Are You a Future Fellow of ASLA?

The Council of Fellows Investiture Dinner at the ASLA 2019 Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Diego / image: EPNAC

Fellowship is among the highest honors ASLA bestows on members and recognizes the contributions of these individuals to their profession and society at large based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service.

Nominations may be made by the executive committee of a chapter, the executive committee of ASLA, or the executive committee of the Council of Fellows in one of four categories:

To be eligible for nomination, an individual must:

  • Be a current ASLA Full Member or International Member in good standing.
  • Have achieved at least 10 continuous years of FULL membership at the time of nomination.
  • Have demonstrated exceptional contributions over an extended period of time.
  • Have made a significant positive impact on the public and the profession.

Contact your local chapter if you meet the criteria and are interested. The deadline for nominations to the Council of Fellows is midnight PT on February 15, 2023.

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ASLA 2022 Conference Education Sessions On-Demand

General session speakers at the conference
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, moderated by Kate Orff, FASLA, was the keynote speaker at the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Francisco. / image: ASLA/Korey Davis Photography

During the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture, over 6,000 participants joined together to visualize the futures we want to see—sharing case studies and best practices among the profession and across disciplines to design a better future.

45 recorded conference education sessions are now available on-demand through ASLA Online Learning for Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™)-approved professional development hours (PDH).

You can purchase individual sessions or bundle and save—ASLA members can take advantage of a 25% discount when purchasing four or more conference recordings!

Browse Recordings >

Be sure to catch the inspiring keynote discussion with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, moderated by Kate Orff, FASLA, Founding Principal, SCAPE. Dr. Johnson shares her passion for and critical work on ocean justice policy and brings light to how everyone can find their way in climate action, including through the ASLA Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Field Guide for ASLA Members. Let’s run towards the future we want to see. The keynote recording is FREE for ASLA members through May 12, 2023.

Log in using your ASLA username and password for member discounts and access to free content.

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Specification Updates Impacting the Field

by Phillip L. McDade, FASLA

Park stage diagram
ASLA 2022 Professional General Design Award of Excellence. Palm Springs Downtown Park, Palm Springs, CA. RIOS / image: RIOS (diagram), Millicent Harvey (photo)

Updates from the ASLA MasterSpec Landscape Architecture Review Committee

ASLA MasterSpec Landscape Architecture Review Committee (MLARC) members volunteer their time in support of MasterSpec®, a product of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The MLARC is one of a handful of review committees charged by AIA with the review of MasterSpec sections and related materials in an advisory role to AIA and Deltek. The committees review specification sections scheduled for updating, new sections, and other selected documents developed by Deltek for distribution to MasterSpec Licensed Users. Deltek is the company that produces MasterSpec, while rights to MasterSpec are owned by AIA. In addition to architects, review committees consist of mechanical and electrical engineers from across the country.

The 2020-2022 ASLA MLARC committee members included:

Phillip L. McDade FASLA, Chair

Patty King, ASLA
Wight and Company

Glen Phillips, ASLA
AECOM

Thomas Ryan, FASLA
Ryan Associates

Gaylan Williams, ASLA
Design Workshop

Jennifer Wong, ASLA
Central Park Conservancy

MasterSpec specification sections must be responsive to the changing needs of the design professions and to the changing technology of the construction industry, according to the discipline represented in each section. The MasterSpec library contains 11 sections designated as landscape architectural specifications as well as 14 others that touch on aspects of landscape architecture.

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Designing Beyond the Binary

by Jake Minden, Associate ASLA

image: courtesy of Jake Minden

Survey for Designing Beyond the Binary: Building Empathy and Gender-Inclusive Tools for Equitable Built Environments

Your input is needed for a survey on gender equity in design. This survey seeks to understand the place-based lived experiences of trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, queer individuals and communities as they navigate the places and spaces of daily life (home, work, school, public space, recreation, etc.). Your contribution will help generate tools for equitable design and support urban designers, architects, landscape architects, and interior designers in the co-creation of equitable and inclusive places.

