Opportunities

Landscape Architects Advance Sustainable Conference Strategies to Achieve Climate Action Goals

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Minneapolis, Minnesota skyline / istockphoto.com, lavin photography

ASLA forms partnership with Green Minneapolis to offset greenhouse gas emissions from its 2023 Conference in Minneapolis and support tree planting in underserved communities

ASLA has released its first Sustainable Event Impact Assessment, a comprehensive gap analysis of its 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture, which brought more than 6,000 attendees to the LEED Platinum Moscone Center in San Francisco, November 11-14, 2022.

The assessment provides a baseline accounting of energy used and greenhouse gas emissions and waste generated, which ASLA will use to measure and improve its environmental and social impacts on an annual basis. The assessment also outlines the many positive actions ASLA has taken to make access to the conference more equitable, donate EXPO products, reuse waste materials, and support the communities that host the conference.

Based on these findings, ASLA has committed to event sustainability strategies that will improve the outcomes of its 2023 Conference, which will be held October 27-30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“With our Strategic Plan, released in 2021, we committed to reducing the emissions from our conference and headquarters operations by 20 percent by 2024. And through our ambitious ASLA Climate Action Plan, released in November 2022, we made the additional commitment to achieve zero emissions in our conference and operations by 2040. We are now moving forward to achieve our goals,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Coneen.

“Landscape architects are climate leaders, and we are committed to identifying and reducing our negative impacts on the climate and increasing the benefits for our host communities. We think it’s important to be transparent about both the positive and negative impacts of our annual convening and where we are in our learning journey. We are sharing lessons learned from our journey with our members and partners, so we can move faster together,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA.

2022 Conference Baseline

The assessment, which was developed in partnership with Honeycomb Strategies, a sustainability consulting company, includes key findings.

Over four days and per attendee, the conference:

Due to procurement decisions made by ASLA and sustainability measures adopted by the organization:

  • The ASLA 2022 Conference was hosted at the Moscone Center conference facility, which is 100% powered by renewable hydropower and rooftop solar.
  • 49,500 tons of EXPO materials were donated to Habitat for Humanity.
  • More than 900 students attended the conference for free in return for volunteering.
  • $7,000 in carbon offset contributions were collected from ASLA members

Explore key findings

To reduce adverse climate and environmental impacts and leave a positive legacy in Minneapolis, ASLA is committing to implementing these strategies at its 2023 Conference:

  • Creating climate change and biodiversity educational tracks at its Conference
  • Implementing a range of measures related to food, energy, water, and waste to reduce impacts
  • Offsetting 1,500 tons of its carbon dioxide emissions
  • Launching a new sustainability commitment for EXPO exhibitors
  • Providing free registrations for invited Twin Cities-based climate equity and justice leaders to attend the conference
  • Providing free registrations for invited Twin Cities-based climate youth leaders (high school students) to attend the conference
  • Developing a strategy to reduce transportation emissions for attendees and exhibitors traveling to and from the conference and while traveling in the host city.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets

While it pursues its near-term goal of reducing emissions 20 percent by 2024, ASLA has committed to purchasing 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide emission offsets in 2023. For the past two years, ASLA has collected offset contributions from its members. In 2022, ASLA contributed those funds to Trees for Oakland and Clear.Eco.

For the ASLA 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture, ASLA announced a new partnership with Green Minneapolis, an innovator in urban tree carbon offsets, to scale up those efforts. The lead sponsor of ASLA 2023 Conference carbon offsets is Bartlett Tree Experts.

Minneapolis, Minnesota / istockphoto.com, Haizhan Zheng

Green Minneapolis collaborated with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to complete the first urban tree carbon offset project in Minnesota. The project is part of the Twin Cities Climate Resiliency Initiative, a public private partnership that will significantly expand the urban tree canopy across Minneapolis and the seven county Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Through City Forest Credits, a national nonprofit carbon registry, the urban tree carbon offset project has achieved third-party verification for its carbon credits. The project includes 23,755 city trees planted by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board from 2019 to 2021. Over its 25-year duration, the project is estimated to store 48,865 metric tons of carbon and will provide quantified co-benefits related to rainfall interception, air quality, and energy savings.

