With World Landscape Architecture Month just two weeks away, ASLA’s Parks & Recreation Professional Practice Network (PPN) leadership team have compiled observations made and actions taken in response to climate change and its manifold impacts—impacts that are being felt around the world. Though something so wide-reaching can be difficult to grasp fully in scale and scope, we hope these updates from your peers in landscape architecture and from parks and rec departments across the country may help make the sprawling challenges wrought by climate change a little more tangible—and demonstrate how imperative it is to take action now.
Contributions for today’s post come from:
- Matt Boehner, ASLA – Columbia, Missouri
- Kalle Maggio, ASLA – New England
- Bronwen Mastro, ASLA, PLA, LEED BD+C – Bend, Oregon
- Emily Paskewicz, ASLA, PLA – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Steph Thisius-Sanders, ASLA, PLA – Bakersfield, California
Matt Boehner, ASLA
Senior Landscape Architect, Columbia Parks and Recreation
Columbia, Missouri
There has been an increase in large flood event storms since 2015, with 100-, 200-, and even 500-year events occurring every two or three years. Over the course of June 23-25, 2021, the Mid-Missouri area recorded nearly 11 inches of rainfall, resulting in over $500,000 in flood damage to parks and trails throughout Columbia.