Joshua Monk Vanwyck (2011 - 2012)

Canada

As a Sauvé Scholar, Joshua works to support small communities in identifying and implementing strategies for building an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable future. Having grown up in rural Ontario, Josh saw first-hand the quiet decline in human capital and resources endemic in small communities. Trained as an engineer with extensive experience in community building and leadership development, Joshua aims to develop a web-based tool and service model to facilitate collaboration between the various professions and stakeholders involved in community development.

As a high school student at Pearson College, Josh lived as part of a community of students from 90 countries, where he gained an appreciation of the value of living in an international and intellectually diverse community. During that time, he spent one year volunteering in Ecuador and Costa Rica working on community development projects, participating in a movement of education for social transformation. Drawing on these experiences, he brings to his work - and everything he does - a passion for people and a deep-rooted belief in the capacity of people to grow, learn and change.

Believing that technology could help address the constraints on human and community development, Josh completed his BASc in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo as a Loran Scholar.

Working both as volunteer and then fulltime staff member at Engineers Without Borders for seven years, Joshua advanced the leadership potential and abilities of young Canadian engineers to be agents for a world without poverty.  Through his travels and work, it became clear to him that the motivation for people to create change strongly correlated with their connection to their community, including its physical structures.



This led Joshua to begin exploring green buildings and sustainable community development. Joshua lived on British Columbia’s Cortes Island, working with Archemy Consulting, an environmental consulting company specialized in green buildings and green urban planning. There, he helped design Whistler Green, a green building guideline for Whistler, BC, as well as a green community standard for Shanghai, China.

Joshua recently worked in Germany with Transsolar Climate Engineering, a global leader in green building design, where he focused on worldwide water reuse strategies and climate responsive community and building design.


During his year at Sauvé House, Joshua will integrate his passions by refining an open source community development tool and service for small communities. The project provides communities with resources, public consultation tools, as well as processes and guidance to turn their high level goals into concrete policies and actions.



Joshua’s fascination with new cultures and ways of life has encouraged him to live on his own in many different countries to work and study. He is also a food lover who adores cooking in company, and in his free time enjoys reading, hiking and singing in choirs.

Mother Tongue

English -- other languages: French, Spanish (advanced proficiency)

Country of origin

Canada

Country of Residence

Canada

Profession

Engineer