There will be many opportunities to learn, network, and celebrate during the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia later this month. In addition to the 130+ education sessions, field sessions, workshops, and special events, be sure to add PPN Live to your annual meeting plans.
Through PPN Live, you can network with colleagues from all 20 ASLA Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) throughout the annual meeting weekend, right on the EXPO floor. PPN membership is not required to attend that PPN’s meeting or the PPN EXPO tours—all are welcome! Already a member of one PPN, but curious about another? Or not sure which PPN to choose (all ASLA members receive one PPN membership for free)? You are welcome to attend as many PPN events as you like!
The schedule of PPN meetings is below, followed by descriptions of what’s planned for each:
Saturday, October 20
9:15 – 10:00 am
- Education & Practice, PPN Lounge
- Healthcare & Therapeutic Design, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
- Housing & Community Design, PPN Lounge
9:15 – 10:15 am
- International Practice – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
10:00 – 10:45 am
- Women in Landscape Architecture, Fairmount Park Stage
12:45 – 1:30 pm
- Transportation, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
- Water Conservation, PPN Lounge
12:45 – 1:45 pm
- Sustainable Design & Development – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
1:30 – 2:15 pm
- Ecology & Restoration, Fairmount Park Stage
Sunday, October 21
9:15 – 10:00 am
- Historic Preservation, PPN Lounge
- Planting Design, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
9:15 – 10:15 am
- Children’s Outdoor Environments / Parks & Recreation – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
10:00 – 10:45 am
- Campus Planning & Design / Landscape—Land Use Planning, Fairmount Park Stage
12:45 – 1:30 pm
- Digital Technology, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
- Residential Landscape Architecture / Design-Build, PPN Lounge
12:45 – 1:45 pm
- Environmental Justice – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
1:30 – 2:15 pm
- Urban Design, Fairmount Park Stage
See below for more information on what’s planned for each PPN meeting, or click the PPN name above to jump ahead to that meeting’s information. All PPN meetings take place in PPN Live on the EXPO floor.
Education & Practice PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 9:15 – 10:00 am
PPN Lounge
Join us for a discussion of the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB)‘s Accredited Programs and Community College Feeder Programs Collaboration Survey results, to learn more about opportunities to promote a two-way dialogue and collaboration between programs.
Healthcare & Therapeutic Design PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 9:15 – 10:00 am
Dilworth Park Meeting Room
The PPN leadership team has invited Adam E. Anderson, ASLA, founder of Design Under Sky, and Geoff Anderson, ASLA, Principal at RAS, Inc. Landscape Architects, to share their therapeutic design projects and their benefits. Adam E. Anderson is currently working on the 43-acre site of 5th Xiangya Hospital in China and Geoff Anderson has two recent completed projects for the Christiana Care Hospital and AI DuPont Hospital for Children.

Housing & Community Design PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 9:15 – 10:00 am
PPN Lounge
The PPN meeting is an in-person opportunity to connect with fellow members, discuss shared interests, and help shape the PPN’s mission, goals, and planned activities for the upcoming year. The meeting is also a great time to get to know the PPN leadership team, and attendees will have the opportunity to volunteer for officer or other leadership positions to help the PPN with its objectives. Join us in the PPN Lounge to share updates on your work, highlight your expertise, and expand your network through ASLA!
International Practice PPN Meeting – 1.0 PDH LA CES
Saturday, October 20, 9:15 – 10:15 am
Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
Rethinking Landscape Interventions During Urban Renewal of Chinese Cities
Unleashed urban sprawl propelled by rapid economic development has caused many issues in China during the past 40 years. With growing public awareness and global vision on the environmental quality, social justice, and cultural heritage in China, as well as the ever strict control on land uses across the country, many cities are refocusing on the developed areas and promoting urban renewal efforts. Case studies will be used to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the recent urban renewal efforts in China through the lens of governance, urban planning, and landscape design.
