Sneaker Impact News

Creating Better Cities & Places to Live: Irvans Augustin (Urban Impact Lab)

• Bryan The Botanist, Bryan Huberty • Season 1 • Episode 50

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0:00 | 47:19

Urban Impact Lab’s People-First Approach to Building Better Cities | Miami Climate Week + Community-Led Design

Sneaker Impact News host sits down with Irvans Augustin, co-founder of Urban Impact Lab, after touring the Sneaker Impact facility to discuss people-first urban planning, creative placemaking, and moving cities from ideas to implementation. Augustin shares how he and his wife (with backgrounds in IT, marine biology, and urban planning) founded Urban Impact Lab 13 years ago with a non-traditional, community-centered approach, viewing cities as living networks shaped by residents’ needs. They discuss Miami challenges including affordability, transportation, waste, recycling, composting, design-driven behavior change, and the Doral incinerator disruption, plus examples like Southwest Ranches’ compost program and Miami’s recycling education efforts. Augustin highlights a North Miami flood-prone lot transformed into a community-designed “Good Neighbor Park” that absorbs water. He also promotes Miami Climate Week (March 14–21) led by Miami Climate 365, featuring countywide events and community activations.

Stay Connected/Learn More
https://www.urbanimpactlab.com/
https://www.instagram.com/urbanimpactlab

Welcome and Guest Intro

Bryan the Botanist

Welcome back everyone to Sneaker Impact News. Today I have a very special guest, Irvans Augustin, the co-founder of Urban Impact Lab. Irvans. Welcome.

Irvans Augustin

How are we doing folks? Thanks so much for having me.

Bryan the Botanist

You're welcome. Yeah. Um, so we just did a tour of Irvans of Sneaker Impact, and now we're sitting down to chat with you about the Urban Impact Lab and the work you've done in Miami.

Irvans Augustin

Yep.

Bryan the Botanist

To connect communities, people, and. Help improve

Irvans Augustin

quality from cities and make cities better places to live.

Bryan the Botanist

Absolutely.

What Urban Impact Lab Does

Irvans Augustin

Um, first of all, thanks for inviting me. Um, and I was actually really, I was really surprised about the tour. I didn't know what to expect, honestly, but it was way more, um. Than I expected and I didn't realize how much you guys did here in this space. So I commend you guys for all. Thank you. The work that you're doing, you, UN Mo and the Sneaker Impact team. Um, just, just, just really awesome work. Um,

Bryan the Botanist

tell us about Urban Impact Lab.

Irvans Augustin

Urban Impact Lab. We're, we're a boutique consulting firm. Um, and essentially, uh, we work, we, we help cities and communities move from like, ideas to implementation.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, and essentially like we work with small businesses and we do creative placemaking and we focus on economic development and work. To really improve the quality of life for spaces. Um, and you know, that comes in many different flavors. Um, and so a lot of times we don't have that one cookie cutter type of thing, but we do work to, um, really understand where people are. The residents, and we start with people as a focus of, uh, of our work. So whether we're working with a park, whether we're working with a developer, whether we're working with a small business

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, we start with people first.

People First Cities

Bryan the Botanist

Mm. I love that. People first improving their life, the quality of life, and

Irvans Augustin

Right.

Bryan the Botanist

Allowing them to be part of the conversation and be a stakeholder.

Irvans Augustin

Right. Because in the end, like. What makes a city, right? It's not just the building,

Bryan the Botanist

you and me, everyone else, all of us

Irvans Augustin

people, right?

Places We Love

Bryan the Botanist

All of that's what makes a community.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. And so pick any particular city that you love to travel to. What's the, pick a city? What's the city to

Bryan the Botanist

Um, well, my favorite city's in Guatemala, but it's deep in the mountains where I go and run. It's a smaller city called Tech Pond, but um, I'm from Madison, Wisconsin.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Maybe those two. They're very different one's deep in the mountains of Guatemala and one's in the Midwest.

Irvans Augustin

Right? But both of those things, first things you touched upon was the spaces, right? Mm-hmm. That's what's drawing you to, mm-hmm. To there. So there's elements and spaces in around there that allow you to run, and you are able to run.

3_Audio

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And so whether it be in Guatemala or in New York or Paris or Milan or whatever type of cities. There's elements around there

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

That you enjoy to you, you feel good when you're in those spaces, whatever it is that you're doing. Um, but also core to that is the, the people and the individuals that are there. Mm-hmm. Um, people are drawn to other people and in, in addition to that, as part of it, the physical and the built environment, if it has elements that help you do what you are interested in doing. That's what makes a place work. And that's, that's why we focus and start with sit on cities and we focus on people,

Bryan the Botanist

the identity of the city in the sense of the, that's

Irvans Augustin

part of it.

Bryan the Botanist

It's made up of so many different communities. Like Miami is a melting pot,

Irvans Augustin

right? And as part of that, like as it, it is the individuals and us who make that happen, right? Mm-hmm. And so if you help improve the quality of life for all of us, in the end just makes the city evolve and just be better for everyone. Is here as well and also wants to come here.

Bryan the Botanist

When did you create and start Urban Impact Lab?

Irvans Augustin

Um, that was what has to be like 13 years ago now. Okay. Um, and my background is in it. My, my wife's background's marine biology and um, when she went back to the school, she went back to school for urban planning. Um. She didn't necessarily want to go back to, to go to a desk job. And so she, we started doing some projects and working together, um, and she really just kind of saw the opportunity here in Miami. For something non-traditional in terms of planning or designing or the vision

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Cities as Living Networks

Irvans Augustin

Of how cities evolve and how us as individuals fit into it. And so that's how we ended up starting Urban Impact Lab. And we also started to take a non-traditional approach to a lot of our work, um, as opposed to, um, a lot of urban planners and others, they, you know, they focus more on the drawings. Um, and they focus many times more on the, the, the data, all of which are important and you do need, but we've, we started to first on individuals and people first as part of the equation to help inform everything else because in the end, that's, that's, that's what makes cities. Work for us. Mm-hmm. And we also see the city as a, um, a living organism.

Bryan the Botanist

Absolutely.