The survey asks demographic questions, but no identifiable information is collected. All responses are anonymous. The survey will take less than 20 minutes to complete. At the end of the survey, there is an opportunity to enter a drawing to win a $100 gift card. (You will be asked to use an email address to enter the drawing, but your email will be unattached from any data you provide and discarded after the drawing.) For each response, up to 1,000 responses, we will be donating $1 to The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQIA2+ youth.

Take the survey. Your participation is greatly appreciated! The survey will remain open until the end of January.

While everyone is encouraged to take the survey, we are specifically encouraging participation by trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, queer individuals, and communities. Please share this survey widely among your personal and professional networks by sharing this post and survey link with your networks; a PDF poster with a QR code is also available to share with others. For more information on the research, visit our Instagram page. For questions about the research, contact beyondthebinary@mithun.com.

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ASLA 2022 Conference in Review: Professional Practice Network Highlights from San Francisco

The Digital Technology PPN event at the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture. / image: ASLA/Korey Davis Photography

Practice Basecamp at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Francisco earlier this month was the EXPO’s hub for a range of practice-focused programming, including fast-paced Game Changer talks and presentations on ASLA’s Climate Action Plan. Today we are taking a look back at the campfire sessions and presentations organized by ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs). These events were opportunities to meet and network with other ASLA members and conference attendees, allowing for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge-sharing. (And if this sounds like something you’d be interested in taking part in, not just at the conference but throughout the year, then consider joining your PPN’s leadership team!)

If you missed the conference this year, we hope the photos below provide a glimpse of some of Practice Basecamp’s goings-on. For those interested in watching recordings of education sessions that took place in San Francisco, 40+ sessions will be available on-demand via ASLA Online Learning in the coming weeks.

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Call for Volunteers: Professional Practice Network Leadership

The Campus Planning & Design PPN event at the 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture featured presentations on inclusive landscapes for higher education campuses by Taylor Wilson, Student ASLA, MLA candidate at North Carolina State University, and April Riehm, Student ASLA, MLA & City and Regional Planning candidate at Clemson University, followed by breakout discussions facilitated by PPN leaders. / image: Alexandra Hay

Call for Professional Practice Network (PPN) Leadership Volunteers

For those who attended the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture last weekend, the PPN events in Practice Basecamp were a wonderful way to see the PPNs in action and get a sense of what these practice area-focused groups are all about—namely, providing opportunities to members for networking, peer-to-peer learning, and knowledge-sharing.

Interested in the call for PPN leadership volunteers, but want to know more before you sign up? Here’s a PPNs 101 overview:

ASLA offers 20 Professional Practice Networks that represent major practice areas within the profession of landscape architecture.

All ASLA members may join one PPN for free, and each additional PPN for $15 per year. Log in to asla.org to check which PPN(s) you’re in.

Any member of a PPN may volunteer to join their PPN’s leadership team.

PPN leaders provide input on specific practice area needs and ASLA programming. Appointments are for one year, and all ASLA members are welcome to volunteer. Most leadership teams meet once a month via Zoom during regular working hours. Come nerd out with like-minded professionals about your practice area niche!

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A Designer’s Dream Delivered at Assembly Atlanta

by Chris Mutter, ASLA

The Assembly, Doraville, GA – Phase I of the project will deliver over 1,000,000 total square feet of film stages, production and administrative offices with dining areas, mill space, warehouse buildings, private production bungalows, and back lots. / image: HGOR

As a designer, one of the main things you hope for are opportunities where your experience, creative ideas, and outside-the-box thinking lend themselves to creating human experiences that make people stop and wonder. Upon initial brainstorming sessions with Assembly Atlanta developers, I knew this project would present that opportunity.

The prime goal of Assembly Atlanta is to bring a mixed-use mega-entertainment hub, unlike any other, to the metro-Atlanta area. And that is EXACTLY what is happening. In September of 2023, the team of Gray Television, The Gipson Company, Smith Dalia Architects, Kimley-Horn, and landscape architecture and planning firm HGOR will be delivering such a destination.

