienced); and
  
• sustainability (including environmental, economic, and social aspects, particularly as they are held in balance with one another).

These embrace the full cycle of life as intrinsic characteristics of holistic, thriving communities. This panel brings together different and synergistic perspectives, through the lenses of sustainability, community-building, and biomimicry and their linkages to designing with dignity.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn how dignity relates to both people and place.
   
2. Understand how respect, as a foundation of dignity, can be achieved through JEDI and biomimicry approaches.
   
3. Investing in dignity during the design process improves overall project value and resiliency
   
4. As designers, we must recognize the limits of our training and expand our roster to include broader expertise.

Holly Jordan, B. Arch. Eng., M. Arch., OAA, LEED AP BD+C, MRAIC, is a principal and the global sustainability lead at B+H Planning & Landscape. Over her 20+ year career, she has operated in the nexus between architecture, engineering, and sustainability, with the belief that great architecture reflects a combination of these aspects. Striking a delicate balance between creative exploration and addressing technical complexities, she draws on her background in engineering and architecture to develop thoughtful concepts into high-performance buildings and spaces that serve immediate uses as well as anticipate future needs across all sectors. Holly is a past Vice-Chair of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Greater Toronto Chapter Leadership Board, chairing its Toronto-based Advocacy Committee and overseeing its vibrant Emerging Green Professionals group. In the B+H studio and in keeping with her cross-discipline nature, Holly wears many hats as a sustainability and technical advisor, advocate for computational design and parametrics, director of the Toronto studio Maker Space, and champion for the firm’s values-based strategic vision. As B+H’s Global Sustainability Lead, she guides the firm’s environmental, social, and economic ambitions as they apply not only to design projects but also to the firm itself.

Gail Shillingford, is a principal and the urban and landscape design lead at B+H Planning & Landscape. For over 25 years, she has led the urban design, master planning, and detailed design of diverse projects across scales from city planning to streetscape design. Her background in urban design and landscape architecture allows her to create integrated and balanced built form and open space environments. Gail is passionate about building community and creating compelling public realm spaces that foster socialization, inclusivity, cultural diversity, and wellness. She prioritizes the public realm to create notable destinations, revitalize communities, incorporate sustainability and resilience, and position open spaces as catalysts for social and economic vitality. Gail also leads Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) conversations by creating safe forums for discussion.

Jamie Miller, PhD (Env Eng), M.Sc (Eng), B.Sc (Eng), is director of biomimicry and a senior associate at B+H Planning & Landscape. He is also the president of the award-winning sustainability consultancy, Biomimicry Frontiers, and the founder of the Biomimicry Commons, an education and incubator space that Fast Company named a "World-Changing Idea." Jamie holds a PhD in engineering, focusing on urban resilience and systems-based biomimicry and was the co-lead of OCAD University's biomimicry program. He has been working in the field of biomimicry since 2004 and was trained by Janine Benyus and various Indigenous Elders on the deeper principles of nature. He continues to focus on the practical application of this time-tested genius to the built environment and to the shift in our relationship with nature.