If you missed ASLA 2021 in Nashville or ASLA 2022 in San Francisco this November still feels far off, check out the 37 education sessions from the 2021 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture available through ASLA Online Learning for Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™)-approved professional development hours (PDH).
They may be purchased as individual recordings or as packages, organized by track. Log in using your ASLA username and password for member discounts. ASLA Online Learning content, except for a few of the LARE Prep webinars, is free for Student ASLA members!
And in case you missed the 2021 general session, during which ASLA leaders Tom Mroz, FASLA, immediate past President, and Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO, answer the question What will ASLA look like in 2030?, the video is available to watch for free on Vimeo.
2021 Conference on Landscape Architecture Session Packages
ASLA members save 25% by purchasing bundle packages! Get of 3 to 5 webinars, for 3.5 to 5.75 PDH, per package, organized by the following tracks:
- Design and the Creative Process – 4.5 PDH
- Design Implementation – 5.5 PDH
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – 5.5 PDH
- Planning, Urban Design, and Infrastructure – 5.75 PDH
- Residential Design – 3.5 PDH
- Resilience and Stewardship – 5.25 PDH
Purchase a webinar package now and watch each webinar as many times as you need! Don’t want to purchase a package? Each webinar is also available for individual purchase.
Here are all the 2021 conference education sessions added to the ASLA Online Learning library:
175 Years: Soil Trends & Maintenance at the Smithsonian Gardens – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Encompassing 59 acres, the soils surrounding the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. uniquely reflect planting soil trends of the last century, creating a patchwork of soil types in a small footprint. Studying these landscapes, we present the impact of various soil types and a resilient soils approach for the future.
Addressing Resiliency in Denver with Equity and Inclusion at the Forefront – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
In 2015, Denver undertook a complex stormwater project to solve a historic drainage problem and flooding in seven low income and minority-occupied neighborhoods. The unprecedented effort resulted in a new form of infrastructure aimed at equity and putting the community’s needs first to create a celebrated series of open spaces.
BOLDNESS—Reimagining the Brooklyn Bridge Competition’s Process and Progress – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Responding to aging infrastructure, the NYC Council and Van Alen Institute launched an international design competition that aims to spark a new public conversation about the much-loved Brooklyn Bridge. The competition’s finalists will be joined by representatives from the City and the Institution to share their perspectives on how this unprecedented process has inspired real progress.
Building Great Ideas – Art, Science and Reality in Design Through Construction – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Getting projects built well is hard! Diverse owners, project types, complex designs, costs of labor and materials, demanding timelines, “perfect” installations, all converge making project delivery a daunting challenge. This session, by veteran designers, construction managers, and owners, share overlooked fundamentals of designing and building in today’s construction environment.
Collaboration on Nature-based Solutions is Key to Resilient City Infrastructure – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Discover the Joint Benefits Authority, a new mechanism allowing city departments to jointly plan, implement, and finance multi-purpose projects that maximize nature-based solutions to foster urban resilience.
Conversations with Olmsted: Reimagining Prospect Park – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s flagship park, welcoming more than 10 million visitors each year. Explore recent renovation projects sensitive to the original Olmsted & Vaux plan that meet the needs of the communities that use and border the park today—particularly communities of color, young people, low-income families, and new immigrants.
Creating Resilient Communities: Unconventional Approaches to Engagement, Funding, and Project Delivery – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Traditional project delivery methods often overlook under resourced communities. Using unconventional project funding sources and partnerships, three landscape architects share how they approach resilient site planning and design in their local communities in the Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast, and Midwest.
Critical Curiosity: Design Processes that Challenge Norms – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Three practice leaders will share how design research, curious methods and provocative questioning provide a critical foundation for their work. These stories will explore how different scales of practice are challenging the normative environment of professional practice through process-oriented ways of working, engaging, and thinking.
Design with Carbon: Reconsidering Landscapes, from Planning to Soils – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Transform your practice by taking responsibility for the carbon footprint of your work. This session reviews innovative tools and frameworks, from planning scale to site and garden design, integrating metrics and soil science. Each panelist will share their findings from translating primary research into accessible tools and best practices.
Design with Disabled People Now: Including Disabled People in the Design Process – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
There are over 1 billion disabled people globally, yet we rarely include the disabled community in the design process. Through this session, we will learn directly from three disabled-identifying experts to become more inclusive designers, with and beyond the ADA Standards, to create a more equitable and accessible public realm.
Designing the Green New Deal Initiative: Demystifying Design and Policy – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Designing the Green New Deal (GND) is a collaborative national initiative for designers to inform and advance GND policy ideas for decarbonization, justice, and jobs. Panelists use outcomes from the GND Superstudio and LAF Summit to explore the complex intersection of policy and design and how designers can affect change.