Designing landscapes suited for filming and producing major motion pictures and TV was previously associated with Hollywood, California. Eventually, it made its way to the quaint coastal region of the Carolinas because of scenic versatility and the need for lower production costs. Creating a Tinsletown-like hub in land-locked Atlanta was previously not a priority, even though filmmakers have utilized the state’s geography for years. Picturesque landscapes in Georgia, adorned with oak trees, bright city lights, small-town charm, and mountainous terrain, have been backdrops for films like The Hunger Games, Driving Miss Daisy, The Blind Side, and Smokey and the Bandit. Subsequently, the Georgia film industry has grown substantially over the past decade to position the state as the worldwide leader in film production.

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ASLA 2022 Conference Education Session Highlights

View from Mission Dolores Park, San Francisco / image: istockphoto.com/Chris LaBasco

The 2022 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture begins this Friday! In addition to the events planned for the EXPO’s Practice Basecamp, each Professional Practice Network (PPN) leadership team also reviews the conference education program to highlight sessions relevant to their practice areas. With more than 120 sessions offering professional development hours (PDH), it is an extensive program to explore, and you can do so through the conference website and mobile app by track, speaker, and PDH type offered (LA CES/HSW, LA CES/non-HSW, FL, NY, AICP, GBCI, ISA, and more).

If you can’t make it to San Francisco this year, a number of education sessions will be recorded and shared as Online Learning webinars so you can still learn about the latest in landscape architecture and earn PDH on-demand.

Below, we run through education highlights by PPN practice area:

See below for the education sessions related to each PPN practice area, or click the PPN name above to jump to that section.

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Practice Basecamp Preview: Professional Practice Network Events in San Francisco

image: Jason Mallory

Practice Basecamp at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture is the EXPO’s hub for a range of practice-focused programming, including:

  • Engaging campfire sessions organized by ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs)
  • Fast-paced Game Changer presentations
  • Presentations from ASLA’s Climate Action Committee

Curious about the call for PPN leadership volunteers, but want to know more before you sign up? If you’re going to San Francisco, then you are in luck—Practice Basecamp is an ideal spot to see the PPNs in action and get a sense of what these practice area-focused groups for ASLA members are all about. The PPN-organized campfire sessions will be conversation-focused, allowing for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge-sharing—the primary aims of the PPNs.

Want to make the most of your PPN experience at the conference? Explore what’s planned and get ready to make new connections in San Francisco:

Saturday, November 12

1:00 – 1:45 pm

Sunday, November 13

11:00 – 11:30 am

  • International Practice

11:00 – 11:45 am

12:00 – 12:45 pm

1:00 – 1:45 pm

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RFQs and Opportunities Roundup

This year’s Landmark Award celebrates “Crissy Field: An Enduring Transformation” by Hargreaves Jones for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Located in San Francisco’s famed Presidio, the site features restored coastal habitat, recreational amenities and historical interpretation. / image: Hargreaves Jones

While you may still be recovering from the eye candy sugar rush of the ASLA Professional and Student Awards announcements, there’s plenty more going on this fall. Before you and everyone you know get swept up in all the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture excitement, pay a visit to the RFQs and Opportunities page to peruse what else might be out there, from courses to calls for papers and submissions. Anyone looking to share an opportunity with landscape architects may do so through the online submission form.

Below, we highlight a sampling of the calls for submissions and competitions listed currently.

Maryland Department of Transportation Walktober Webinar Series
Multiple dates October 6-27, 2022

Request of Proposals: Fargo, ND Growth Plan
Deadline: November 4, 2022

Environment and Health: Global/Local Challenges and Actions – Call for Proposals for the 2023 Annual Conference of the Environmental Design Research Association
Deadline: December 2, 2022

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Help ASLA Create the Future We Are Committed To

Participants at the ASLA 2018 Diversity Summit. This could be you! / image: EPNAC

Have you drawn on ASLA publications such as Climate Action Now: A Landscape Architect’s Guide to Climate Advocacy, The Landscape Architect’s Guidelines for Construction Contract Administration, Principles of Accessibility Design for Landscape Architecture: ADA, ABA, and Other Accessibility Standards and Guidelines, or our public policies for guidance? Have you attended any programs in the SKILL | ED: Education to Build Your Practice series, or made use of ASLA’s LARE Prep materials? Have you been inspired by the education program at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture? Then you are the beneficiary of the work of ASLA’s dedicated corps of member volunteers. (And this series of rhetorical questions offers just a tiny sampling of all that our volunteers do!)