According to Green Minneapolis offset funds collected by ASLA and its members will “support a 20-year vision to increase the metro area’s tree canopy through planting and maintaining five million trees on public and private lands, with a focus on addressing environmental inequities in the most disadvantaged communities.”

Attendees and exhibitors: Please offset your attendance at the ASLA 2023 Conference during the registration process or via this contribution form.

Next steps

In the fall of 2023, ASLA will release a sustainability impact assessment of its ASLA Center on Landscape Architecture, the association’s LEED Platinum and WELL Gold-certified headquarters in Washington, D.C; student-led LABash Conference; and Landscape Architecture Magazine.

ASLA will use its own headquarters assessment to educate its members and partners on how to reduce their own office operational impacts and meet the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan.

ASLA is also working with partners to develop a more complete picture of the transportation emissions from shipping freight for EXPO booth materials from points of origin. This upcoming initiative will provide new opportunities for ASLA and its corporate members to achieve a lower-impact EXPO together.

By the end of 2023, ASLA plans to have a fuller understanding of its climate, environmental, and social impacts across the conference, EXPO, and headquarters operations. As it pursues impact reductions, ASLA aims to offset 100 percent of its emissions in coming years.

Game Changers 2023: Climate Action

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ASLA 2023 Game Changers / ASLA

By Katie Riddle

Do you have an idea that will change how landscape architects approach climate action? It takes big ideas to move a profession forward – ideas from different perspectives, voices, and backgrounds. Those big ideas could come from you. This is a great opportunity to share ideas and concepts under development that will drive innovation on climate action.

During these fast-paced, innovative talks, you will have just seven minutes to share your game changing idea at the ASLA 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture, October 27-30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Submissions from first-time presenters, students, emerging professionals, and allied professionals are encouraged.

The ASLA Climate Action Plan seeks to transform the practice of landscape architecture by 2040 through actions taken by ASLA and its members focused on climate mitigation and adaptation, ecological restoration, biodiversity, equity, and economic development. This year, we ask submissions focus on a Climate Action Plan goal:

  • Practice: Scale Up Climate Positive Approaches
  • Equity: Empower Communities to Achieve Climate Justice
  • Advocacy: Build Coalitions for Climate Action

The possibilities for action are endless. You can find many ideas suggested in the Climate Action Field Guide. Sharing new ideas, data, metrics, and tools will help the entire landscape architecture community become better at this work.

The top submissions will be invited to present their game changing idea at Practice Basecamp at the ASLA 2023 Conference. The winning game changer, selected by a jury, will receive a $500 prize to put toward professional development opportunities and 30 percent off registration to the conference.

How to Enter

Your Information: Tell us about yourself. Please include all social media handles so we can tag you!

Game Changer Written Description: Pitch this talk to attendees in two sentences. How will your idea change the field?

Video: Submit a short, cell phone-quality video describing your game changing idea (one-minute, resolution of 1920×1080, with a 16:9 aspect ratio in MP4 format). No fancy production required. Most importantly, have fun with it! The video must be under one-minute to be eligible.

Eligibility

Landscape architecture professionals, who are graduates of a landscape architecture program recognized by ASLA and landscape architecture students wishing to present at the conference, need to be active ASLA members.

Allied professionals are encouraged to both submit and speak, but are not required to be ASLA members.

Submission and Review Process

Submit your Game Changers idea by August 24 (12:00 Noon CST).

The top submissions will advance and be chosen to present at the conference by popular vote.

On August 26, presenters of the top submissions will be notified they are moving onto popular vote. Popular voting is August 27-28. Presenters will be notified by early September.

Katie Riddle, ASLA, is director of professional practice at ASLA.

Park(ing) Day 2023: Pollinator Places

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Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Park(ing) Day is Friday, September 15. The focus of this year’s Park(ing) Day, which is now in its 17th year, is pollinators.

Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, and other insects need our help more than ever. Use your Park(ing) Day space to educate the public. Show them how landscape architects create healthy places for an important pollinator in your community.

You can use your space to:

  • Provide educational materials about a pollinator in your community that is at risk
  • Show native plants the pollinator relies on
  • Create an interactive game or demonstration that teaches how to design habitat

Post images of your Park(ing) Day installation to your social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Use the hashtag #ParkingDay and tag us (@Nationalasla)

Make sure you have permission or signed release forms from anyone you photograph.