Women in Landscape Architecture PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 10:00 – 10:45 am
Fairmount Park Stage
Please join us for our Women in Leadership Roundtable at PPN Live. Learn about four ASLA leaders and the path to leadership of each:
- Haley Blakeman, ASLA, Vice President, Communications
- Wendy Miller, FASLA, Vice President, Professional Practice, and Incoming President-Elect
- Vanessa Warren, ASLA, Vice President, Membership
- Magadalena Aravena, ASLA, National Associate Representative
Bring your questions—we are looking forward to a great conversation!
Plus, don’t miss the Women in Landscape Architecture Walk on Monday, October 22, organized and led by the ASLA Pennsylvania/Delaware Host Chapter! Check out the WILA Walk map, designed by Ground Reconsidered, for more information on the route and stops on the walk along Philadelphia’s iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Transportation PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 12:45 – 1:30 pm
Dilworth Park Meeting Room
What opportunities are emerging for landscape architects working in transportation? For this year’s PPN Live meeting, we’ve assembled a panel of experienced practitioners and emerging professionals to share their thoughts on the possibilities for our profession.
In addition, we will highlight opportunities within the PPN for you to share your expertise and expand your network through ASLA. Roxanne Blackwell, Hon. ASLA, ASLA’s Director of Federal Government Affairs, will also present the latest news on federal transportation legislation and advocacy. Join us!
Water Conservation PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 12:45 – 1:30 pm
PPN Lounge
The PPN meeting is an in-person opportunity to connect with fellow members, discuss shared interests, and help shape the PPN’s mission, goals, and planned activities for the upcoming year. Join Jim Davis, ASLA, and Yiwei Lin, Associate ASLA, Water Conservation PPN officers, for a roundtable discussion at our PPN meeting.
Sustainable Design & Development PPN Meeting – 1.0 PDH LA CES
Saturday, October 20, 12:45 – 1:45 pm
Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
A Discussion of Sustainability at Different Scales
How do you apply sustainability in your practice? Do you see a need for change? What does the future of sustainability look like in your city? In the Sustainable Design & Development (SDD) PPN meeting, participants will engage in a discussion about how sustainability, including established rating systems such as SITES and LEED, are applied at different scales and in different contexts. Comparisons of urban vs suburban vs rural, watershed-level vs site scale, and mandatory policies vs voluntary guidelines will be explored. This interactive session will be facilitated by SDD PPN leaders, and participants from varying backgrounds, experience levels, and viewpoints are encouraged to attend in order to have a robust discussion on the current and future applications of sustainability.
Ecology & Restoration PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 20, 1:30 – 2:15 pm
Fairmount Park Stage
Find out how great strides are being made for the environment by joining the Ecology and Restoration PPN presentation, Conservation Finance and Landscape Architecture, featuring: Michael Sprague, President and Founder of Trout Headwaters, Inc., and founding Board Member of the National Environmental Banking Association; and Damian Holynskyj, M.C.P., Director of the Eastern Region for Great Ecology.
Historic Preservation PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 9:15 – 10:00 am
PPN Lounge
At the Historic Preservation PPN Meeting, we will discuss our PPN’s goals for the upcoming year, and attendees will have an opportunity to volunteer to join the leadership team. The meeting will also include an engaging interview, moderated by Jonathan Ceci, ASLA, with two speakers from the session Thinking Inclusive: Strategies and Perspectives on Accessibility from Central Park’s Experience:
Christopher Nolan, FASLA, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Landscape Architect, Central Park Conservancy
Serving as the Park’s chief landscape architect since 1996, Chris Nolan is the Chief Operating Officer and Central Park Administrator. In this dual role, he leads the restoration and management work that is central to the Conservancy’s mission as the organization responsible for the stewardship of Central Park. Along with a multidisciplinary inhouse team of planning and design professionals responsible for planning, design, construction of the Park’s landscapes, structures, and infrastructure, Mr. Nolan oversees the park managers, horticulturalists, and technicians who maintain the Park and Conservancy staff responsible for visitor services and public programs.