ASLA member volunteers play a leading role in the success of ASLA. Your volunteer service is directly related to how we serve our members and the landscape architecture profession. A strong volunteer workforce of more than 250 members spread over 30 committees and other groups deploys the mission of the Society.

ASLA is realigning with our new strategic plan and has evolved our committees to be more effective in achieving our mission through our members’ innovation and expertise. Help us create the future we are committed to.

The ASLA 2022 – 2024 Strategic Plan guides and shapes the work of our colleagues and volunteer leaders. It lays out goals and outcomes in five focus areas: Community, Voice, Scale, Connections, and Innovation. We are looking for thoughtful, forward-thinking individuals with diverse experience to bring the ASLA Strategic Plan to life.

To volunteer for service, please apply online by October 5, 2022.

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Get Ready for #ASLA2022

Salesforce Park is one of the stops on the field session San Francisco’s Landscapes in the Sky at the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture. / image: Marcus Nunez

We are less than two months out from the biggest and brightest gathering of landscape architects—the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture is coming to San Francisco this November 11-14.

While there is so much going on—Climate Week NYC, webinars galore, and DREAM BIG with Design: A Virtual Showcase of Landscape Architecture and PreK-12 Design Learning, to name just a few of things competing for your attention this week—the conference is the profession’s signature event: 6,000 attendees, convening this fall in a city with 220+ public parks to attend 120+ education sessions and other special events. It’s a lot to take in.

Just a few areas of special interest to get excited about:

This Wednesday, September 21, is the last day to save up to $130 with the advanced registration rate!

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A New Portfolio Competition and Micro Grants for Minority Landscape Architects

Check out @nationalamla on Instagram for more from the National Association of Minority Landscape Architects. / images courtesy of NAMLA

Since its 2020 founding and being covered by Landscape Architecture Magazine last year, the National Association of Minority Landscape Architects (NAMLA) has had lots going on, from the formation of student chapters to launching a NAMLA Talk Series. Today on The Field, we’re highlighting two NAMLA opportunities with a deadline of this Sunday, September 18, for submissions. Act fast!

Landscape Architecture Portfolio Competition

NAMLA has announced their inaugural Portfolio Competition, open to landscape architecture students, interns, and apprentices. Winners will receive a cash award and will be featured on NAMLA’s social media platforms.

Submission checklist:

  • Number of images: 20
  • Aspect ratio: 1:1 or 4:5 (portrait)
  • Resolution: 150 dpi
  • Format: JPEG
  • Captions for each image (2,000 characters max., including spaces)

Portfolios must be submitted via email by September 18, 2022.

This competition is a collaborative effort with Vectorworks and OJB Landscape Architecture.

Apply for a NAMLA Micro Grant

NAMLA’s seventh Micro Grant opportunity is sponsored by OJB Landscape Architecture. The prompt for applicants to respond to is:

How can minority groups empower one another to help create pathways to leadership opportunities within landscape architecture?

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Get Ready to Dream Big with Design

Registration is open for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)’s 2022 PreK-12 Summit: DREAM BIG with Design, A Virtual Showcase of Landscape Architecture and PreK-12 Design Learning.

Scheduled for Thursday, September 22, and Friday, September 23, DREAM BIG with Design will highlight the exciting world of landscape architecture with fun sessions and resources for students in grades preK-12. PreK-12 teachers, school counselors, after school leaders, family members, and design professionals are invited to attend.

This year, DREAM BIG will immerse students in design-centered strategies that address some of the most critical issues of our time—green infrastructure, equity in design, climate action, transportation for all, water and stormwater, and more.