Irvans Augustin

And that's, um, and that's also kind of what made it click for me in my head.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Uh, with my IT background and her background in marine biology. Um, when we were starting to look at the, the built environment in cities, it's, in the end, it, it is really about, uh, networks and connections. Right. So whether you're talking about science, like you're in, like, um, you mentioned in scientist.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. I'm a Botanist and an environmental scientist.

Irvans Augustin

Right. So, um, as part of that, if you, if you drill down deep enough, um, you start to see patterns in nature and

Bryan the Botanist

in a jungle. Like the ants

Irvans Augustin

Exactly.

Bryan the Botanist

Versus the birds versus

Irvans Augustin

Right. And then you zoom down further and to a molecular level, there's always some type of pattern and, and, and networks and connections

Bryan the Botanist

systems.

Irvans Augustin

And if you kind of overlay that on a city. You. Mm-hmm. You see the comparisons. And that's what for me, in my mind, started helping me think about.'cause at first I was like, um, she's the one that went to school for urban planning. So I had, I had a lot of, uh, um, I imposter syndrome coming in, like my background in 19 and everything. But in, I understood people, um, because I, I was managing a help desk and a, um. And aside from just fixing people's computers and their networks, you have to understand what their problems are. So you have to actually communicate with people.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

You have to meet the person where they're at and understand what their actual issues are before you can actually help them. Many times. Um. And that's what informed my lens of how to look at the work. Um, and that's, that's also how, uh, it really just clicked in my mind of understanding city in place and that intersection of what really makes a great, vibrant city. And, and that's, uh, and you know, and we've. Yeah, I mean we've been working on that, um, ever since.

Bryan the Botanist

Amazing. Um, I love that you are listening. Every single po person's voice matters. It sounds like there's no difference in the millionaire and mega billionaires versus the, the blue collar workers, the people that are students, the people that are parents. They all deserve a voice. And I can also see a parallel between it and the architecture. Of it.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

We didn't that, that, that's very pertinent to you helping now in urban planning with a city.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah,

Residents and Developers

Bryan the Botanist

with cities around the us which you're not just in Miami. You, you, we were talking before you, this is a model and you work in other cities too, but Miami is your home. Um, so you are helping so much. Uh, it doesn't matter if you have the academic background of I'm not in, I didn't have a background in footwear before I started like a Sneaker Impact, but I'm a Botanist and I'm a, a conservation biologist and also a passionate runner and an educator, and, and, and you're a people person, like you said, with customer service. You have to understand. You know, to really listen to people versus what we were talking about beforehand when we had a meeting with MO is oftentimes, you know, they don't ask or they're afraid to ask,

Irvans Augustin

right?

Bryan the Botanist

And they just let the developers run wild sometimes. Not to hate on developers. There's some very mindful developers in Miami.

Irvans Augustin

I never feel like the developers, the bad guy. Honestly. I think the developers are people, honestly. There's a lot of good developers.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

There's a lot of great developers and there's other bad ones, but the reality, just majority of them, but like anything, the majority of them are kind of in the middle.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, and that's where I feel like municipalities and cities and us as residents, um. What's our vision? What do we wanna see?

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, framing that allows developers and others to do what they do. Once it, the vision is there and the developers many times will build whatever you allow them to do or want them to do. How do you inform that? Mm-hmm. And that's where our job as residents, uh. Our, um, our elected officials that we put into office and others policies that we have in place and, um, and our needs mm-hmm. Help inform that. And, and, and you see it play out in, in, in cities and places where they have elements and things that direct. What's needed, how it's done, and who it's for, and, and you see it play out. And that, that informs affordability, that informs quality of life and, and space in place. That cre that informs the, the types of parks we have or don't have. It informs, uh, types of roads and when many, again, it just boils down to understanding people. Um, and.

Bryan the Botanist

And their needs. Right,

3_Audio

and

Irvans Augustin

their, yeah, and their needs

Bryan the Botanist

and incorporating them because then they feel like they're part of the community. Good. Instead of feel like they're, um, just paying the bills to survive, you know, or just, oh, I'm forced to be in this position, versus when they're incorporated in the conversation. It's all about the conversation.

Irvans Augustin

It is

Bryan the Botanist

and, and then they feel more ownership. They feel more at stake in the community. They feel more like, I'm not gonna litters, like we have a littering problem in Miami. You know? And it's due to education.

Irvans Augustin

It is. Um,

Bryan the Botanist

we have many problems that are just due to education.

Irvans Augustin

And also I think,

Design Shaped Behavior

Bryan the Botanist

yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Part of that too is in part of education many times it's not always, um, what you say, um, all the time.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

But it is really, uh, you can inform that through design.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Because you. You've traveled, you go to Guama in other cities.

Bryan the Botanist

Yep.

Irvans Augustin

Whether you speak the language or not, you understand the elements of the culture, you understand? Sure. What needs to happen in the coast, the respect, if you go to, if you go to Paris, um, whether you speak French or not. You understand that they recycle. Same thing in Spain.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, when we've taken trips, like I didn't speak the language, but when you go to throw something away, there's like four or five garbage cans and they have a picture. You see everybody else around you and you follow what they do as well. So it's, it's, it's part of the culture, but also the design helps inform what people do.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

If you have a city where you don't have garbage cans available,

Bryan the Botanist

that's the problem.

Irvans Augustin

It becomes human nature has so. Point where you have things

Bryan the Botanist

so blocks and you can't find a garden. You can't

3_Audio

find

Irvans Augustin

a garden. Right. And then, so it's, it's not because there's, someone's put up a sign or lectured. The design elements help inform that.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

And people also feed off of other people. Mm-hmm. And so that's where, again, understanding how people, understanding how people work, understanding. Um, basic human needs and putting those things, but

Bryan the Botanist

people wanna play an environment, wants a dirty environment, wants

Irvans Augustin

a dirty home. Nobody's really thinking like, I want to do that. There's, there's always the outliers.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

But I think that if you design things,

Bryan the Botanist

no one's trying in place,

Irvans Augustin

but it happens and it happens. And so, but if you design things in elements and put them in place. Things,

Bryan the Botanist

you encourage it to go in the right direction. It's never gonna solve a thousand percent anyone from,

Irvans Augustin

you

Bryan the Botanist

know, some kids are driving around and I used to live in Coral Gables and they threw a whole McDonald's bag out of, um, you know, by Douglas Park out the window

Irvans Augustin

right.

