For his excellence as a Principal Planner, Building Communities and the Environment.

Rukshan De Silva is Awarded the Outstanding Performance by a Young Professional for his commitment to innovation in the workplace, his collaboration with communities and government planners, and his volunteer contributions, including strategic land use planning and involvement with the planning institute of Australia’s National Settlement Strategy Team.

Rukshan De Silva, The Waterloo alumnus, was named Australian Young Planner of the Year, recognizing emerging leaders for outstanding contributions to their field. Among Rukshan’s many achievements, the Planning Institute of Australia lauded his commitment to innovation in the workplace, his collaboration with communities and government planners, and his volunteer contributions, including strategic land use planning in Peru and involvement with PIA’s National Settlement Strategy Team.

Rukshan currently works as a principal planner at the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment, where he leads the design of Australia’s most extensive ski town. Rukshan has always been a community man, volunteering to give back to his community in any way he can, which has continued since his elementary school days. Growing up, he was also very creative and interested in design. Put design and community together, which is the sweet spot, so designing communities for a living was the perfect fit for him.

Rukshan was fortunate to have had the exciting opportunity of volunteering as an urban planner in rural Peru on two missions over the past two years with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities through their Sustainable and Inclusive Communities in Latin America program. The program aimed to empower and strengthen the capacity of four rural regions of Peru and Colombia that were influenced by mining activity.

He does not think there is a single answer to this question, and that is because every community is different. They have different values, needs, and aspirations for how they want to grow in the future. As a planner, he needs to understand what makes each community unique instead of applying a cookie-cutter approach. The local character of a community and the story of its past is absolutely part of the story of its future. He wants the communities’ plans to be livable, accessible, and socially inclusive places for everyone, regardless of age or ability. He also wants the communities to be healthy, environmentally sustainable, and resilient to climate change and economic downturns and also wants the communities to be adaptable to a future that is not always predictable.

Rukshan received the following Awards, National Planning Excellence for Improving Planning Processes 2022, New South Wales Planning Excellence for Planning Processes 2021, Australian Young Planner of the Year 2019, Bronte Surf Life Saving Club Rookie of the Year 2019, New South Wales Young Planner of the Year 2018, Planning Excellence: Municipal Statutory Planning Studies 2015, Real Property Award for Best Practices: Comprehensive Planning 2015, Green Good Design Award for Green Architecture 2015.

Sri Lanka Foundation International would like to Thank and Acknowledge Rukshan De Silva for his dedication as a Principal Planner to balance the different ideas of communities and stakeholders, write policies, and ensure the needs of people of all ages and abilities are understood and planned for.