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Public Practice in Focus

Image courtesy of Jennifer Shagin

The realm of public practice, including non-profit and governmental work, offers unique opportunities and challenges to practitioners. In an ongoing series for ASLA’s LAND newsletter, members of ASLA’s Public Practice Advisory Committee and other landscape architects showcase those opportunities and share insights on their public practice careers. The committee has published four interviews so far this year—if you haven’t seen them all, here are the latest interviewees:

Jennifer Shagin, ASLA
Landscape Designer, NES
Interview conducted by Om Khurjekar, ASLA, PLA, Principal, Hord Coplan Macht

“My public sector work has been overall less design oriented and more focused on overall community growth and wellbeing. My campaign for trustee for the Town of Berthoud was self-run and managed; I spent every free moment talking with residents and formulating how I could apply what I know about design to improve their livelihood…My work in office as a trustee in a small town was very fulfilling, and I felt that it was democracy in its truest form.”

Kris Sorich, ASLA
Senior Landscape Architect, Chicago Department of Transportation
Interview conducted by Om Khurjekar, ASLA, PLA, Principal, Hord Coplan Macht

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A Global Survey of Practice: What Do Landscape Architects Do?

ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Auckland International Airport. Auckland, New Zealand. SurfaceDesign, Inc. / image: Blake Marvin

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) has launched a Global Survey of Practice for Landscape Architecture in partnership with the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB).

The aim is to achieve a better understanding of the practice of landscape architecture around the globe. By identifying similarities and differences in practice regionally and by country, the project seeks to expand the role, definition, and mobility of the landscape architect as well as understand how changes in practice, such as the response to climate change, have forced the profession to evolve.

The Global Survey of Practice launched during the IFLA World Congress in Gwangju, South Korea, last week and all practicing landscape architects globally are encouraged to complete the survey by November 6, 2022.

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INTERSECTIONS: Where Diversity, Equity and Design Meet

Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, VA / image: Suchak, courtesy of the National Building Museum

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., will bring leading Black voices in design, art, and architecture to the Museum for INTERSECTIONS: Where Diversity, Equity and Design Meet, dynamic discussions about culture, equity and representation in the built world through the lens of design. The programming is a part of the Museum’s ongoing signature series, Equity in the Built Environment, which focuses on the relationship between equity, social justice, and our built environment.

Launching September 16 and running through December 14, INTERSECTIONS includes a series of programs led by nationally recognized Black designers, architects, and artists. They will engage participants in conversations centered on actions to promote social justice in the built environment. These participatory experiences are designed to provoke new thinking, spark conversation, enlighten, and empower. The season will also include three workshops and a roundtable discussion.

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Olmsted 200 Fall Preview

image: National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP)

Unbelievably, we are at the threshold when summer begins to turn into fall. With the start of September just a week away, now is the time to look ahead to all the events in store as Olmsted 200 continues, with in-person conferences, new installments in the Conversations with Olmsted webinar series (see The Dirt for a recap of the latest conversation. featuring three LAF Olmsted scholars), and many other offerings. The Olmsted 200 website is your source for all things Olmsted; here we highlight three upcoming events as you plan ahead for the new season.

The Olmsteds’ Conservation Legacy
September 9, 2022, 9:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. ET
Washington, DC

Both Frederick Law Olmsted and his son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., played a significant role in the establishment and creation of our country’s national parks. This conference will explore the Olmsted conservation legacy and historic and current challenges to the public land ideal—including displacement, exclusion, public funding, and climate change.

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Professional Practice Network Leaders Speaking in San Francisco

Elizabeth Van Sickel, ASLA, a volunteer leader for the Women in Landscape Architecture Professional Practice Network, at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. / image: Jason Mallory

120+ education sessions, 8 tracks, 450+ speakers. Have you explored the education program for the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture yet? If not, we’re here to help you get started, with a look at the Professional Practice Network (PPN) leaders speaking in San Francisco, plus a deeper dive into two Deep Dive sessions featuring PPN leaders.

Learn from the best for less—register by September 21 and get the advanced rate.

