From the CEO

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Dr Jane Goodall.

Last month, Tori Walker, one of our board members, suggested we paste DMN’s Statement of Purpose at the top of every board meeting agenda. The intent of Tori’s motion was to remind each DMN director of their responsibility to ensure they’re making decisions considering our purpose as an organisation.

Tori’s motion, moved and seconded, invoked Dr Goodall’s wisdom. It also underscored the fact that when there’s a long list of industry problems to fix, laser-focusing scarce resources on purpose and difference is vital.

Our purpose last week, while meeting with the Department of Housing in Adelaide, was protecting SA consumers from inaccurate energy assessments through mandatory accreditation of energy assessors. This week, we are writing to the Minister for Commerce with an important goal: to protect Western Australian consumers. We aim to prevent consumers from unknowingly hiring individuals or organisations that lack the requisite skills or qualifications to provide design services.

Dr Goodall’s approach bore her great fruit: her discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools (to crack nuts, not construct tree houses!) is considered one of the greatest achievements of 20th Century scholarship. On Friday 25 October, the greatest achievements in building design, and the winners of the True Zero Carbon Challenge, will be announced at the DMN Excellence + Innovation Summit, at Melbourne’s Fed Square. Preceding these events, throughout the morning on Friday, will be a conference program with panels of speakers talking about future cities, industry trends, and building a successful career, by design.

Registrations for the DMN Summit are now open. It promises to be a day away from the desk for immersing yourself in information and conversations that will inform and inspire your practice, and quite possibly your purpose, and the difference you want to make in the world.

Best,

Danielle