ASLA will highlight the best posts from students, firms, and chapters across our social platforms!

Ideas for How to Highlight Pollinators

In 2019, MKSK partnered with the Washington, D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) and the US National Arboretum for Park(ing) Day. The team transformed two parking spots in downtown Washington, D.C. into a native “Pollinator Gallery” that educated the public about the importance of pollinators and the role landscape architects play in protecting them.

Parking Day 2022Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Landscape architects showed the world from a bee’s perspective. “We show how color perception, habitat requirements, and food source change throughout the seasons and are vital to understanding how to create functional ecosystems in designed landscapes,” MKSK explains.

Their Park(ing) Day installation included a meadow of potted native perennials and grasses, and a field of pinwheels, ranging from violet to yellow. “They were painted to represent patterns of ultra-violet light that bees see on flower petals.” The pinwheels were also “fixed at varying heights to indicate the yearly summer peak of insect biomass and its overall decline in recent decades.”

Two bee box brackets “mimic the nesting tunnels created in the ground by solitary, native bees.” The brackets also became an “unexpected, impromptu photo booth for enthusiastic Park(ing) Day visitors.”

Parking Day 2022Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Explore Park(ing) Day resources.

Apply Today: Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program

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Inaugural class of the ASLA Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program / ASLA

By Elizabeth Hebron

Apply to be part of the 2023-25 class of the Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program. This program supports women of color pursuing licensure and increases racial and gender diversity within the profession.

Now in its second year, the program will provide 10 women of color with a two-year, personalized experience that includes up to $3,500 to cover the cost of sections of the Landscape Architectural Registration Exam (LARE), along with funding for and access to exam preparation courses and resources, and mentorship from a licensed landscape architect. Applications are due June 30.

Program eligibility requires the individual to:

  • Be a current ASLA member in good standing or eligible for ASLA membership at the associate, full, or affiliate membership levels
  • Identify as a woman and be a person of color
  • And be eligible to sit for the LARE in the state where they are pursuing licensure.

According to the U.S. Census and ASLA data, approximately 18.5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, while only 6 percent of ASLA members do. 13.4 percent of the U.S. population identifies as African American, but only 2.14 percent of ASLA members do. 1.3 percent of the U.S. population identifies as American Indian or Alaska Natives, but only 0.45 percent of ASLA members do. And 6.2 percent of the U.S. population identifies as Asian and Pacific Islander while 13.5 percent of ASLA members do, but ASLA doesn’t separate Asian from Asian American members in its data.

The statistics are telling, and as outlined in the Racial Equity Plan of Action, ASLA is committed to fostering equity and inclusion within the profession and making significant strides to ensure that the makeup of the profession closely mirrors the communities landscape architects serve.

Applications to the program are due June 30. Learn about the program and how to apply.

To help ASLA grow and expand the program, visit the ASLA Fund to donate today.

Elizabeth Hebron, Hon. ASLA, is director of state government affairs at ASLA.

Free Film Screening: Landscapes of Exclusion

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Landscapes of Exclusion / National Building Museum

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. is screening the new film Landscapes of Exclusion: State Parks and Jim Crow in the American South on May 22 at 6pm EST. The film is based on the award-winning book of the same title by William E. O’Brien, which was first published by the Library of American Landscape History in 2015 and then reissued as a paperback in 2022.

According to the producers, the film “underscores the profound inequality that persisted for decades in the number, size, and quality of state park spaces provided for Black visitors across the South. Even though it has largely faded from public awareness, the imprint of segregated design remains visible in many state parks.”

In his review of the Landscapes of Exclusion book, Glenn LaRue Smith, FASLA, cofounder and principal of PUSH studio in Washington, D.C., and founder and former president of the Black Landscape Architects Network (BlackLAN) writes: “it presents a mirror with which we can look back and see the profound changes in America, which is greatly needed in our divisive social media age of disinformation and historical erasure.”