PPN Leaders Speaking at the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture

Kelly A. Farrell, ASLA, Landscape Designer / Ecologist, Sasaki
Ecology & Restoration PPN Leader

Ryan Booth, ASLA, Design Associate, Alta Planning + Design
Transportation PPN Leader

Jack Garcia, Affil. ASLA, Director of Virtual Design & Construction, EDSA, inc.
Digital Technology PPN Leader

Haven Kiers, ASLA, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of California, Davis
Planting Design PPN Leader

Lara Moffat, ASLA, Business Development, Landscape Forms
Women in Landscape Architecture PPN Leader

Emily M. O’Mahoney, FASLA, LEED AP, Partner, 2GHO, Inc. Landscape Architects, Planners, Environmental Consultants
Women in Landscape Architecture PPN Leader

April Philips, FASLA, Founder, April Philips Design Works
Sustainable Design & Development PPN Leader

Andrew Sargeant, ASLA, Landscape Architectural Fellow, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Digital Technology PPN Leader

Lauren K. Schmidt, ASLA, Design Technology Specialist, Parallax Team
Digital Technology PPN Leader

Lauren Schmitt E. Schmitt, ASLA, AICP
Parks & Recreation PPN Leader

Jean Senechal Senechal Biggs, ASLA, Transportation Planning Manager, City of Beaverton
Transportation PPN Leader

Krista Van Hove, ASLA, Campus Planner, Stanford University
Campus Planning & Design PPN Leader

Matthew Wilkins, ASLA, LEED GA, Associate, KTU+A Planning + Landscape Architecture
Digital Technology PPN Leader

Barbara Wyatt, FASLA, Historian/Landscape Specialist, National Park Service (retired)
Historic Preservation PPN Leader

Dou Zhang, FASLA, LEED AP, SITES AP, Director of Shanghai Office, Sasaki
International Practice PPN Leader

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How Would You Change the Field of Landscape Architecture?

The Call for Game Changers for the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture is open through August 22. / image: istockphoto.com, Diane Bentley Raymond

Do you have an idea that will change the field of landscape architecture? Here’s your opportunity to share it at the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture. We’re seeking presentations for game-changing ideas that can move our profession forward—ideas from different perspectives, voices, and backgrounds. Those big ideas could come from you!

Game Changer presentations are designed to be fast-paced, innovative talks. Presenters will have just seven minutes to share their game-changing idea. The deadline for presentation proposals is noon PT, August 22, 2022.

No matter your speaking experience, this is a great opportunity to share ideas and concepts under development that will drive innovation. Submissions from first-time presenters, students, emerging professionals, and allied professionals are strongly encouraged.

What you need to enter:

  • Your information: Tell us about yourself.
  • Game Changer Written Description: Pitch this talk to attendees with a short answer describing how your idea will change the field (up to 500 characters).
  • Video: Submit a short video (up to one minute; 9:16 aspect ratio) describing your game-changing idea. No fancy production required. Have fun with it! The video must be under one minute to be eligible.

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RFQs and Opportunities Roundup

Photo of the audience at a WxLA event in San Diego
ASLA 2021 Professional Communications Honor Award. WxLA – Champions for Equality in Landscape Architecture. / image: Jeri Hetrick

With summer swiftly rolling on, now is the time to peruse ASLA’s RFQs and Opportunities page. Rather than go on a hiatus while temperatures are high (often shockingly so), this resource is full of new additions, both from ASLA—the Call for Game Changers, anyone?—and allied organizations and others.

Anyone looking to share an opportunity with landscape architects may do so through the online submission form.

Below, we highlight a sampling of the calls for submissions and competitions listed currently.

Requests for Proposals and Qualifications

Haughville Riverfront Parks Master Plan in Indianapolis, IN
Deadline: August 26, 2022

Multi-Use Pathway Design in Cambridge, MA
Deadline: August 26, 2022

Planning Services for Urban Bike Facilities in Shaker Heights, OH
Deadline: September 1, 2022

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See You in San Francisco!

View from Mission Dolores Park, San Francisco / image: istockphoto.com/Chris LaBasco

This November at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, you can meet 6,500 of your peers and choose from more than 130 education sessions, earning all the professional development hours (PDH) you need, at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture.

Register by tomorrow, July 27, to get the early bird rate! 

Field, Education, and Deep Dive Sessions

The conference education program is organized into eight tracks, and is searchable by speaker, type of continuing education credit offered (LA CES, AIA, AICP, ISA, and more), and target audience, from emerging professionals to firm leaders and sole practitioners.

