Sustainable Communities?
No, this is not about place, it is about people. The national organization of ASLA has been hard at work over the last couple of years attempting to address the issue of making the profession of Landscape Architecture a Sustainable Community.
They have commissioned studies to determine how to better communicate who we are and what we do. It seems after many decades of existence as a licensed profession, people continue to be confused by the word landscape in our title. I believe the report prepared by the consultant, Frame Works, gives great insight into how we can use simple approaches to solve the problem of our collective professional anonymity in a way that can be clarifying without dumbing down the message. I would recommend reading their report “Putting People at the Center: Reframing Landscape Architecture for Maximum Impact”. Though the title of the report seems daunting, the recommendations are simple to understand and use in everyday practice.
A second study and report that the Board of Trustees received was about the perceived importance of licensure of professionals with a focus on Landscape Architecture, Architecture, and Civil Engineers. The study was commissioned by ARPL (Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing) and prepared by Oxford Economics. ASLA joined with a number of professional associations to determine what is the importance of Licensure in the mind of the public and what strategies can be incorporated to advocate for the regulation of the professions through Licensure. The report is very eye opening. I would suggest that when combined with the Frame Works, report you will be able to better lobby for the causes promoted by ASLA. What we tend to forget is that most elected officials have no idea what our role is in the sustainability of the communities with which they are charged to represent.
And finally, the new vision and strategic plan for the next three years for ASLA was released at the national meeting in Nashville. As Rich Krumwiede has said many times “Landscape Architects are a shade loving species”. This vision and strategic plan is a call for us to step out into the sun and make a difference. Our numbers are shrinking as a profession. Fewer people are entering the profession and fewer still are joining ASLA. We need to stand out and lead and become role models to the youth of America and our neighborhoods. We need to reject the old trope that you can’t make money in our profession. I believe that we are a diverse and inclusive profession, but we spend so much time in the shade we remain unnoticed as individuals and professionals. If we are going to survive as a community, we are going to have to take the principles of the vision and strategic plan to heart and step out into the sun and lead.