AEC firms always talk about how they want their work to “change the world.” One firm, AECOM, is taking corporate responsibility to another level by providing financial support that empowers its employees to tackle humanitarian, environmental, and infrastructure challenges around the world.
AECOM’s inaugural Blueprint Travel Grant program, which it launched last month, awarded 25 grants to support projects that range from the installation of solar-powered water purification systems, to the design and construction of educational facilities in rural communities. This impact initiative spans 15 countries, with the purpose of bringing lasting, scalable solutions to communities and people in need.
The countries include Cambodia, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Panama, Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda.
While AECOM did not disclose its financial commitment to this program, it did state that it is making donations directly to nonprofit partners, for specific campaigns or projects, “to champion our employees’ participation in a skills-based volunteer trip service,” says Brendan Ranson-Walsh, the firm’s Vice President of Global Communications and Corporate Responsibility.
Responding by email to BD+C’s questions, Ranson-Walsh says that this program is the “cornerstone” of AECOM’s corporate responsibility platform Blueprint for a Better World, which has three core pillars: opening doors, creating opportunity, and protecting tomorrow.
AECOM employees help load a section of pipe for transport to the work site in the nearby mountains in Chacayá, Guatemala, a small, Mayan village where coffee farming is the predominant industry. Weighing over 120 pounds each, the 100-meter rolls of pipe presented a significant challenge in hauling them up the steep mountain trail for installation. The community organized teams of 20 people to haul and install three-four rolls per day. Image: AECOM
Examples of the projects that AECOM’s employees are engaging, with the firm’s support, include:
•A team that’s partnering with Engineers Without Borders USA to design, engineer, plan, and construct a vehicular and pedestrian bridge for a Mayan community in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The bridge would provide better access to the community, lower transportations costs, and improve medical response time for more than 1,200 residents.
•A team from 10 of AECOM’s offices in three countries is working with Building Humanity to construct a bakery for the Felix Family Village in Surat Thani, Thailand. That village supports orphaned and abandoned children, including those who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. The bakery will provide food and extra income to the orphanage.
•Two AECOM employees are partnering with Engineers Without Borders Kenya to design and construct safe ecological sanitation facilities at the Inchuni Primary School in Kisii County, Kenya. The new facilities will address the school’s substandard and unhygienic sanitation infrastructure, and prevent the displacement of more than 500 students and faculty members.
“Through the transformational projects they deliver, our people are the driving force behind AECOM’s positive impact in communities around the world,” says Mike Burke, the firm’s Chairman and CEO.
Edmund “Eddie” Doku, Project Engineer II, Design & Consulting Services, at a water and sanitation project in Ghana. Eddie has been volunteering with Engineers Without Borders USA since 2011. Image: AECOM
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Apr 20, 2022
A Frankfurt tower gives residents greenery-framed views
In Frankfurt, Germany, the 27-floor EDEN tower boasts an exterior “living wall system”: 186,000 plants that cover about 20 percent of the building’s facade.
AEC Tech | Apr 19, 2022
VDC maturity and the key to driving better, more predictable outcomes
While more stakeholders across the AEC value chain embrace the concept of virtual design and construction, what is driving the vastly different results that organizations achieve? The answer lies within an assessment of VDC maturity.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 19, 2022
6 trends to watch in healthcare design
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, IMEG’s healthcare leaders from across the country are seeing several emerging trends that are poised to have wide-ranging impacts on facility design and construction. Following are six of the trends and strategies they expect to become more commonplace in 2022 and the years to come.
Energy-Efficient Design | Apr 19, 2022
A prefab second skin can make old apartments net zero
A German startup is offering a new way for old buildings to potentially reach net-zero status: adding a prefabricated second skin.
Concrete Technology | Apr 19, 2022
SGH’s Applied Science & Research Center achieves ISO 17025 accreditation for concrete testing procedures
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger’s (SGH) Applied Science & Research Center recently received ISO/IEC17025 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for several concrete testing methods.
Senior Living Design | Apr 19, 2022
Affordable housing for L.A. veterans and low-income seniors built on former parking lot site
The Howard and Irene Levine Senior Community, designed by KFA Architecture for Mercy Housing of California, provides badly needed housing for Los Angeles veterans and low-income seniors
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Apr 19, 2022
Multi-story building systems and selection criteria
This course outlines the attributes, functions, benefits, limits, and acoustic qualities of composite deck slabs. It reviews the three primary types of composite systems that represent the full range of long-span composite floor systems and examines the criteria for their selection, design, and engineering.
Building Team | Apr 18, 2022
Shive-Hattery Acquires WSM Architects
Shive-Hattery announces that it has acquired WSM Architects, Inc., a 13-person architecture firm in Tucson, Arizona.
University Buildings | Apr 18, 2022
SmithGroup to design new Univ. of Colorado Denver engineering, design, computing building
The University of Colorado Denver selected SmithGroup to design a new engineering, design, and computing building that will serve as anchor of new downtown innovation district.
Building Team | Apr 15, 2022
Frank Gehry to design his largest building yet for his hometown of Toronto
Famed architect Frank Gehry will design his largest building to date for his hometown of Toronto, Canada.