Verge Grad Profile: Shannon Dyck
- Co-founder, Radiance Cohousing
- Environmental Coordinator, City of Saskatoon
- Designer, Prairie Habitat Garden Restoration Project, University of Saskatchewan
Shannon’s Training: Masters in Environment and Sustainability, Certificate of Landscape Design, Master Gardener and Composter, ECO Canada Environmental Professional in Training (EPT)
Shannon’s Expertise: Cohousing, passive house design, permaculture design, landscape design, rain water harvesting
Shannon’s Story
“Design and sustainability is about using your imagination, dreaming about what could be, and envisioning ways to build upon what already exists; they are ultimately about improving who we are and the way we live.”
Throughout her life, Shannon has strived to seek out opportunities relating to sustainability and design. Her jobs, volunteer positions, education, and business ventures have provided her with creative outlets and opportunities to grow, helped connect her to inspiring and exceptional people. These meaningful pursuits have taught her that effort, collaboration, resiliency, and hope are all necessary to bring about change. Perhaps more importantly, they have taught her that certain amounts of incompleteness, imperfection, and failure are also part of the process.
About Radiance Cohousing
Shannon and her partner Michael Nemeth are co-founders of Radiance Cohousing, an innovative housing complex being constructed in Saskatoon. Centered around environmental, social, and financial resiliency, eight individually owned townhouse units will be built alongside shared indoor and outdoor space. One unit is currently available.
Future homeowners and members have pooled their resources to form a development company and are actively collaborating to plan, design, construct, and manage their homes. Once complete, the project will become the first multi-unit cohousing project that meets the Passive House design standards in Canada. By combining co-housing and Passive House approaches, Radiance Cohousing hopes to showcase what is possible in terms of cold-climate sustainable housing.
About the Prairie Habitat Restoration Project
Shannon and her former colleague, Janet McVittie, were recently awarded a grant from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to improve the University of Saskatchewan’s Prairie Habitat Garden, with special focus paid on early childhood learning, native species, and indigenous features and teachings. As one of only 21 projects in North America to receive funding, Shannon will be leading the design, consulting with a variety of stakeholders. Work on the garden commences this spring.
Interested in Shannon’s projects? Contact her at the following:
Email: shannon(at)4tomorrow.ca
Website: www.radiancecohousing.ca
Phone: (306) 880-0373
Newsletter and 1hr e-course.
Thank you, Lynda