A group photo at the bathhouse on Butler Beach in the 1950s, prior to the site’s development as a state park. / Courtesy State Archives of Florida, Library of American Landscape History

“O’Brien’s balanced research on Black self-help to achieve some measure of recreational access in the face of Jim Crow is one of the book’s crowning successes,” LaRue Smith writes. “There are many other well researched elements relating to the history of the ‘Negro Problem,’ park planning and politics, post-World War II ‘separate but equal’ policies, and court battles primarily brought by the NAACP to dismantle park segregation. Together, these research areas build a much-needed historical record of Jim Crow and the exclusion of African Americans in southern state parks.”

The film features commentary by O’Brien, who is a professor of environmental studies at Florida Atlantic University, and architect Arthur J. Clement, who attended a segregated state parks as a child. “Dramatic images and live footage bring this painful history into contemporary focus,” the film producers write.

In collaboration with the National Building Museum, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is presenting this event free of charge. The Olmsted Network and Library of American Landscape History are co-sponsors. And the program is supported by the Darwina L. Neal Cultural Landscape Fund for adult programs focusing on cultural landscapes.

May 22:

5:30 pm – Doors open
6:00 pm – Film screening
6:30pm – 7:15pm – Panel discussion with William E. O’Brien, Arthur J. Clement, and Wairimũ Ngaruiya Njambi, moderated by ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen.
7.15 – 7.30 pm – Remarks by Bronwyn Nichols Lodato, president of the Midway Plaisance Advisory Council, on behalf of the Olmsted Network
7.30 – 8.30 pm – Reception

The event is free but registration is required. Register today.

Apply Today: Design Workshop Foundation Community Capacity Building Initiative

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Community design charrette / courtesy of Design Workshop Foundation

Design Workshop, a landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm, created a foundation in 2002. The foundation has now launched a new Community Capacity Building Initiative, which they describe as a “comprehensive technical assistance process designed to advance community action and overcome built environment challenges.” The foundation seeks applications for technical assistance from underserved communities in Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado; Piedmont region, North Carolina; and the Houston Metroplex, Texas.

The initiative aims to address the “systemic under-funding of projects in historically under-represented communities.” The foundation will provide “no-cost support for community teams.” Each project will be staffed with “teams of 3-4 landscape architects and planners,” which will have weekly hours assigned to the projects. The teams will organize workshops and charrettes with communities to create action plans.

“The Community Capacity Building Initiative goes far beyond simply donating our design and planning services. The work done on the selected projects is strategically designed to fill a gap in the design ecosystem in support of historically marginalized communities,” said landscape architect Sarah Konradi, ASLA, executive director of the Design Workshop Foundation.

The initiative aims to help communities with a range of projects. These could include developing strategies and planning documents to move forward fundraising and implementation; designing events and programs; or organizing “tactical” or “pop-up” projects, such as “painted bike lanes, crosswalks, parklets, temporary parks and installations.”

“One project will be selected for each of the three regions,” Konradi said. “We intentionally selected areas near a few of our office locations so that our teams can be hands-on throughout the entire project. It also allows us to draw on our first-hand understanding of the area’s distinct culture, diversity, opportunities, and challenges to co-develop outcomes that fit the needs of the communities.”

Communities in the three regions: apply by May 19. Teams applying must be multidisciplinary and led by a local government or non-profit. Projects will be selected in June and run through October 2023.

Climate Action Events in Los Angeles and Boston

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Magic Johnson Park, Los Angeles, California. MIG / Eric Staudenmaier

ASLA chapters are organizing in-person and virtual events to advance the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan. Landscape architects are seeking to build stronger climate action partnerships with allied professionals, academia, government, community leaders, and members of the public, so all are welcome and encouraged to participate.

In Los Angeles, the ASLA Southern California Chapter will host a day-long Climate Symposium on Earth Day, April 22, in Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park. The first phase of the climate-smart, equity-driven redesign of the 126-acre park was completed by landscape architects at MIG in 2021 — and it will be a focus of discussion at the symposium.

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts will share insights from the Studio-MLA-designed SoFi Stadium landscape. ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen will give an overview of ASLA initiatives.

