Regenerative Solutions for Resilient Landscapes 2023

Join the ELA for the 2023 R & R Conference, in person at Longwood Gardens

Thursday, November 9 @ 8:30 EDT-4:30 EDT

ELA will also offer an online opportunity to participate!

CHANGING CULTURE

Culture is an aspect of our daily lives that is often taken for granted, but which permeates almost everything we do. Families, workplaces, virtual and lived-in communities all have distinct cultures which come to bear on the beliefs, language use, choices, and behaviors of individuals and groups.

This year, the theme for ELA’s Regenerative Solutions for Resilient Landscapes (R&R) Conference will be Changing Culture. With this theme, speakers and attendees will explore what it means to live and work within the dynamic culture of the ecological landscape profession.

How do the conversations we have reflect our shared values, challenge or uphold long held beliefs, and offer new ideas?

How might we more effectively communicate with municipalities, HOAs, stakeholders, and our customers the importance of incorporating native species and ecologically functional landscapes?

Could our design choices and management behaviors be better aligned with ecological practices in our profession? 

How have the materials and practices commonly used in the landscape changed over the past several years, and what does this mean for the future of our work?

These questions and more will provide the backdrop for our conversations this November 9, 2023. We hope you’ll join us as we lay the groundwork for a profession as resilient as the landscapes we steward.

Preliminary Agenda

7:45-8:45 Welcome & Introduction to Longwood Gardens – Dr. Lea Johnson (Associate Director, Land Stewardship and Ecology)

This introduction to Longwood will be followed by a brief period for conference attendees to explore the space before settling in for the first presentation. 

8:45-9:00 Welcome & intro first speaker (ELA rep)

9:00-10:00 Hort2Culture: Connecting Plants with People – Jared Barnes, Phd

With all the challenges we face on Planet Earth, plants are poised to change the 21st century. In this enthusiastic keynote, Dr. Jared Barnes will share how we can sow passion, help gardeners take root, graft interests together, and much more to help the horticulture industry blossom.

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15-11:15 Building Relationships with Land and Water: Indigenous Lessons from TEK – Brook Thompson

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is not a stagnant form of data to be consumed, but an ever-evolving way of living. The Yurok Tribe has recognized the Klamath River as
having personhood, and therefore is able to protect it legally when facing harm. Yet, this belief is based in a understanding of the natural world not as life-less beings that are
there for human consumption and economic gain, but a part of the community of one’s life.

Learn how Indigenous values around TEK can be applied to your own gardens and lives as Brook Thompson, a Yurok Tribal member talks about her own lived experiences growing up on the Yurok reservation and how she has seen the largest salmon kill in west coast history to the removal of several dams on the Klamath River. If you are interested in how to reframe your understanding of the natural world in ways that may be mutually beneficial to you and your surrounding ecosystem, then this session is for you. This session will cover the basics of TEK, how TEK differs from local knowledge, how to support local tribes with gardens, and in what ways can anecdotal teachings of Brook’s life growing up on the Yurok reservation be applied to everyday understandings of gardening and even life.

11:15-12:45 Lunch is on your own.
There is a beautiful spot in the gardens — the Garden Cafe — available for attendees to enjoy!

1:00-2:00 Ecology in Motion: Interpreting Change in a New Public Garden – Samantha Nestory

Stoneleigh: a natural garden has been interpreting its transition from private estate to ecologically focused public garden, which has presented challenges and opportunities for engaging and educating the community.

2:00-3:00 The Real Conversations Needed Between Buyers and Suppliers – Wendy Brister

Whether you realize it or not, our industry has changed. Supply chain shortages, labor shortages, and inflation have played major roles in this. We will look at the challenges facing perennial growers, steps we have taken to improve the situation, and tips for designers/buyers to become more educated purchasers. It is time to open the lines of communication!

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-4:15 Buildings as Habitat: Biodiversity Interventions as Resilient Infrastructure Investments in Public Health – Helena van Vliet

Buildings kill an estimated 1 billion songbirds each year in the United States alone. This catastrophic loss of biodiversity represents a public health emergency that tragically illuminates an all too literal clash between nature and culture. If evolution is any guide, culture must urgently realign with nature, informing an evidence-based path from opportunity to obligation: all building projects must realign with local ecology and become restorative, nature-positive infrastructure investments in support of public health.

4:15-4:30 Closing Remarks

Are you interested in sponsoring?  For more information CLICK HERE

About the Venue

Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden that consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, PA. Lunch will be available for purchase from Longwood’s on-site restaurant. Attendees are encouraged to enjoy the facilities during lunch.