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Landscape Architecture Education

by Dale C. Davis

ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Orange Mall Green Infrastructure. Tempe, Arizona. COLWELL SHELOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. / image: Marion Brenner

A friend of mine who is a writer shared this article with me. It highlights how landscape architecture can be seen as a pedagogical term and as a problem-solving method. I think it will be of interest especially for those who are in the research area of our profession.
– Arnaldo Cardona, ASLA

When searching for information about “Landscape Architecture Education” or “Education in Landscape Architecture,” the results show mostly academic programs to study landscape architecture as a career and academic institutions that have degrees in that area.

However, they can be seen as two completely different concepts. While searching for “Education in Landscape Architecture” produces entries about colleges that offer degrees for students to become landscape architects, “Landscape Architecture Education” should really be seen as a pedagogical term. In the same way, “Education in Art” is about becoming an artist and where to study to become one, whereas “Art Education” is a pedagogical term about the study of cognitive gains, skills, and processes involved in art making.

Then, how has “Landscape Architecture Education” been defined?

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Celebrating 10 Years of The Field

Since 2016, The Field has showcased an ASLA Student Award-winning project as its banner image. The current banner comes from the project Myth, Memory, and Landscape in the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, an ASLA 2018 Student General Design Honor Award winner. Team: Derek Lazo, Student ASLA; Serena Lousich, Student ASLA. Faculty Advisors: Danika Cooper, ASLA. UC Berkeley. / image: Serena Lousich, Student ASLA

Happy birthday to The Field! Since the launch of The Field the summer of 2012, more than 1,000 posts have been published by ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs), from more than 460 contributors.

This blog was created to take the place of individual PPN newsletters (check out this 2002 Therapeutic Garden Design publication for a blast from the past), with the goal of encouraging collaboration and breaking down boundaries between practice area specialties with this PPN-wide platform for member-to-member information sharing.

ASLA’s Professional Practice team would like to thank all the PPN leaders and ASLA members who have shared their experiences and expertise as authors, editors, and tireless cheerleaders for The Field over the past decade. A few of our most prolific Field authors (all of whom are also current or past PPN leadership volunteers):

The most productive PPN: Children’s Outdoor Environments, with 117 posts! Other high-achieving PPNs:

In celebration of The Field‘s tenth birthday, here are the top 10 most-viewed posts.

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Last Call for ASLA SKILL | ED: Project Management for Landscape Architects

There’s just a few hours to go before the start of SKILL | ED! On June 21-23, ASLA is hosting a live webinar each day from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. ET for this practice management series. Today’s topic: Ready for Primetime? Create a Project Management Plan to Take the Lead!, presented by Christine E. Pearson, ASLA.

Packed schedule this week? Not to worry—register now, and you’ll have access to all three live session recordings on-demand through July 31. What your SKILL | ED registration includes:

  • On-demand access to education sessions through July 31
  • 3.0 professional development hours (LA CES / non-HSW)
  • PDF download of the ASLA Standard Form Contracts package
  • Access to virtual discussion boards
  • Networking with attendees and speakers

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Avenues for Expanding Practice

by Larry Weaner, FAPLD, Affiliate ASLA, and Sara Weaner

Strasburg Community Park, Strasburg, PA / image: Larry Weaner

New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL) is offering both in-person and virtual educational sessions this summer. The accomplished group of presenters will include Darrel Morrison, Piet Oudolf, Veronica Tyson Strait, Gerould Wilhelm, Angela Kyle, and Larry Weaner. Some will present virtually on the artistic, social, and ecological considerations that can inform landscape design. Others will guide In the Field sessions to observe and analyze the real-world results of various ecology-based landscape approaches. All will explore avenues for expanding the practice of landscape design.

Sessions are geared toward landscape practitioners, home gardeners, students, and educators, with designations on NDAL’s site, ndal.org. CEUs are available for professional sessions.

NDAL’s In the Field regional on-site sessions include programs in Hillsborough, NJ; Garrison, NY; Shermans Dale, PA; Framingham, MA; Stafford, VA; Sparta, TN; Gray Summit, MO; and Madison, WI (the Madison, WI session with co-tour guide Darrel Morrison, FASLA). Registration is limited for these sessions.

