GSC Food Resiliency Hub

Guåhan Sustainable Culture



Fellowship (Summer 2024)
Guåhan Sustainable Culture Food Resiliency Hub
at Hamamoto Gardens

Location
Guåhan (Guam), U.S. Territory

Teammates
Gio Hur
Carlo Raimondo


Funding
GSD Career Services Community Service Fellowship
Doeble Community Service Fund,
Harvard University Graduate School of Design


Fina’maolek Grant
Guam Department of Agriculture Forestry & Soil Resources


Supervisor

Marlyn Oberiano
Co-Founder/Vice President,
Guåhan Sustainable Culture (GSC)

Project Overview
In the early months of 2024, a contact with roots in Guåhan (Guam) and familiar with my interest in the Pacific Islands, put me in contact with Marlyn Oberiano, co-founder and vice president of Guåhan Sustainable Culture (GSC). The organization believes in the transformative power of sustainability - making Guåhan more resilient through education and engagement to empower individuals with the skills to grow food, support local agriculture, and promote sustinable practices. GSC was just beginning to attempt to acquire and develop a 50-acre plot of land at the heart of Guåhan. They requested a team of landscape architecture students to come in, analyze and understand the land, and visualize the space as GSC and the greater community imagined. 

From June-August 2024, we lived on Guåhan, working to realize this project. Outcomes included:
  • Case for Support Deck (including photos, renderings, maps, and data) to help visualize fundraising ambitions 
  • Successful grant proposal through the Guam Department of Agriculture Forestry and Soil Resources to build a tropical fruit tree nursery on the grounds 
  • High-resolution photography for the update of their website
  • A Global Giving campaign






© 2024 Emily Kim