Michele A. Palmer
Annual Conference Highlights:
Over 6,000 people attended the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Francisco with successes in multiple areas of the conference. This year ASLA offered field sessions on both Friday and Monday with great attendance. The Professional and Student Awards Ceremony took place on Friday afternoon, November 11, and was close to standing room only. The general session on Saturday morning was well received with speaker, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (appearing remotely) and moderator Kate Orff, FASLA, in conversation. LABash Block Party (formally known as the Alumni Tailgate reception), had over 40 schools represented on the EXPO floor, and for the first time, was live streamed to select schools. SKETCH! was wildly successful with Chip Sullivan andattendees sketching in aisles and anywhere they could put pencil to paper.
Torey Carter-Conneen launched the ASLA Climate Action Plan at the Saturday morning General Session on November 12. Nearly 2,000 conference registrants attended the session, The Blue-Green Connection: Water and Land in Climate Action, featured a keynote discussion with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, moderated by Kate Orff, FASLA, Founding Principal of SCAPE.
Also, during the general session, President Eugenia Martin, FASLA, recognized the ASLA Outstanding Service Awards winners Kristina E. Snyder, ASLA, Alexa Vaughn, ASLA, Madeline Kirschner, Associate ASLA, and Amy Wagenfeld, Affiliate ASLA; and other numerous Northern California Chapter volunteers and ASLA members who helped in the planning and design of the conference.
The ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture education program featured 114 60-, 75-, and 90-minute education sessions, 24 field sessions, six deep dive sessions, three workshops, and one general session with nearly 275 speakers contributing to the program.
COP27
For the first time, ASLA secured observer status at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Pamela Conrad, ASLA, and Kotchakorn Voraakhom, International ASLA, represented ASLA and IFLA at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
ASLA announced Conrad and Voraakhom’ s participation via a blog post and also included a re-cap of COP27 outcomes. As part of a coordinated communications strategy, Conrad and Voraakhom reported via social media on their participation in events organized with Architecture 2030, the Government of Thailand, Bellona Europe Foundation, and other organizations, which ASLA reposted. These posts had 71,000 impressions and more than 6,000 engagements.
In Egypt, Voraakhom met with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-Rhode Island), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and ASLA partners America Is All In and the American Institute of Architects to discuss ASLA program opportunities at COP28 in Dubai, U.A.E.
Development and Strategic Partnerships
The ASLA Fund launched its Giving Tuesday campaign for the Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program with a $5,000 match from BrightView. A total of $7,800 was raised on Giving Tuesday. The campaign has continued through the end of the year with a goal of $35,000 to add one additional year to the program. If you would like to make a matching contribution, contact Judy Mehlman, or make a donation.
The ASLA Fund has submitted grant applications for the Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program and Dream Big. Nine grants have been submitted to date. Applications are in progress for additional grants.
Climate Action Plan Updates
The ASLA Climate Action Plan launched at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture general session November 12. Nearly 2,000 conference registrants attended the session, The Blue-Green Connection: Water and Land in Climate Action, featuring a keynote discussion with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, moderated by Kate Orff, FASLA, Founding Principal of SCAPE.
Members of the Climate Action Committee and Climate Action Plan Task Force and Advisory Group presented multiple sessions at the ASLA Conference in San Francisco. Attendees learned more about the initiatives within the ASLA Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Field Guide for ASLA Members and how to take part in collective actions. Team members from Honeycomb Strategies, the company conducting the ASLA 2022 Conference sustainability audit presented to the Board of Trustees and conference attendees in Practice Basecamp.
FREE PDH OF THE MONTH
ASLA continues to offer one or two on-demand webinar each month at no cost to all members. Members must register for the Free PDH of the Month and pass the exam during the month it is featured in order to earn 1.0 PDH.