And twenty landscape architects, educators, civic leaders, and allied professionals will share their climate action work:

Presentations will cover a range of topics:

  • how to reduce emissions and increase sequestration
  • how to adapt to sea level rise and rising urban temperatures
  • how to increase biodiversity
  • how to maximize green schoolyard, transportation, and healthy communities initiatives

“As a region on the front line of climate impacts, Southern California has an incredible opportunity to lead the way. Our chapter is passionate about equipping landscape architects with practical tools and empowering the next generation of students to create a better, more sustainable future. Together, we can make a real difference in the fight against climate change,” said Evan Mather, FASLA, principal and director of landscape architecture, MIG, and ASLA Southern California Past President and Climate Action Committee Chair.

The Point, Massachusetts / Bishop Land Design

And in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) has organized a free webinar on April 11 at noon EST with Scott Bishop, ASLA, founder of Bishop Land Design, Immediate Past Chair of the Climate Action Committee, and ASLA Climate Action Plan Advisory Group Member.

The webinar will be the first in a series of discussions and presentations as the chapter delves into climate action planning. “Whether you’re a sole practitioner or part of a large firm, private practice or public sector, every scale matters. Let’s figure this out together,” BSLA writes.

“For all of us who live in Boston, Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was a wake-up call. Since then, we have collectively worked to understand the vulnerabilities of the city, particularly related to sea level rise. We also now have a greater understanding of other climate impacts, such as urban heat islands,” said Jason Hellendrung, ASLA, with Tetra Tech and BSLA Climate Action Committee Chair.

“As we’ve shared our story with colleagues throughout New England, we’ve learned they share some of the same concerns — how heat will impact rural areas in western and northern New England; how climate change will affect forestry and the economy, including tourism and skiing. As landscape architects, we are each working towards solutions in different ways at multiple scales. We recognize that we have lots to do and lots to learn from each other.”

Bishop will provide an overview of the Climate Action Plan and highlight some of his firm’s projects that exemplify the plan’s goals. For example, the Point, a coastal project south of Boston, envisions a park and ferry terminal built behind a living coastal bluff. The project is “designed to protect the neighboring community and unique habitats of the park from sea level rise and increased storm intensity,” Bishop said.

“The Point project checks several boxes of the Climate Action Plan by looking at public transportation options, including electric ferries; using living systems as infrastructure; protecting and enhancing biodiversity; and sequestering carbon dioxide with trees and wetlands.”

Learn more and register for the Climate Symposium in Los Angeles on April 22 and the webinar in Boston on April 11.

And explore the ASLA Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Field Guide for ASLA Members, three hours of videos, and discussion guides.

New Research Grants: Evidence for Landscape Architecture Solutions to the Climate and Biodiversity Crises 

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ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Duke University Water Reclamation Pond. Durham, North Carolina. Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects / Mark Hough, FASLA

The ASLA Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, has announced $25,000 in national competitive grants to develop research reviews. This opportunity is open to ASLA members and non-members in academia.

The ASLA Fund invites landscape architecture educators to develop succinct and impactful research reviews that investigate evidence of the benefits of landscape architecture solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

The goals of the research reviews are to:

  • Understand and summarize the current state of knowledge.
  • Synthesize the research literature and provide insights, leveraging key data- and science-based evidence.
  • Create accessible executive summaries in plain language for policymakers, community advocates, and practicing landscape architects.

Over the next few years, research grants will be issued to explore solutions to a range of issues, but the first two grants in 2023 will focus on:

  • Landscape Architecture Solutions to Biodiversity Loss ($12,500)
  • Landscape Architecture Solutions to Extreme Heat ($12,500)

“We need landscape architecture educators’ advanced research skills to build the evidence. Working together, landscape architecture educators, practitioners, and students can help us achieve the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA.

“Landscape architecture educators are key to driving forward research on solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. This critically important work helps build the foundations for landscape architecture as design science and support efforts to designate landscape architecture a STEM discipline,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter Conneen.

‘Hypar-nature’ Wildlife Bridge. West Vail Pass, Colorado. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc +HNTB

The research grant period will run from June to the end of this year. The research surveys will be peer reviewed.

The grants are open to landscape architecture educators who are currently affiliated with a university, have a graduate degree, and have published at least one peer-reviewed research paper.

Please submit your proposals by Friday, April 28 at asla.org/evidence.