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Principles of Accessibility Design for Landscape Architecture

All Frontcountry site features and interpretive content at Grand Teton National Park is fully accessible to visitors of all ages and abilities.
ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Inspiring Journeys for All. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. HDLA / image: Charlie Craighead

New ASLA Research Report: Free downloadable resource available for ASLA members. Self-study exam available for 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW).

In order to lead the planning and design of inclusive, healthy, equitable, and safe environments, landscape architects have an obligation to be aware of and work in compliance with standards for accessibility. To meet this need, the ASLA Professional Practice Committee created Principles of Accessibility Design for Landscape Architecture: ADA, ABA, and Other Accessibility Standards and Guidelines as a technical overview of the national accessibility standards and guidelines.

The primary focus of this document is the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design (ADA Standards). These standards exist within a complex web of national, state, and local governmental and non-governmental organizations’ related conventions, codes, and documents. Each entity focuses on its role in supporting and achieving greater accessibility in the environment and society in general.

The goal of this overview is to encourage landscape architects and designers to employ a wide view of accessible design. This will help designers avoid missing significant, unique variations in accessibility requirements that may apply to a project.

ASLA members can download Principles of Accessibility Design for Landscape Architecture: ADA, ABA, and Other Accessibility Standards and Guidelines for free and can purchase and pass a self-study exam to earn 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW).

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Make Your Voice Heard: ASLA’s Federal & State Legislative Priorities

Pink cherry blossoms and the United States Capitol building in Washington, DC
image: “Spring Blossoms @ the U.S. Capitol” by jpellgen, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

All ASLA members are invited to participate in the biennial Federal & State Legislative Priorities Survey. As the national voice for the landscape architecture profession, we want to hear from you on what you think are the most important policy issues. Help determine ASLA’s federal legislative agenda and state advocacy activities for 2023-2024.

ASLA works with chapters, state and federal legislators, state and administration officials, and regulatory bodies to advance policies critical to the profession. The purpose of this short survey is twofold:

  • To formulate ASLA’s federal legislative priorities for the 118th Congress
  • To provide useful data to help guide chapters’ state legislative priorities and advocacy efforts.

Take this short survey on what policy issues matter most to you.

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Celebrating Landscape Architecture Month in Puerto Rico

by Arnaldo D. Cardona, ASLA

ASLA 2018 Student Analysis and Planning Award of Excellence. El Retorno a la Tierra/Going Back To the Land. Las Marías, Puerto Rico. Nicole Rivera-Ramos, Student ASLA / image: Nicole Rivera-Ramos

On April 5, 2022, I had the honor of being invited to give the inaugural speech to start the celebration of Landscape Architecture Month in Puerto Rico. My goal was to share with members of the Institute of Landscape Architects of Puerto Rico the importance of supporting the profession and how they might contribute through ASLA and its platforms.

Although Puerto Rico is a United States territory, currently there is no ASLA chapter on the island. The closest professional affiliation is with the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). The theme of this year’s WLAM celebration in Puerto Rico was “Regenerative Landscapes”—however, I did not focus on presenting a project that integrates this concept. Instead, I focused on using the concept of regeneration—giving a new use to something, or using it in a different way to improve it—as an integral part of our concept of professional practice.

The response was so rewarding that I decided to share this speech after the event, perhaps inspiring others. My Landscape Architecture Month talk went as follows:

Everybody in this room has something in common: we are advocates of improving our natural and built environments, in our country and all around the world.

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World Landscape Architecture Month: Social Media Showcase

ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Atlanta Dairies. Atlanta, Georgia. Perkins&Will / image: Sahar Coston-Hardy, Affil. ASLA

All throughout April, landscape architects around the world have been responding to ASLA’s World Landscape Architecture Month (WLAM) prompt to post to social media their response to the questions: What is landscape architecture? What does landscape architecture mean to you? This past week, ASLA National combed through the 1,000+ submissions to identify the top five #WLAM2022 Instagram posts, based on combined number of likes and comments, to repost on the National ASLA Instagram account.

In case any Field readers are taking a break from social media, or if you missed these amidst some overzealous scrolling, here are the top three posts, highlighting meandering meadow plantings, native plant communities, and the design process from concept to buildable plan.

Marcus Barnett Studio
London and Overton, United Kingdom

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