Designing the Pulse Memorial and Museum: Mending a Community – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
The Pulse Memorial and Museum will be a sanctuary of quiet reflection dedicated to honoring the loss of innocent life and remembering the tragic attack at Pulse Nightclub. This session will describe the complex process of mending a community following a tragedy.
Ensuring Wellness in 21st Century Society: Equity and Inclusion at Eskenazi Health – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
A long-established public hospital is envisioned anew offering opportunities for wellness strategies on a new campus site. How do you define an environment of inclusive healing that attracts citizens whether seeking hospital services or not? A planner, landscape architect, and visionary physician/CEO share 21st century wellness strategies for civic health.
Equity in Nature: Transforming Neglected Urban Land in Baltimore into Bliss Meadows – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
US cities are becoming greener, but many communities are being left behind. This session will share lessons on community-led design from Nature Sacred and the evolution of Baltimore’s Bliss Meadows, 10 formerly neglected acres being transformed by and for a predominantly Black community.
Every Place Counts Design Challenge Nashville – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
As transportation infrastructure in many cities reaches the end of its design life span, elected officials face a historic opportunity to invest in infrastructure that can provide communities with increased opportunity, connectivity, health, and quality of life. The USDOT Design Challenge, has committed to reconnecting neighborhoods and building opportunity.
Green Schoolyards: Nature that Builds Community, Wellness, and Learning – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Green schoolyards provide daily access to nature and are critical to supporting the wellness of kids and communities while providing important green space, particularly for under-invested communities. Using Chicago’s Space to Grow model, this session will highlight innovative partnerships and the benefits green schoolyards provide to schools, students, and communities.
Home School: Residential Design as Academy and Laboratory in Practice – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Residential landscape design is the largest market for landscape architects practicing today yet receives less focus in our educational institutions and larger practices. This session will discuss the value of residential design as a learning space and illustrate how different firms benefit from including residential design into their broader practices.
HSW of Landscape Laborers: Ethics, Laws, and Logistics – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscape laborers bring our designs to life- and face daunting occupational safety risks to do it. This session will discuss the ethics, laws, and logistics that landscape architects should consider to do right, minimize their own liability exposure, and advocate for and protect laborers’ HSW.
In the Middle, on the Edge: Collective Visions for Contested Waterfront Communities – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
In the environmentally sensitive and rapidly changing waterfront neighborhoods of Gowanus and East Boston, communities are advocating for more resilient, accessible, and equitable waterfronts amid waves of real estate interest. Two non-profits and their design collaborators discuss grassroots efforts to shape open space policy and development on these contested sites.
Inside the LA Studio with Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Since our inception, EKLA’s best-known work has quietly challenged mainstream assumptions about the aspirations and needs of underrepresented voices. EKLA’s studio practice reflects the apprenticeship traditions of Black-owned firms to uphold design methodologies rooted in diverse narratives. We hear we are different: so what, exactly, is EKLA? Alumni and current staff discuss approach, legacy, and future.
Inside the LA Studio with James Corner Field Operations – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
James Corner Field Operations is an urban design and landscape architecture practice with a focus on the design, resiliency, and equity of public space in cities. With offices in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Shenzhen, and London, the practice comprises 90 people, led by eight principals, and received the ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award in 2020.
It Takes a Village: Reflections on a Community-led Design Process – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
As landscape architects and allied design professionals work closely with underserved populations, it is imperative that we employ design processes that prioritize community-led action. This session offers a discourse in engagement, design, and implementation methodologies that empower communities to assert their right of civic ownership over public spaces.
Latinas in Leadership – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Dive into three distinct Latina-Lead firms and candidly explore firm origin stories, set-backs, big breaks, and the personal moments of opposition and triumph that lead to founding and running a design-forward, empathetic, and mission-based firms. These practices range from small to large, showcasing the leadership that exists within Latinx community.
Mitigating the Carbon Footprint of Concrete – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE
The carbon footprint from the billions of tons of concrete placed each year is substantial, resulting in nearly 8% of total global emissions. This session will provide attendees with tools to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete through use of high-volume cement substitutes, concrete mix optimization, and carbon sequestering technologies.
Nimble Innovation – Transforming the Public Realm Through Possibility Government – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Landscape architects are innovators and rule breakers–and we are shifting the stereotype of government employees. Hear from three female landscape architects playing distinct intrapreneurial roles within their respective municipalities—San Francisco, Portland, Charlotte—and how they achieve radical outcomes from within local government.
Public Space and Maintenance – On the Vocation of Care – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
All designed landscapes require maintenance, yet this crucial aspect is often neglected. This session considers contemporary cases where maintenance is recognized as integral to the design process and to a landscape’s long-term success. Alternative, practical, and implementable strategies for the maintenance and monitoring of public places will also be presented.