Submit Projects: Rosa Barba Casanovas International Landscape Architecture Prize

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ASLA 2018 Professional General Design Award of Excellence. Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Twenty Year Transformation. Brooklyn, NY, USA. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. / Julienne Schaer

The Rosa Barba Casanovas International Landscape Architecture Prize seeks to honor the “best and most innovative practices in landscape architecture.” The 2023 prize will be awarded to a landscape that was built between 2017 to 2022. The winner will take home €15,000 (US $15,879) and a signed lithograph by Spanish artist Perico Pastor.

All projects submitted for the prize will be published in the biennial’s book catalogue and featured in an exhibition in Barcelona, Spain, and a website. And 7-11 finalists will be invited by the prize jury to go to Barcelona and lecture at the biennial symposium, which will be held November 27-28, 2023.

The prize jury includes:

  • Gareth Doherty, ASLA, associate professor of landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Martha Fajardo, a Colombian landscape architect and architect
  • Julio Gaeta, an architect and founder of ELARQA, a research center
  • Bruno Marques, president of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), registered landscape architect, and university educator.
  • Kotchakorn Voraakhom, International ASLA, founder of Landprocess

The organizers state that since the first biennial in 1999, the prize has been a “barometer” of “trends, social concerns,” and achievement in the field of landscape architecture. Prize winners reflect the best examples of “intervention [in] and recovery of landscape and territory.”

The deadline to submit projects is May 30, 2023. The submission fee is €90 (US$95). Each landscape architecture firm can submit a maximum of five projects.

Explore past winners, including the 2021 winner — Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York, designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Universal Design Competition for Landscape Architecture Students

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ASLA 2018 Professional General Design Honor Award. Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square, Santa Monica, California. James Corner Field Operations LLC / Tim Street-Porter

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Challenge.Gov are seeking submissions for Access for All, a new universal design competition open to landscape architecture undergraduate and graduate students. The goal of the competition is to “stimulate innovation” and reward universal design concepts that can lead to “barrier-free federal buildings.”

The GSA, which owns and manages over 370 million square feet of real estate, seeks to improve access for “federal workers and members of the public, while optimizing government resources and adding value to taxpayers.” Following executive orders from President Biden, the GSA has a new commitment to “ensuring federal spaces are accessible, equitable, and inclusive.”

The GSA now believes that compliance with Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements and other existing building and landscape codes aren’t enough to achieve truly universally accessible places.

“Federal facilities are typically designed with a compliance-based approach in mind. That can create barriers to common access and equal experience, which can impact individuals’ ability to fully participate in public life. As one example, restroom facilities follow and comply with all pertinent building codes, but might not consider access for all. Other examples that could benefit from integrating universal design include using ramps versus elevators-only and innovative new options for low-light energy requirements that consider those with low-vision.”

ASLA 2011 Professional Award of Excellence, General Design. Portland Transit Mall Revitalization, Portland, Oregon, ZGF Architects LLP / ZGF Architects LLP

The GSA argues that these barriers can “disproportionately burden members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities (short-term, long-term, visible or not visible, mobility), women, and parents or caretakers of dependents.”

The scope of necessary improvements are broad and include the landscapes surrounding buildings. “By leveraging principles of universal design, GSA looks to shift our focus from layering access to equalizing access. Opportunities can present themselves across the spectrum of design—including in spaces such as entrances and public spaces.”

“Whether you work in a federal building or visit one to get the services you need, you should find a space that allows you to fully participate in public life,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “GSA continues to strive toward that ideal, and we want the next generation of designers to bring their great ideas to the table.”

Making progress on universal design is also key to building a more inclusive federal community. “Strengthening accessibility to and within buildings will enhance the federal government’s ability to recruit and retain diverse talent.”

In 2015, the GSA committed to certifying all federal projects through the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) and achieve silver level at a minimum.

SITES-certified Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building, Miramar, Florida. Curtis + Rogers Design Studio / Photo: Robin Hill

Hopefully, this competition will help lead to new universal design standards that the GSA can then require for its extensive property holdings, helping to shift state and local building development practices in the process.

Submissions are due May 1. Winners will be announced via Challenge.gov on June 14 and will be mailed a gift card prize. The first place winner will receive $2,000; second place, $1,500; and third place, $1,000.

Explore ASLA’s guide to universal design for more ideas.