Bryan the Botanist

While they're driving. And it ran into my front yard and I was like, what are you doing? Like, don't throw stuff in my yard, but don't throw stuff in my city or in my bay or in my ocean, which I swim in every day.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Miami Waste Challenges

Bryan the Botanist

And I care so much about the bay. So to hear that your wife is a marine biologist moves my heart because every single one in person counts. But those who are really educated in that, it's a burden on us because we want to see everyone coexist. We wanna see people thrive, but we also wanna see healthy environments, healthy water, you know, clean water. We have a waste issue in Miami. We have a transportation issue in Miami.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

We have an affordability issue in Miami. And

Irvans Augustin

how do we help inform and change those things? And I think that's, it comes down to us as residents to push and ask for that.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Um, who do we elect and put in office? Um

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And support those things. And also not to be of, um. Not to necessarily put the, the elected officials have the responsibilities and things that they should be doing, but I think it's also us as residents, um, to, to put the right people in office too. Mm-hmm. To push for those things as well.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And I think that even if you do have the right person in office, is things happen. Right. No one knew the incinerator that we have here was gonna blow up. Um, there's definitely things that they could have done beforehand and planned for it.

Bryan the Botanist

The one in Doral.

Irvans Augustin

Um, yeah. And,

Bryan the Botanist

but

Irvans Augustin

the thing is that it happened,

Bryan the Botanist

there's one of two right. In Miami-Dade County. Correct. It lasted how many years ago? Five. And they still haven't replaced it.

Irvans Augustin

And there's, they still haven't figured out because they're trying what? They're going to,

Bryan the Botanist

they're talking about it, right?

Irvans Augustin

They're talking

Bryan the Botanist

and they had this, the biggest one in nation planned right. For an area.

Irvans Augustin

And it's probably gonna take like 10 years to build.

Bryan the Botanist

Where were they gonna build it now? Do you remember? I

Irvans Augustin

don't even know.

Bryan the Botanist

No, we we're

Irvans Augustin

deciding back and forth the site. Even if they, whenever they do decide. They're still probably gonna take 10 years to build.

Bryan the Botanist

Wow.

Irvans Augustin

What do you do in the meantime?

Bryan the Botanist

Right? They're shipping it up north.

Irvans Augustin

That's one thing that they do. But

Bryan the Botanist

before they reduce,

Irvans Augustin

I've talked to other folks. This is also an opportunity to push for more recycling. The amazing work that you guys do here. Those opportunities to capitalize,

Bryan the Botanist

yeah. Diver waste.

Irvans Augustin

Um, on, you know, I forgot what the proper, um, what the quote is, but essentially they say, don't waste an emergency. Emergencies happen, situations happen, but like now that you're here

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Make the best of it, right? Mm-hmm. And instead of shipping every single piece of garbage that we have out, we should be composting. There should be a much more of a better communication campaign and saying that, Hey, let's, let's compost.

Bryan the Botanist

I compost a little bit. How do we backyard? That is small amount. You probably brand store.

Irvans Augustin

If

Bryan the Botanist

there

Composting Models

Irvans Augustin

was things in place.

Bryan the Botanist

Sure. In fact, at Southwest ranches, I got to sit down with the town of Southwest ranches mm-hmm. About two months ago at a zero waste meeting and be part of it for Sneaker Impact. And they have a great program up there called, I believe it's, I forget the name of it now. And it's, um, it's a composting organization and you can sign up for, for free and they bring the buckets to your home and then when you fill it up, they come and get it through an email notification. They have a text message notification too. I think it's called like Filthy Organics or something. I'm gonna get it wrong, but, uh, I'll look. Up and put it in and, but basically they bring you back your soil after they compost it for you.

Irvans Augustin

Oh,

Bryan the Botanist

so they do it for you and then it's free.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

And you sign up through the city. And by the way, I, we didn't get a chance to mention this. A city of Southwest ranch, town of Southwest ranches out with mo, but that's where Mo lives. And they are the most environmentally minded town in, I believe, Florida.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

And they're the smallest in Broward County, the smallest. I forget how many residents live there, but it's, but it's also a very affluent community.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

It's also horse country and it's got a lot of open space and they wanna preserve that history, that heritage, just like Miami Beach wants to preserve their historical buildings, um, they wanna preserve the lifestyle they have in Southwest ranches and they are a model for every other community, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale. Yeah. All these big cities like Hollywood and whatnot. You know, they all look at Southwest ranches and they're doing so much. To divert waste and to educate their residents.

Irvans Augustin

And that's just, I think that's, I think that's, I wanna

Bryan the Botanist

give them a big shout out.

Irvans Augustin

And um,

Bryan the Botanist

and you've probably seen other examples like that where in cities like Miami or New York are starting

Irvans Augustin

to, oh, like down here we have Compost for Life.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah, I've heard of them.

Irvans Augustin

Um, and then they do some amazing work. But they're a small organization.

Bryan the Botanist

I've met them before actually at many events.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. And compost

Bryan the Botanist

for life.

Recycling Education Push

Irvans Augustin

And so like, we should expand, we should expand that and do more of that. Sure. And, um, how do we help expand and build that, uh, business model to do more? Um, you go to other cities and other places where like there's facilities already built in for recycling and composting. Pretty much everywhere. So whether you want to or not, the opportunity's there. Mm-hmm. And then it, it informs you. And for those of us who are trying to, it is simpler to do.'cause like right now in the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County, um, they do recycle, but nowhere near as much as we could.

Bryan the Botanist

So I was gonna say, as a lot of people say, how much gets recycled? Recycled, it does, do they actually recycle

Irvans Augustin

it? Exactly. And then also, depending where you live, it doesn't even. Matter'cause they sort it out in the bin, but then you see them throw it into the same truck.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And then so

Bryan the Botanist

yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Or people, what are we really doing? And so all those things add up.

Bryan the Botanist

But I did see recently, which lifted my heart on a run on the 79th Street Causeway.

Irvans Augustin

Mm-hmm.