Quality Control Matters Matter: Improving the Accuracy and Efficiency of Construction Documents – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Construction documents play a key role in communicating between designers and contractors. This presentation focuses on the quality control measures of construction documents, both drawings and specifications, and aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the overall construction.
Small but Mighty: Engaging Small Communities to Realize Big Visions – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
With the current pandemic, jobs are increasingly mobile making small cities more desirable. Forward-thinking communities that expanded their public realm were better equipped to attract new residents and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. This session will explore strategies for inclusive engagement, conceptualizing, and implementing bold designs in smaller cities.
Storytelling Through Design: Honoring Diverse Voices – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Storytelling is a powerful design medium. It can communicate ideas, convey knowledge, honor or confront the past, and challenges us to contribute our own stories. As we strive towards a renewed understanding and approach to collaborative design through engagement with diverse communities, storytelling is fundamental to the creative process.
Streamlined Solutions: For Entrepreneurs, Sole Practitioners, and Small Residential Firms – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
Ever wonder how other small residential firms manage their daily work flow or get clients? What are their design, marketing, accounting, and close out processes? What do they do when they have too much work? Too little? Come learn practical ideas on processes and procedures for small residential design firms.
Streetscapes for Wellness: Navigating the Post-pandemic Public Realm – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Do streetscape innovations born during the pandemic serve all communities equitably? This session explores whether streetscape wellness tools—open streets, retail/restaurant extensions, expanded micro-mobility lanes, etc.—actually serve communities where economic drivers challenge conventional strategies for wellness in the public realm.
Tennessee Riverline: Vision and Action Powered by Partnerships – 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
North America’s next great regional trail system started as a student’s vision. This session sheds light on a transformational vision and the committed partners—including landscape architecture students, National Park Service planners, and federal, state, and local authorities—who have contributed to the Tennessee RiverLine’s success.
The Art of Teaming: Lessons for Assembling a 21st Century Design Team – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW)
The creation of a design team—especially for competitive public procurement processes—takes more than simply calling your contacts. The best teams bring a diversity of skills, perspective, and expertise to the table. This panel will offer case studies and lessons learned on teaming for today’s competitive marketplace.
The Disappearing Rural Landscape – Mitigating Climate Change and Rapid Urbanization – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Rural land developments are marketed as peaceful escapes from the city. In reality, development begins with wholesale clearing of the land, destroying habitats and natural hydrology. This session will discuss stormwater management strategies employed at the regional and site level to reduce flood risk and adverse effects of urbanization.
Using Design, Engineering, Education & Science to Support UN Sustainable Development Goals – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are an urgent call for action. By applying the principles of sustainable architecture, engineering, education, & science to the design of urban infrastructure, we can support these goals and sustain marine resources, enhance biodiversity, contribute to cleaner environments, broaden disciplinary boundaries, and reduce carbon emissions.
Waterfront and Wetlands in Residential Design; Balancing Ecology and Aesthetics – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Landscape architects work on amazing properties throughout the country. Often the projects are situated on pristine land fronting picturesque waterfronts and wetlands. Three landscape architects discuss strategies for designing in these ecologically sensitive areas, and discuss how to protect and enhance the natural environment, while serving the client’s perceived needs.
What Makes an Exceptional Urban Multi-use Trail? Stories from the Atlanta Beltline – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE
Trails are valuable infrastructure for catalyzing positive change in our cities. The Westside Trail Extension, part of the Atlanta BeltLine, is the first SITES-registered multi-use urban trail to prioritize carbon impact reduction, equitable placemaking and restorative landscapes. Achieving these goals creates a fascinating web of solutions that deliver transformative results.
About ASLA Online Learning
ASLA Online Learning offers both live virtual presentations throughout the year and nearly 200 recordings for Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™)-approved professional development hours (PDH).
PDH may be earned after viewing a presentation by completing and passing a self-study exam. Be sure to check state mandatory continuing education requirements to ensure that LA CES courses are compatible with your state’s continuing education requirements.
Log in using your ASLA username and password for member discounts and access to free PDH, for ASLA members only. ASLA Online Learning content, except for a few of the LARE Prep webinars, is free for Student ASLA members to access!
ASLA members also have access to the Free PDH of the Month webinar. Each month, members must register for the new Free PDH of the Month by logging in to learn.asla.org with their existing ASLA member login and clicking the Free PDH icon on the Online Learning homepage to access the webinar and exam for professional development hours (PDH). Through February 28, as part of ASLA’s celebration of Black History Month, we are featuring: Spiriting Impactful Practice: Research, Teaching and Service Relevant to Black Culture – 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW).
In addition to the nearly 200 recorded presentations available for on-demand viewing and browseable by topic area, the ASLA Online Learning series also provides the opportunity to tune in live to ask experts questions, while earning PDH. Stay tuned for announcements of upcoming live presentations for PDH.
Questions about ASLA Online Learning? Please contact us at learn@asla.org.