COC Celebrates OAPA Awards

Shout out to COC Associate Ellen Wyoming for taking state as well as national awards for her Mercado project. Ellen and her fellow teammates Abigail Cermak, David Ruelas, and Bridger Wineman are awarded at OAPA last week for Student Achievement in Planning with the Portland Mercado.

COC also cheers for the recognition of Councilor Sally Moncrief in Lake Oswego for her leadership of the www.welovelakeoswego.com comprehensive plan update effort. This process is integrating sustainability, comprehensive land use and transportation planning as well as robust community engagement. We couldn’t do it this well without Councilor Sally’s tireless leadership. Go Sally!

COC Writes Successful $2.2 Clean Tech Grant for Region

COC is thrilled to have coordinated the $2.2 million grant app for clean tech the region received today. We are one of 20 regions nationally to have received this award. Greater Portland Inc and Pam Treece were terrific convenors.  See the detailed release at http://1.usa.gov/nx5mzi. Go region!

COC Associate Ellen Wyoming’s Graduation Speech 2011

As we welcome new COC Associate Ellen Wyoming, we are pleased to share the transcript of the speech she gave at the Portland State University College of Urban and Public Affairs graduation this past June.  Ellen was nominated by her peers and selected by the College to give the one student speech at graduation. Quite and honor. And, quite a speech!  Read on…

“Please take a moment and think of someone that you care about very deeply.  Perhaps you’re thinking of your spouse or partner, a child, friend or grandparent.  Think of them and allow yourself to experience fully what you feel going through your heart, your gut, and your mind when you are in the moment with this person.

How far would you go to keep them safe and secure?  Now let’s think of those who do not have someone to keep their important people safe and secure.

We, the graduates of the College of Urban and Public Affairs, have within our toolkits a great variety of skills and abilities. Each of us chose to come here because we were interested in something greater than ourselves.  Our schools of Government, Community and Public Health, and Urban and Regional Planning are filled with dedicated people who have ideals that walk hand in hand with their hearts.

We have an amazing capacity and we are privileged to be here, to have been well-educated, and to understand the ways in which our unique skills and abilities may be best applied.  It is in using these skills of ours in a way that aligns with our values and what we care for most that will make the difference.  I’m not talking about service with a smile.  I’m talking about using the tools we were born with, those we have cultivated, and using them with mindful intention to do the right thing and to fight for the causes, people, and places that we believe in.  To fight for what others should have but do not have the power to fight for themselves.  Whether we are quiet and diligent or loud and cause a ruckus we have the capacity to do so much and we have a responsibility to do it well for those of us that do not yet have the ability to do so for themselves.

A few years ago when I was a guide in the Grand Canyon I met a woman who at the time was nearing 70 and just had to experience a 2-week white-water raft trip though some of the biggest white water in North America. Despite her slight five-foot frame I looked up to her, and when she spoke, I listened.

She told me something that resonated with me that I want to share with you today, she said that she hoped for me to find that place in my life sooner than later where my passion and talent meet.  Since meeting her I have begun to better understand that if we’re tuned in and listening to ourselves, the values that drive us lead the way to finding that place where indeed our passions and talents meet.

With this, I implore each of you to consider how your talents and passions meet as we leave here today and how you will use those to better your own lives and the lives of those in your communities.

I think about this as a driving force for how we can connect our passions with the tools that we have honed here.

With our raw natural talents and the skills we have cultivated we leave this place to be change-makers, community creators, and people builders. So let’s look to one another and wish each other well as we proudly step from here as masters of our crafts, idealists in our hearts, and passionate activists in our daily lives.”

Congratulations, Ellen!

Major Award for Smart Eco-City Plan in Langfang, China.

COC and other team members created an award-wining first bio-based city plan in Langfang, China.  The precedent-setting Smart Eco-City Master Plan was awarded the American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Merit Prize Award for urban planning and design on October 20, 2010 in Hong Kong.  This is one of the highest prizes awarded in Asia for urban design and the only one awarded by Hong Kong AIA in 2010.  Cogan Owens Cogan, LLC, worked as a subcontractor to the Project Leader, Carolina Woo of CW Group in San Francisco. COC also supported HOK Asia (Hong Kong), the prime contractor.  COC Senior Project Manager, Bob Wise,  played a major role in developing the vision, goals, public policy guidelines and key performance indicators for the entire plan.  Biomimicry, the Natural Step, Triple Bottom Line, the Living Community Challenge, United Nations Urban Environmental Accords and ecological design concepts are integrated into a harmonious whole.  The plan addresses urban design, high speed rail, light rail and street car systems, green infrastructure, organic food production, ecosystem restoration, green building, livable walkable neighborhoods, emblematic parks and places and a complete regional water reuse cycle.