Bryan the Botanist

And you see it on Biscayne Boulevard advertisements on the bus stop. Placards.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Big, you know, full size.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

And it teaches you how to recycle correctly.

Irvans Augustin

Okay.

Bryan the Botanist

So it's not every single thing. It'll link to a website, but it'll be like, you can't put a dirty pizza box in the recycling bin. Right.

Irvans Augustin

So you should use some things to do

Bryan the Botanist

what is, isn't accepted.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. We need to do more of that and then

Bryan the Botanist

And yard waste and stuff. Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. And do more of that. And also create space for, to make it easier to do

Bryan the Botanist

that. Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

As well. So,

Bryan the Botanist

and the fact that the city is advertising, and I wouldn't even say it's advertising. Communications. Right. Or something. They're communicating.

Irvans Augustin

All communication. Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Signage. And you see it even on 95 now, where you wouldn't assume that maybe 20 years ago.

Irvans Augustin

Right. And I think we just need to do more of it. Um,

Bryan the Botanist

education,

Irvans Augustin

outreach.

Bryan the Botanist

Everything,

Irvans Augustin

all

Biochar and Second Life

Bryan the Botanist

conversations. Um, one thing I also saw recently that Miami is starting to do is biochar. Have you heard of biochar?

Irvans Augustin

I actually haven't.

Bryan the Botanist

It's where they, uh, take yard waste and also the stuff vegetation that from like, um, the county or the city.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah,

Bryan the Botanist

like when they're. Doing the work along the highways and along, even like we were talking about you like

Irvans Augustin

yard work, landscaping. Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

They got the crews that are out, they're collecting dump trucks full instead of putting that in the landfill, they're, um, making this, um, I'm gonna get it a little bit wrong here, but they basically make a very high quality charcoal out of it that, um, they give back to the public or that they use as a city to, um, it basically fertilizes. Oh, it enhances it. So it's like a super fertilizer. It's, um, it's called biochar and it's recently been all the rage down here, but

Irvans Augustin

I can look that up. I hadn't heard about that, but I think it c space. So there's so much

Bryan the Botanist

saving, so much room by not putting all that, you know, like when Hurricane Andrew came through, the amount of waste that much that created,

Irvans Augustin

right. And,

Bryan the Botanist

and that could for renewable resource instead of just dumping it into the landfill with all the garbage, like no, there's garbage that has to be incinerated. You know, but that there's a lot of different ways that people don't know. Just like we were talking on the tour Sneaker Impact, they don't really know. What happens to shoes for the most part when they're done?

Irvans Augustin

I, I, I already do that either. Um,

Bryan the Botanist

it's just forgotten

Irvans Augustin

about. So, and it was really informative on a tour to, to learn about that. Um, and I think that we just need to expand it and do more.

Bryan the Botanist

Giving it a second life, that's what it's all about. Just give it a second life.

Irvans Augustin

And also, again, as Drew, um, we're telling me on the tour the amount of clothes that you all recycle, the amount of other materials and fibers that get recycled. I didn't even know that was, um, an option many times. And so I, I think it's great what you guys do.

Bryan the Botanist

It's innovative, you know, um, there's a lot of different people that have helped in the sense of it takes a lot of different thoughts and people to help create something like Sneaker Impact. Yes. We have our amazing founder, Moe, who has

Irvans Augustin

a commitment. Yeah. And that's, that's,

Bryan the Botanist

we've had so many people give us great ideas, work with us, other organizations like yours that you know, and then we've. We've evolved, you know, everyone's evolving and the organizations evolve and it all comes through conversations.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Um, actions.

Sustainability as Business

Irvans Augustin

But you guys are also implementing it. And so I think that there's a lot of ideas, but you guys are,

Bryan the Botanist

well, it can become profitable, by the way, to be environmental, to be sustainability. It can be a profitable,

Irvans Augustin

I think everybody forgets about that and you kind of just focus. And they think that sustainability or resilience or climate, it, you know, everyone just wants to hug a tree. Look it's business.

Bryan the Botanist

Or they think that the government's just gonna magically pay for everything.

Irvans Augustin

Right. And it doesn't work. That way. And I think that,

Bryan the Botanist

yeah,

Irvans Augustin

when you go to other countries and you see the amount of infrastructure and money that they're making off of sustainability

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, it, it's mind boggling. Sure. And I think that a lot of those opportunities we miss. Yeah. And a lot of times we get, as a collective, they get stuck in the conversation of it.

Bryan the Botanist

Sure.

Irvans Augustin

Um,

Bryan the Botanist

but not implemented is what

Irvans Augustin

you mean, not implementing, but then also just arguing about it.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And figuring just a discussion about it. And then things don't actually move forward.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

But I think that the, the value and the amount of money that can be made off of it is not discussed many times.

Incentives and Planning Risks

Bryan the Botanist

Sure. Yeah. I remember when I was in Germany, they have the machines that you can put the plastic bottles into. It sucks it in and it gives you some money from it. They do the same thing in Michigan. You can get more in Michigan for your recycled cans than anywhere in the us.

Irvans Augustin

I didn't even know

Bryan the Botanist

some people would drive vehicle loads, whether it's your car. A truck, a big truck like you, all full of, um, cans that would collect a around, I swear to God in the eighties and nineties, 15, do

Irvans Augustin

it like

Bryan the Botanist

15 cents per can versus like in Wisconsin you might get 2 cents or 1 cents or 5 cents, but triple the value in certain states or you know, California's obviously a liter, some people find an environmentally, you know? Mm-hmm. Whether it's emissions because they have to due to population smog. The impact of building in the mountains.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

We're talking about urban planning. Like what happens when there's a fire and then after the fire. A rainstorm. Mudslides,

Irvans Augustin

right?

Bryan the Botanist

Because they lost all the vegetation and they lost the vegetation'cause they weren't managing it properly. It needs to be periodically, you know, like in, I used to work in environments in Wisconsin where fire was part of the regime, part of the management.