Lane Addonizio, Affil. ASLA, AICP, Vice President for Planning, Central Park Conservancy
Ms. Addonizio is responsible for managing the Conservancy’s Planning, Design and Construction department and its execution of the physical planning effort and restoration program for the Park. Prior to joining the Central Park Conservancy in 2002, she work with Conservancy founder Elizabeth Barlow Rogers at the Cityscape Institute, a small not-for-profit formed to assist community groups and municipalities with public space improvement initiatives, and as a campus planner for Harvard University. She serves on the board of directors of the National Association for Olmsted Parks as well as New Destiny Housing Corporation in New York City.
Our two guests should make for a great conversation, and time will be reserved for attendees to ask our interviewees a few questions of their own!

The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Subcommittee of the Historic Preservation PPN will also be meeting on Saturday, October 20, 6:00 – 7:00 pm in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (Headquarters Hotel).
Planting Design PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 9:15 – 10:00 am
Dilworth Park Meeting Room
This year, the Planting Design PPN has organized a panel discussion with growers on tips for selecting a nursery, how to choose trees and plants for resilience, how landscape architects can work with nurseries to select plants better adapted for climate change, and where to find additional resources. Questions and comments from attendees will be welcomed!
Children’s Outdoor Environments / Parks & Recreation PPN Meeting – 1.0 PDH LA CES
Sunday, October 21, 9:15 – 10:15 am
Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
Parks, Play, and People: Equity and Community in Recreation
Access to recreation and play opportunities for city dwellers is a critical component of equity and sustainability, yet development of public parks can have the unintended effect of gentrification in the communities they seek to enhance. This session explores the ways that urban green spaces and parks can be designed to support access by all members of the community—as well as the ways that play and recreation can support equity—by drawing on the experiences of landscape architects who have worked towards this goal in cities across the country.
Campus Planning & Design / Landscape—Land Use Planning PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 10:00 – 10:45 am
Fairmount Park Stage
This year we are excited to team with our colleagues in a joint meeting session, featuring short presentations by PPN members focused on the theme of resiliency:
Inclusivity and the Design Process in the American College Town Community
Jessica Fernandez, Ph.D, PLA, ASLA, LEED AP ND, Clemson University
Designing a Laboratory Landscape on the Chester River
Margaret Baldwin, Associate ASLA, Ayers Saint Gross
Stanford Tree Relocation
Drew Brown, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP, Stanford University
Digital Technology PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 12:45 – 1:30 pm
Dilworth Park Meeting Room
Join us for a follow up discussion to Friday’s education session, FRI-D10 – BIM for the Small Landscape Architecture Office. Share your experiences or questions about adopting BIM practices in offices of various sizes to improve your design and workflow efficiency. PPN leadership will also be sharing the initial results of the ASLA Software Utilization and Project Management Surveys.
Residential Landscape Architecture / Design-Build PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 12:45 – 1:30 pm
PPN Lounge
Join us for a discussion about ideas and strategies for quickly qualifying prospective clients, technology use to best convey your designs, and when or how to hire a contractor for project work such as drafting, irrigation design, or delivering project measurements.

Environmental Justice PPN Meeting – 1.0 PDH LA CES
Sunday, October 21, 12:45 – 1:45 pm
Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
Environmental and Climate Justice in Community Design: Case Studies and Tools
Landscape architects play an important role in addressing environmental justice and implementing resilient landscape design in coping with climate change while serving socially vulnerable communities. This session examines recent research and practice applied to community design for addressing environmental justice and an emerging issue of climate justice. Participants will learn about the Westchase District Streetscape Improvements Initiative and the 2018 ASLA Student Award Winner A Student’s Guide to Environmental Justice Version 1.3.
Urban Design PPN Meeting
Sunday, October 21, 1:30 – 2:15 pm
Fairmount Park Stage
Join the Urban Design PPN in an elemental-based discussion focused on common design approaches or elements that exist in award-winning urban design projects. Our annual meeting will be on the PPN Live stage and will feature a cross-section of awarding-winning urban design projects from a variety of organizations, including ASLA, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Planning Association (APA), Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and the Bruner Foundation.
Keep an eye on The Field as we continue to highlight ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO events through next week and the start of the meeting on October 19. We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!