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Employee-owned professional services company, GHD, has claimed a double victory at the Victorian Asia-Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards.
The Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards (APSEA) showcase the finest projects and high performing professionals from within the spatial industry.
Mina Jahanshahi, Team Lead for Location Intelligence, was recognised as the Young Spatial Professional of the Year and GHD Digital's Location Intelligence team received the Award for Spatial Enablement for the Explore North East Link Story Map.
Having joined GHD in 2011, Mina has held a variety of roles, including the role of Spatial Discipline Lead for both the Level Crossing Removal Project and North East Link Project in Melbourne.
In addition to her work with GHD Digital, Mina is involved in the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Syllabus Review Committee, is a guest lecturer at the University of Melbourne and is involved with the organising of GHD’s mentoring exchange program with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
“This award is a great highlight for me and I feel really proud to be recognised. I am grateful to be supported by an amazing team who allow me to perform in my role at GHD Digital and pursue opportunities to promote spatial careers,” says Mina.
The Spatial Enablement award recognised GHD’s role as Technical Advisor to the North East Link Authority (NELA). The team provided advice and services regarding stakeholder engagement, planning and environmental approvals and a range of other technical matters on the project to connect Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway and M80 Ring Road
Following an initial options assessment that identified a need for a simple and effective way of engaging with the local communities, GHD Digital quickly identified Story Maps – which integrate maps, legends, text, photo and video – as the most effective tool for engaging stakeholders.
With the Story Map receiving 20,000 hits on its first day, and 60,000 hits over the next six months, feedback from NELA and the community has been overwhelmingly positive.
“This is deserved recognition for the whole team, and individually for Mina. As digital delivery is replacing hard copy maps and reports, our Story Maps work enables us to meet and exceed client expectations and develop a preferred approach to stakeholder engagement on major infrastructure projects,” says Evan Quick, Service Line Leader – Data Sciences, Australia.
As winners in the Victorian awards, GHD and Mina are now eligible for the National APSEA Awards in their respective categories, with the ceremony to be held in 2019.