Irvans Augustin

It's a tool. Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. A tool. It wasn't something bad. It helps actually sustain, and there's a lot of,

Irvans Augustin

if you're proactive and you're controlling the fire,

Miami Climate Week Preview

Bryan the Botanist

California too, you've got all the stuff build up forever. Of course it's gonna be like what happened, you know, out there and, and, and arson and all these things are terrible, but we can manage and do a better job of planning. And I think planning is so important. So what you are doing at Urban Impact Lab I think is so needed in Miami. It's so refreshing. Um, we were having some conversations out there about specific projects you've worked on. Is there any you wanna bring up on the podcast to highlight whether it's Miami?

Irvans Augustin

Um, we, we talked to, well the current project worked on right now is like Miami Climate Week that we have coming up.

Bryan the Botanist

Tell us about

Irvans Augustin

that. The Miami climate,

Bryan the Botanist

when is that?

Irvans Augustin

Miami Climate Week is a culmination of the backbone organization. Is Miami Climate 3 6 5. Of organizations and we've come together to essentially elevate the conversation around the climate in Miami, but expand the conversation throughout the year, not just a particular climate, uh, climate week, but we do have a climate week that we're hosting. Um, and it's going to be, uh, March 14th through 21st.

Bryan the Botanist

Okay.

Irvans Augustin

21st or 22nd.

Bryan the Botanist

It's right around spring break, isn't it?

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. And then so it, it's, it's a community driven. Set of activations and activities are gonna be happening around across Miami-Dade County.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, different types of organizations from the sea keepers to, um, the. Morays, M-O-I-A-S, uh, Noah, we mm-hmm. We have, uh, Cleo and many, I know Cleo Institute.

Bryan the Botanist

Yep. They're gonna be part of their 5K coming up

Irvans Augustin

and they're all just participating in different ways. And the, the goal is not to reinvent the wheel and do. But to kind of highlight what they already do day in and day out.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And get more attendees and participants to come out and participate and, and, um, not just support these organizations, but support the work that they're doing that is so impactful for the community and, and build on that

Bryan the Botanist

feature and celebrate everything going on for climate justice. Climate, um, change, how, how do you call it? Climate, um, in the sense of it's climate. Remember the name of the, the name again?

Irvans Augustin

Climate Week or

Bryan the Botanist

Climate Week.

Irvans Augustin

Things

Bryan the Botanist

going on

Depoliticizing Climate Talk

Irvans Augustin

is the event, because

Bryan the Botanist

we're ground zero here for climate change. Whether people wanna admit it happens. I was actually just listening to a podcast last night, and let's forget about all the political, um, what's the word? Uh, associations, right, with the word climate change, because there are a lot.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

It can turn people off quickly if you mention it. There's no doubt that civilizations impact climate. We can, in fact, because of the amount of people on the earth now, is the earth resilient? Yes. Has it gone through many climate? Regimes in the last billion years. Yes.

Irvans Augustin

Will they continue to Yes.

Bryan the Botanist

Are we affecting it? Yes.

WALL-E Future Warning

Irvans Augustin

We're part of the equation,

Bryan the Botanist

so yeah. I mean, and it, and it imagine a, a planet and there are probably some out in the universe that are so developed that they have destroyed, that can destroy the Lorax.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

They've destroyed every last tree. Maybe, or maybe there's a tree is like

Irvans Augustin

in a museum.

Bryan the Botanist

It's like, yeah, exactly. It's like a jewel. It's like, oh my god, it's a tree. Oh my God. That's like the bees, like where's the bees? Like there's no more bees anymore. It's just robots. Like

Irvans Augustin

movie

Bryan the Botanist

seen. Have you ever seen WALL-E?

Irvans Augustin

Yes.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. It's my favorite movie of all time, Wally. And um, you know,'cause he's, he's cleaning up the earth after everyone trashed it. And then eventually this one plant

Irvans Augustin

said.

Bryan the Botanist

And then people, and then they all come back from the spaceship, from the other planet. It's like, we do not want that to happen. And that is an, that's an example of climate change affected by,'cause the sky has turned black.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Money Versus Nature

Bryan the Botanist

And, and the rainforest are burning at an unprecedented rate and getting cut down for a. Agriculture for soybeans, for cattle farming, for other use, for mining, it has to be done mindfully. Everything has to be done mindfully, and it ha can't be dictated by one person's needs or one society. It, it has to be,

Irvans Augustin

well, as you were saying before, it can't be money based.

Bryan the Botanist

Exactly.

Irvans Augustin

I think that's what, yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Migrant conglomerate, corporations involved,

Irvans Augustin

people defer to because money is being made and then you just forget everything else. That if you destroy everything else, you are not gonna be making any

Bryan the Botanist

more money because the money could build the roads. But is it really protecting the rivers and the other things in like the Amazon that are getting polluted by strip mining or by, or is that money just coming in? Yes, it might help the government. Because they probably get paid something. Yes. The developer

Irvans Augustin

business, the majority goes to the corporation,

Bryan the Botanist

but, but then the quality of life for the ab, for the, for the, for the people who live the neighbors,

Irvans Augustin

ideally. But I think that there's like so much it, the money could help some things, but the reality is it really just goes and

Bryan the Botanist

sometimes it in the mind for instances, you know, where they have the UNESCO Heritages or whatever.

Irvans Augustin

You just need more of those.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

Um, and it's,

Flooded Lot To Park

Bryan the Botanist

that's why it's important to highlight I think, like really good examples of people doing work like. You, you were telling me about a, a abandoned lot in North Miami that you guys

Irvans Augustin

helped. Yeah, the neighbor park that we worked on, um, for, for those that need the context, um, there was a repetitive loss. Repetitive loss is essentially when, um, an insurance company declares. A lot or a building as uninsurable because it's been flooded too many times. For one, I have. I think it's for other things.

Bryan the Botanist

Sure

Irvans Augustin

too. But

Bryan the Botanist

flood, the Miami, the

Irvans Augustin

main reason,

Bryan the Botanist

yeah.

Irvans Augustin

For this particular lot is because of flooding. If a insurance company deems it uninsurable.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

It is just, it's just uninsurable. So whatever happens there is on the responsibility of the city or whoever's building on it. So that lot was just sitting empty, um, because it was in a residential neighborhood and nobody could afford to just. Build something there because that street flooded regularly,

Bryan the Botanist

you said multiple times a year.

Irvans Augustin

Yes.

