SUN-B10: Confronting the Biodiversity Crisis Through Landscape Architecture: A Call to Action

Sunday, November 13, 2022

2:00pm – 3:15pm PT

Location: Moscone Center, Room 201-202

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AICP, FL, NY/HSW

Lead Speaker(s)

Kelly A. Farrell, ASLA

Landscape Designer, Ecologist
Sasaki
Belmont, Massachusetts

Speaker(s)

Keith Bowers, FASLA

Founding Principal
Biohabitats, Inc.
Mt Pleasant, South Carolina
Tim Nuttle, PhD, CSE, CWB

Principal
Oikos Ecology LLC
Elizabeth, Pennsylvania

We are witnessing a biodiversity crisis, with thousands of species lost, forever, each year. This session will help design professionals understand the many facets of biodiversity, and the means by which they can support biodiversity through design decisions.

Learning Outcomes:

Why Biodiversity Matters: Understand how biodiversity supports ecosystem services to society, reasons for and magnitude of its decline, how racism and classism affect biodiversity, and how to advocate for change.
Scale matters: Recognize that biodiversity includes genetic, species, and habitat diversity, all of which are impacted at the local, regional, and global scale by design decisions.
Start with Planning: Become familiar with how land planning and policies that incorporate landscape ecology science can support conservation of biodiversity and serve as a catalyst for ecological stewardship.
Act Locally: Learn how to incorporate biodiversity protection and restoration best practices directly into project site designs, planting practices, and construction processes, and the importance of collaborating with ecologists.