Climate Action – Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture in a Time of Change
Don retired in 2022 as Associate Principal, Senior Planner and Landscape Architect in the Winnipeg Office of AECOM. Having been a member of the first official class in the University of Manitoba’s new Department of Landscape Architecture, he obtained his Master of Landscape Architecture degree in 1980, joining MALA/CSLA the same year. In 1984 he became a Professional Planner, a member of what is now MPPI/CIP. In 1999 he was made a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects on the basis of Constructed Works and Service to the Profession. Don was MALA’s President in 1994-95 and served long terms as Chair of the CSLA Editorial Board for Landscapes Paysages; LACF Treasurer, and Chair of the National Awards for Planning Excellence Jury.
Throughout his 45 year career with AECOM, Don provided urban and regional planning, urban design and landscape architecture services to public and private sector, First Nation and NGO clients, for projects ranging from Sustainable Community Plans and Secondary Plans; First Nation Reserve Land Use Plans and Community Capital Planning Studies to Subdivision Plans; Master Parks Plans and Active Transportation Master Plans, many including stakeholder and public engagement programs. As a Landscape Architect, registered in all Canadian provinces from BC to Ontario, he was responsible for project management, site assessment, master planning, detailed design, and contract administration for a wide variety of projects in a range of geographic locations, frequently involving collaboration with architects, engineers and environmental scientists.
Now retired, Don is a volunteer member of the City of Winnipeg’s Climate Action and Resilience Committee. Over the years he has had many opportunities to address Climate Change mitigation, adaptation and reconstruction for projects across Canada, and also had opportunities to discuss relevant projects around the world with AECOM colleagues in North America, Europe, Middle East and China.
Climate Action – Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture in a time of change will briefly discuss the existential challenge of Climate Change in the context of recent climate research, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and a 2025 survey of Winnipeg residents. Don will then focus on water as a key element being addressed by planners and designers concerned with Climate Change resilience, looking at projects across Canada and around the world - particularly related to stormwater management, and flood mitigation and repair.
It is interesting to note that “Stormwater Retention Basins” was the subject of Fred Wilton’s 1976 Landscape Architecture thesis – just the second produced by a student in the University of Manitoba’s Department of Landscape Architecture. Over the past 50 years the City of Winnipeg has considerably refined its approach to stormwater management, developing a range of approaches to green infrastructure and flood control, as well as addressing sustainable reconstruction after flood events – all aspects of Climate Change adaptation and repair.
Over the years Don Hester has found many opportunities to address Climate Change mitigation, adaptation and reconstruction through a wide range of projects, and to learn about similar projects developed around the world by AECOM colleagues. In addition to water-related projects, he will also consider projects addressing Climate Change mitigation through tree planting and naturalization, sustainable transportation systems, and SAM (Sustainable Asset Management), and dealing with approaches to adaptation to increasing global hazards related to heat, drought, major storms and wildfires.