Bryan the Botanist

So it would not be able to be lived on?

Irvans Augustin

No, because that lot would flood at least three or four times a year. And then the people who did live there ended up having to move because of the damage. The average person encount flood, the

Bryan the Botanist

loss was huge, I'm sure.

Community Led Design

Irvans Augustin

And they had all their pockets. They had to pay for everything. So. That lot was just sitting empty. The city of North Miami was trying to figure out what to do with it. Um, and, and there was an opportunity to make it a, an amenity. They didn't know necessarily what they brought us in and they hired us to work with them and they wanted to create a lot, but we ended up creating a little bit. Um, we ended up creating a little bit more of a process of, to inform what was going to happen there. We included the community. We did community outreach in multiple language, um, Haitian C, Spanish, and of course English to understand what the neighbors, what their pain points are, what their concerns are, and what their needs were. And we have to go through those things to really kind of understand what people may want in the future. But you have to understand where people are now

Bryan the Botanist

instead of guessing or Right.

Irvans Augustin

Or just making it up.

Bryan the Botanist

Making it up.

Irvans Augustin

And so we, we, we engaged the community. We, we did a whole design process with the. M um, we heard their, uh, concerns. Mm-hmm. They were worried about flooding, was one of their main concerns and their property values and people buy a home for in investments and things, and their property values were going down and they couldn't understand why. Long story short, their. Homes were built in the Arch Creek basin, which is, if you go back far enough, was just

Bryan the Botanist

a natural formation.

Irvans Augustin

A natural formation.

Bryan the Botanist

I used to live in that area,

Irvans Augustin

a natural swamp.

Bryan the Botanist

Yep.

Irvans Augustin

So technically nothing should have been built there or the, the, it's

Bryan the Botanist

no mangroves by the bay.

Irvans Augustin

Right. At some point somebody has removed that and is built houses there.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

But nature remembers and it just comes back.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah.

Irvans Augustin

And that's what was happening to those streets on a consistent basis. So what do you do with that? Mm-hmm. Um. The, uh, opportunity that we saw wasn't supposed to be a magic Boulet, but it was really just more to, um, a pilot to show as possible working with the community. They came and participated in a few different events and activities with us. They also helped select the architects and designers.

Bryan the Botanist

Oh, wow.

Irvans Augustin

We did like a speed dating with the community.

Bryan the Botanist

Okay.

Irvans Augustin

Um, and the speed, the community did speed dating sessions with the architects and. Designers.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

They picked who they wanted to work with. The designers came back and we, we made it like a little,

Bryan the Botanist

you gave them multiple options?

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. We made it, we had multiple options. Made a little competition. Mm-hmm. And then the community picked the, the designer and the architects. Oh, the landscape.

Bryan the Botanist

Through voting or,

Irvans Augustin

yeah. And then after,

Bryan the Botanist

like was it actually on the referendum or was it something done? Like more like through

Irvans Augustin

this, since we were already working with the municipality meeting. Yeah. Um, it was a much simpler process. Mm-hmm. And then, so it was really just more ballot.

Bryan the Botanist

Okay.

Irvans Augustin

Not an official ballot like people just wrote in. On what they wanted to see happen. It was just a small community process. Mm-hmm. So this wasn't like, we didn't have to get the commissioners and others involved. So we just all this through the planning department at the,

Bryan the Botanist

through a couple blocks.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. Um, we visited the north by me, um, parks department and others.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Absorbent Park Features

Irvans Augustin

They helped inform what the designers created and the designers came back and created an amazing, uh, set of options and created a design, all of which were included the people's requests and needs of having a space that they wanted to be able to walk in a small park. Um. They built in elements that allowed the park, the park to be able to flood and absorb more water. So the homes that were immediately next to it would receive less of the flooding.

Bryan the Botanist

Like a retention pond of sorts.

Irvans Augustin

Exactly.

Bryan the Botanist

But a healthy one.

Irvans Augustin

Correct. And then they had

Bryan the Botanist

butterflies and birds and wa like native plants, I'm assuming?

Irvans Augustin

Yes, exactly. And then, so we had all those different elements in that small park and it ended up getting built and it's still there. It's a good neighbor park.

Bryan the Botanist

Park. I'm gonna throw that up right now.

Irvans Augustin

It's, it is there in North Miami if people want to go check it out. Um,

Bryan the Botanist

nice. One 44th Street, right?

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. I used to live on one 35th.

Irvans Augustin

Oh, so you are right there.

Bryan the Botanist

There's so many communities in Miami. People think of Miami, but it's, it's got probably 50 plus communities from

Irvans Augustin

Miami-Dade County has 34 municipalities.

Bryan the Botanist

34 municipalities.

Irvans Augustin

Each of them has their own commission districts, and then, which within each of those municipalities, they have, who knows how many neighborhoods? I could, that's an interesting question. I'll have to look up how many neighborhoods. Neighborhoods, distinct neighborhoods.

Bryan the Botanist

Like I'm in an area called the Upper East Side, but it's part of Little River.

Irvans Augustin

And then depending who you talk to, it's also a little part of Little Haiti, you know? Sure. So and so,

Bryan the Botanist

and then Miami Shores is one block, a couple blocks north, and then there's area called Shore Crest nearby. Yeah. And there's all these names, like Miami Beach has a lot of different communities in it.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Big City Planning Hurdles

Bryan the Botanist

Um, so it's just so interesting, um, to talk about planning and how we can shape the future of cities. Um, what have you found are some of the biggest challenges,

Irvans Augustin

some of the big, biggest challenges of. Of cities just in general.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. To and, and just getting change, you know, and, and maybe even just in the last 10 years you

Irvans Augustin

worked at, at a high level, it's really just getting affordable. Housing is always a key one that comes up. You have transportation and mobility.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Transit Limits and Sprawl

Irvans Augustin

That, um, even so much so down here. And the, the organization I mentioned to you, transit Alliance Miami was out of our own experiences living in downtown Miami and other places where. Uh, you don't feel like you need to get into a car to go, but there's not really any transportation, realistic transportation options that go to places where you actually want to go.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Because we do have the Metro rail, we do have the Metro mover, but it's, it's limited in scope.

