Climate & Biodiversity Action Plan

The American Society for Landscape Architecture (ASLA) has announced the five-member Task Force and 33-member Advisory Group that will develop its new Climate and Biodiversity Action Plan. The new plan will be released at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture, October 10-13, 2025, in New Orleans, LA.

The new plan will update the ASLA Climate Action Plan, released in 2022, and offer new goals and actions for 2026-2030. The scope of the new plan has been expanded – the climate and biodiversity crises will be treated as equal priorities, and the focus will be on actions that tackle both in an equitable way. The plan also seeks to transform landscape architecture by 2040 through actions focused on biodiversity and ecological restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation, equity, and economic development.

“Landscape architects know that nature-based solutions can help address both the climate and biodiversity crises while also providing multiple economic, environmental, social, and health benefits. This incredible Task Force and Advisory Group, made up of biodiversity, climate, equity, and advocacy leaders, will show us the way and guide our collective action over the next five years,” said ASLA President Kona Gray, FASLA.

“ASLA believes that landscape architects’ climate and biodiversity work provides significant benefits to communities in the U.S. and around the world. This new plan will act as a roadmap for strengthening communities’ economic well-being while also conserving and restoring ecosystems, reducing emissions, and enhancing resilience over the long-term,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen, Hon. ASLA.

Task Force members include:

Chair: Meg Calkins, FASLA, Professor, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, NC State University

Equity Lead: Diane Jones Allen, FASLA, D. Eng., PLA, Director and Professor, Program in Landscape Architecture, University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and Principal Landscape Architect, DesignJones, LLC, Arlington, TX and New Orleans, LA

Biodiversity Lead: Jennifer A. Dowdell, ASLA, Practice Leader: Landscape Ecology, Planning & Design, Biohabitats, Baltimore, MD

Climate Lead: Mariana Ricker, ASLA, PLA, Associate Principal, SWA Group, San Francisco, CA

Advocacy Lead: Andrew Wickham, ASLA, PLA, Project Leader, Landscape Architecture, LPA Design Studios, Sacramento, CA

Additionally, the 33-member Advisory Group hail from 16 U.S. states and four countries and are in private, public, non-profit practice, and academia. It consists of 20 women and 13 men; and three Black, four Asian and Asian American, seven Latino/a, and two Indigenous members.