Sacha Coles

Let me start by saying congratulations to you all today - it is an honour to be here - sharing this moment with you. It is equally important not to under-estimate both the gravity and the celebration of the moment. Today's graduation ceremony bestows on you a new identity and confirms that you have indeed completed this significant life milestone.

I want to talk principalIy today about two things, community and continued learning.

As a student, you are already part of a vital community, but today you formally become a part of the greater professional community - one that
you will carry and hopefully embrace and contribute to from this day on. The new community you now belong to is supportive, creative and enriching, inspirational and it has depth and breadth.

Any community however needs diversity and energy to sustain it, and keep it vital. To grow, ideas need to be proposed and orthodoxies challenged. Your role is to do just that - I would encourage you to continue to learn from others - but in equal parts - back yourselves in whatever it is that you choose to do from this day on and continue to question, test and explore ideas.

Today you step out of UTS, and you step into almost limitless opportunity to contribute to the broad international conversation about architecture,
about cities, about society, about innovation, and most importantly - about the environment. The wonderful aspect to this community is that it is composed of shapers, thinkers and makers. I encourage you to
find your own space within it.

Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Urban Design, Planning, Building and other related fields are of course broad disciplines. Our work is entwined and underpinned by the arts, politics, science and technology - and - as shapers of the Built Environment our influence is vast. Equally we each have a responsibility to be custodians of the environment and through creative means, leave it in a better and more enriched state than we found it. This is what you have been trained to do! You graduate today in interesting times, - some, or many, may say pressing and challenging times in the terms of our global environment. But equally, if we look at these challenges positively, I believe that there are enormous opportunities which you as designers now have. These are to re-think and re-plan the way we live - which will enrich both society and us as individuals.

Climate change and adapting to its effects through intelligent, innovative and resilient design presents a major opportunity to rethink the way we live from the ground up. Enhancing quality of life, promoting social equity and elevating the spirit through design are your emerging challenges and opportunities in the context of a changing ecological environment. It is critical that each of you treat this as an opportunity - not as a threat.

When I reflect on my experiences, perhaps the key recommendation I have about stepping out from university is to encourage you to make an effort to
engage in the culture of design and architecture wherever possible - don't be limited by where you work, or where you live, or what you’ve studied, keep learning at all costs and wherever possible and form associations with mentors.

Use your association with UTS as an ongoing asset as you have established a community of colleagues here, and it is more than likely that they will remain your great contacts and friends for the rest of your life.

The UTS is your badge. You will find that many years of post-study people will be highly interested in where you studied.

No doubt your experience here at UTS has illustrated how important having a passion and enthusiasm for learning is. Universities are great enablers, and their responsibility is to encourage you to continue to research, continue to think and continue to learn.  Do not assume that completing this phase of your schooling means that you have completed your
education!  We all continue to 'practice' and this is done through teaching and in the making of projects, each step is a practice for the next.

Following my invitation to speak to you today, I reflected on my path from university to practice - which was perhaps unconventional - but
 definitely enthusiastic.  

I graduated, and stayed within the university environment - teaching studios, and tutoring. I worked part time - testing the waters - trying to establish what I wanted to do - and more importantly - with whom. I worked in a few studios - and then with a limited amount of experience under my belt, started the design studio that I still direct.

I worked part time, and had no work to speak of for the first year - only ideas about what kind of work I wanted to do, and with whom. My belief came from one thing, which was the idea that I could contribute - and do things in ways which I thought would challenge what was happening around me. I established relationships with colleagues and mentors through the projects that I was working on, many of these professional relationships are still highly valued.

Forming collaborations enabled me to take a step up and learn methods and approaches to practice that I would have spent years learning in isolation. I surrounded myself with people who were like- minded, capable and most importantly fun.

Over the last 10 years, I have built a National design Studio of around 150 Landscape Architects, Urban Designers and Digital Designers. My colleagues and I have built a range of projects which have been recognised widely, - we have built relationships here and across the world and got to work on projects which contribute to the betterment of society and day to day life. It is a wonderful life path which continues to bring challenges and excitement daily.

I simply use this as one example of a career path, to illustrate that self-belief, enthusiasm, engagement and continual learning are in my experience the key to creating a fulfilling professional life.

Finally, enjoy this moment - you have earned it, and I look forward to working next to you, in the same community as you and watching how you
shape our environment for the betterment of all.

Go well and congratulations.