Last November many of you heard me outline our ten-year vision for the future of ASLA. Today I’d like to share that we’ve stepped boldly toward that north star with two new strategic partnerships. Over the last few months ASLA has secured strategic partnerships with Land8 Media and the LABASH Conference.

As the largest organization servicing the landscape architecture profession, ASLA is the hub where education, community and thought leadership in landscape architecture come together. Meeting those expectations requires innovative approaches to our work. These two partnerships will strengthen our role by connecting us with the broader landscape architecture community and the students who will be the professionals of the future. LABash and Land8 are the perfect platforms to turbocharge ASLA’s efforts to assure that our students remain an active part of ASLA and the landscape architecture community throughout their careers.

The feedback that you provided through last year’s member survey, focus group interviews, and town halls informed the recently adopted strategic plan. ASLA members identified two primary areas where we should focus: increasing the awareness and importance of the profession and recruiting the next generation of landscape architects. There are many ways an organization can go about expanding its impact, including building new programs internally or identifying other organizations who have made progress in these areas and joining efforts. We chose the latter.

For those of you unfamiliar with these organizations, a little background. Founded in 2008 by emerging professionals of ASLA as Land8 Lounge, the social network for landscape architects, the online platform now known as Land8 has grown to become one of the top five resources for landscape architects, according to ASLA’s 2021 survey data. Land8 will now be part of ASLA’s family of organizations and will benefit from financial, technical and administrative support. Matt Alcide, Affiliate ASLA, will remain as the editor of Land8 and oversee the creative content and social network. And it will remain an independent, open, and accessible space where landscape-architecture focused content is curated and exchanged. The Land8 partnership will provide ASLA an expanded ability to raise awareness of the profession to the more than 20,000 international and domestic Land8 subscribers and nearly 1.5 million social media followers.

The LABash Conference has a 50+ year history as the preeminent gathering for landscape architecture students in North America. It is wholly student run and programmed, and it provides a unique opportunity for professional networking and development for students outside of traditional classrooms. Beginning this year, the LABash Conference is now also part of ASLA’s student resources portfolio that includes free student membership and a student mentorship program. It will continue to be managed each year by the hosting program’s students.

In our new strategic plan, we affirmed that strong connections, collaboration and effective partnerships enable change. We committed to building “a welcoming and inclusive community that provides a place for members, partners, and supporters to connect, learn and grow…We succeed together. Whether it’s through peer-to-peer learning or our partnerships with allied organizations, we seek out opportunities to learn from each other and mentor the next generation of leaders.” These partnerships will mean better engagement and communication with the broader landscape architecture community and interested supporters who share our values.

I believe that working together will only advance our shared missions of promoting the work of landscape architects to a global audience and providing valuable resources for both professionals and those interested in your amazing work.

We are thrilled about our future, together.

Torey Carter-Conneen, ASLA CEO