Bryan the Botanist

Yep.

Irvans Augustin

And so as part of that too is like understanding land use, how land is used to inform what gets built, um, and how, uh. Once you understand the land use or you change and modify it

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

You start creating the right type of housing

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And scale of housing that makes sense for the transportation options that you have.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

So if you have more people here, then you, you design transportation to those areas. So we have less people having to drive in and around, um, and understanding, uh,

Bryan the Botanist

we can't do a subway here, for instance, because we have a high water.

Irvans Augustin

Well,

Bryan the Botanist

we're not recommended. Yeah. In San Francisco. They have the part You

Irvans Augustin

could, but the thing is like the cost of that is

Bryan the Botanist

one,

Irvans Augustin

you know is really just un,

Bryan the Botanist

I know boring companies looked into South Florida, but I know there are some challenges with the geology here. Yeah, the high water table and the limestone. But it's really interesting how you design it to think. I mean, hopefully now they're gonna start doing that.'cause we have really bad. Traffic In Miami, we have one of the worst, um, standards of living for traffic in the us. I believe we're in the top five or maybe in the top three. You know, LA is up there. I've spent a little time in la I'm sure you've been to LA and seen how bad it can get. Yeah. You avoid highways for

Irvans Augustin

six,

Bryan the Botanist

10 hours.

Irvans Augustin

LA so flat and everything is single. Like what, two or three stories? Mm-hmm.

Bryan the Botanist

Oh, that's

Irvans Augustin

right. Maximum. And everything is so flat. And you have the urban sprawl everywhere.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah, it's just sprawls. And then in Miami. It's a smaller geographic area we're talking about. It's actually a smaller people. You can, like you said, run into the mayor walking or the Yeah, the mayor, right? Yeah. Walking downtown versus in New York City, that wouldn't happen necessarily.

Irvans Augustin

No. But also the, uh, people who say Miami, but

Bryan the Botanist

what part

Irvans Augustin

they think of like South Beach.

Bryan the Botanist

Oh, okay.

Irvans Augustin

People just don't have the context of just realizing how widespread and sprawled out, like the city of Miami itself is a very small city.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

But that's the only way. Mean that's only one of the municipalities of the 34 in Miami-Dade County and then

Bryan the Botanist

and Broward.

Irvans Augustin

You have everything, all that. Yeah,

Bryan the Botanist

we all the way to the boundary zone is my understanding of the Everglades and all the way north and south. I mean, there's very little open space left and they hopefully won't ever go into the Everglades, but you know, there's agriculture issues out there too, but they're restoring it. It's a big topic. The Everglades

Irvans Augustin

very much

Bryan the Botanist

and so is our water supply, so is our transportation. As we were just talking about, people want, you know, we have pretty good. Down here. You know, when I travel to other countries like Guatemala, I really appreciate what we have in the us, but I see other things they have down there. They might have more forests, they might have more wildlife. It might be a little more wilder. They have volcanoes. They also might have a little more love in their hearts, in their community, in the sense of everyone taking care of each other and families really being so strong. You know, they might not make as much money, but their love is so much stronger. Not always, but usually there's a great love in the US too. Just you really see how, you know, um, people appreciate what they have, even if they don't have as much. Like in the US we have abundance. We're the number one economy in the world. We're the top consumer,

Irvans Augustin

number one consumers.

Climate Week and Sneaker Impact

Bryan the Botanist

We're talking about that down on the tour. We make up 4.5% of the world, but consume 20% of global research. So we have a responsibility.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah,

Bryan the Botanist

and I really appreciate the work you're doing and I'm glad you're asking Sneaker Impact to be part of Miami Climate Week and any other projects you would like to have us be even part of. We, we would.

Irvans Augustin

No, you guys have a great business model here and I definitely want to see it expand and grow and for more people to participate. And because you are, it's not just the work you guys are doing in the micro businesses that you guys are helping to stimulate.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

And um, other countries that you're helping to economically connected to it.

Bryan the Botanist

All this economic opportunities happening outside the us but it's also happening here in Miami.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah.

Bryan the Botanist

But it's going out to 20 plus countries where the secondhand market, but all the

Irvans Augustin

brands, you guys were also connecting. Helping with, they would've had additional cost of taking that to whatever

Bryan the Botanist

community that needs it. Yeah. Getting it a second life

Irvans Augustin

community, or they would have to dump it.

Bryan the Botanist

Yeah. And that's what happens sometimes is they shred brand new clothing and shoes.

Irvans Augustin

Right.

Bryan the Botanist

Some companies will, if they can't sell it, they'll shred it rather than give it a, and

Irvans Augustin

what do they do with those materials?

Bryan the Botanist

It just goes into a road or something, or into a landfill. Right?

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. So the return on that is you guys are creating much more of a

Bryan the Botanist

mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

More impactful return. Yep. With your process and the work that you guys are doing. So

Bryan the Botanist

yeah, there's that.

Irvans Augustin

I recommend you guys.

Bryan the Botanist

Thank you. Um, how can people learn more about Urban Impact Lab and all the other in the Miami Climate Week? What, where are, where are you online and

Irvans Augustin

you can find us on Urban impact lab.com Okay. For our website. And, um, my information is on there for Miami Climate Week, um, Miami Climate Week, um, Miami Climate. Three six five.org.

Bryan the Botanist

Okay.

Irvans Augustin

Um, is, uh, the website for Miami Climate Week. And you can also find out about Miami Climate 3, 6, 5 and all the work that we're going to be doing throughout the year.'cause we're trying to really expand the conversation throughout the year as opposed to just a climate week or just a month. And it's something that we all have to be dealing with all year round. And we just wanna help elevate that, that voice and help elevate that conversation

Bryan the Botanist

so people can come to Miami Climate Week and take part of these conversations or activities. That will be,

Irvans Augustin

they'll all be listed on the website. Miami Climate Week,

Bryan the Botanist

March 14th through 21st.

Irvans Augustin

Correct. There'll be a calendar of events Nice. That you can attend and participate and go out, support your local NGO or nonprofit. There'll be different types of beach cleanups and different events.

Bryan the Botanist

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Um, the, uh, um, is also going to be hosting and having a conference. Okay. Physically, um, on site there. Nice. I think you guys will have a, um, a, a collection machine there.

3_Audio

Mm-hmm.

Irvans Augustin

Or I mean box there as well. So anybody can, to Confluence can come and. Bring an old pair of shoes, sneakers. Are you just sneakers? Are you not taking clothes in those boxes? Yeah,

Bryan the Botanist

we have collected clothes at certain events and from certain stores, but we find that, um, what's needed most is shoes.

Irvans Augustin

Is shoes

Bryan the Botanist

because they're actually like a vehicle for people in other countries. A good pair of walking shoes is like, um, a Honda or a Toyota or a I name the car brand. They, they, they need a good pair of shoes. Yeah, everyone does. Um, it's essential for public health to have a good pair of shoes, and it's also important just to take care of your body. Like if you have. Have inferior shoes. You could get foot problems or

Irvans Augustin

yeah,

Bryan the Botanist

leg problems and you're, you know, get a nail through the shoe or something. You know, there's just a lot of different, a lot of kids are lacking footwear. Unfortunately, 25% of the world's children don't have proper footwear and it leads 25%, about 25%. It's like double check that stat. But there's a lot of startling statistics. We talked before in the US recent statistics are only 13% of footwear is recycled every year. So 87% is going into the landfill. Um,

Irvans Augustin

still mind boggling. That's.

Bryan the Botanist

In the recent statistics, we're trying to change that, but we're not the only ones out there. Um, but you know, in the secondhand market, 75% of the people in the world depend on it. But in the US I don't think really anyone, depends on the sec. Maybe some people do I take that back, but you, you, you're Haitian American, right?

Irvans Augustin

Correct.

Bryan the Botanist

So in Haiti. People really do use the secondhand market for a lot of things.

Irvans Augustin

Yeah. They have to,

Bryan the Botanist

and in Guatemala

Irvans Augustin

have the infrastructure of the retails.

Bryan the Botanist

They don't have a Publi or Ross or whatever, uh, Amazon delivering whatever they need every day to them, you know, or whoever they buy their stuff from. They can't just go to the mall and the gas station sometimes I've heard the lines can be for hours to get gas or water or food.

Irvans Augustin

Yep.

Bryan the Botanist

And, and they'll wait for hours because they need it. And, and so that's why we feel good about what we're doing here is that we're getting this. Shoes out of the country.'cause here we have such abundance and we don't want it to come back and haunt our store owner partners, um, that are doing the right thing by recycling. And then if we were to take the best shoes that are only worn once or never worn and put'em online, that would be breaking, uh, trust. So everything leaves the US and nothing's sold here. Um, and we don't ship trash overseas. We keep the trash here. You saw our end of life process here. We're making Sandos now and yoga mats, and we'd be excited to share that at Climate Week. Um, so I know we're coming up on a time limit. Ivan's. But is there any, um, final thoughts, uh, you'd like to, um, share with the community about your work and where you see Miami going and how people can help?

Slow Down See Community

Irvans Augustin

Final thoughts? Um, I would offer people to. See there are spaces and places in a different way. Um, and I usually tell people like, change how you move and you change how you understand your space. Get outta our vehicles. Take time to take a walk, understand and see your community a little bit more intimately up close. Because in the end, like once you start seeing it differently, then you under you understand what's needed mm-hmm. And how it impacts you. Mm-hmm. Indiana helps improve all of our quality of life. It also helps inform what you vote for, what you, what your needs are. If you're just always so busy just driving through everything, you don't really get to see it or connect it or understand as well. And so that would just be like my one thing I would

Bryan the Botanist

say to slowing down and getting outside of your bubble and your comfort zone. Yeah, when you can. Yeah, sometimes you gotta get something.

Irvans Augustin

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, but when you are able to just take a minute and actually slow down. Get out and see your community,

Bryan the Botanist

especially in your neighborhood, right? Like in neighborhood, I'm always walking in my neighborhood,

Irvans Augustin

see your neighborhood, understanding for what it, what it really is, and see it up close and support your neighbors, support your local, uh, businesses and, and see the, the real impact of

Bryan the Botanist

think it's so important in this day and age with, you know, don't wanna blame social media, but everyone seems connected yet separated,

Irvans Augustin

right?

Bryan the Botanist

So I really think that that is so true is to, you know, we zoom around so much, some city. Are all, you know, they don't have as much. Like in New York City, people walk more versus in Miami there's so much drive. Everyone seems to need a car unless you live downtown or in the beach where everything's a little closer. But, um, yeah, that's just really great. Um, to, to, we were talking about earlier is just to not be zooming around all the time and to think about the communities and how they're growing. Because they're always growing, right?

Irvans Augustin

They're, they're going to,

Bryan the Botanist

they're always gonna grow.

Irvans Augustin

That's not gonna change. It's just gonna happen faster.

People First Closing

Bryan the Botanist

So helping Urban Impact League a lit lab, sorry, urban. Again, um, is helping to shape the conversation and guide the conversation around the future of the future of Miami and other cities and neighborhoods and how to improve quality of life.

Irvans Augustin

Yes,

Bryan the Botanist

comes back to always people first.

Irvans Augustin

Human-centered approach.

Bryan the Botanist

Human-centered.

Irvans Augustin

That's, that's, we do our work.

Bryan the Botanist

It was amazing to finally meet you in person today. I know we've had a couple calls before we were introduced by Mark too,

Irvans Augustin

so,

Bryan the Botanist

yeah. Yeah. Awesome. So we're plan to work with you in the future, uh, Ivan, and thank you so much for the work you're doing. Guys, check out urban impact lab.com. I'll put all the links in the description and, uh, let's get out and support what Irvine's and, and his and his team is doing and all the other people in Miami that are, that are really mindfully thinking about, uh, the future of our city.

Irvans Augustin

Thank you to Mo and to for hosting and for you Brian, for Brandon Gray hosts. Thank you so

Bryan the Botanist

much. Absolutely. It was great to have you today on the podcast Irvine. We'll have you back in the future.

Irvans Augustin

Awesome.

Bryan the Botanist

Alright guys, we'll be back soon.

Contributor

Bryan “The Botanist” Huberty

Host