2022 BCSLA Conference & Showcase of Products and Services

As landscape architects vested with upholding human health and well-being, what can we glean and learn from the past few years? Why has gardening become a “thing” that reached far beyond those that have always been gardeners? How does gardening play into the parallel realms of public/private and personal/community? Where do gardens and gardening belong in this new post-pandemic world? Who decides? 

See below for a preliminary Speakers List.

October 13, 2022

4:30 PM
Clive Justice Book Awards for Newly Qualified Landscape Architects 
Due to the pandemic, the New Member Book Awards have been on hold. We will celebrate those members who became registered in 2019, 2020 and 2021.  The Awards have been renamed the Clive Justice Book Awards to Newly Qualified Landscape Architects in 2022.  The late Clive Justice, MBCSLA#003, initiated this program many years ago by presenting a book to each new member at his own expense. BCSLA is proud to continue the tradition in his name. We are delighted to report that Clive’s son, Douglas Justice, Associate Director UBC Botanical Gardens and BCSLA Honorary Member, will be present to share memories of his Father.  A meet and greet will follow the presentation.  

6:00 PM
BCSLA and the Professional Governance Act
Paul Craven, Superintendent of Professional Governance, will be speaking in person about the Professional Governance Act. The Office of the Superintendent of Professional Governance (OSPG) is the centre of provincial expertise for professional governance of regulatory bodies outside the health sector. The Superintendent is the head of the OSPG, and with a focus on public interest, is authorized by the Professional Governance Act (PGA) to carry out various functions including overseeing the governance of regulatory bodies under the PGA, conducting research and promoting best practices, administering the Professional Governance Act including enforcement, and publishing information that is related to professional governance and deemed in the public interest. We recommend that all BCSLA Members and Associates attend the presentation.  Volunteers are working on logistics to stream the event. 

7:00 PM
Meet & Greet Reception
Following Paul Craven's presentation stay to enjoy a snack and the no-host bar.  You will have the opportunity to see colleagues and friends following two years of lockdowns and restrictions.  Say hello to Paul Craven. Meet some of our New Members. Be sure to carpool with a designated drive, take public transit or share a ride.

The 2022 in-person BCSLA Conference and Showcase will continue at the same venue on October 14-15.  These events are subject to change due to public health orders.

OCTOBER 14 to 15, 2022

• Debra Guenther, FASLA, MBCSLA, is the Keynote Speaker,  as a partner and landscape architect at Mithun, Deb has built a team that brings exceptional quality, critical thinking and award-winning design to projects. Deb is a regular contributor to conversations on equity, resilience and climate change at venues such as Greenbuild, Living Futures, and the Urban Land Institute. Nationally recognized for her leadership on green infrastructure and ecosystem service issues, she was awarded the American Society of Landscape Architect’s Presidents Medal in 2010.
• Betty Lepps,  Vancouver Park Board Director of Urban Relationships, will lead a fascinating session on projects she has been working on.  Lepps leads the Park Board’s work on responding to the needs of people experiencing homelessness, helping to fulfill the City’s humanitarian responsibilities to those sleeping or sheltering in parks. As Director, Urban Relationships, Lepps will also work with partners to help improve the overall safety of all people using Vancouver parks. She has worked with Indigenous communities across Canada and the USA and her work on driving systemic change for vulnerable populations has been highly lauded at municipal, ministerial, community, and national level. She was also instrumental in developing the first Indigenous restorative justice court in Calgary.

Confirmed Speakers Include:

• Duncan Chambers: Toward an Agroecological Perspective in Landscape Architecture

• Saba Farmand: The Garden of the 21st Century is on the Boulevard: And How Documenting and Promoting Boulevard Gardens Led to this Realization

• Kathy Dunster, Kwantlen Polytechnic University: From Rain Garden to Floodplain: Reviving Ancestral Knowledge to Cope With Land Management During a Pandemic

• Benji Eisenberg: Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, Tomorrows Gardens Might Taste Salty, But You Shouldn’t Be: How can ecological knowledge help us adapt with a changing coastline?

• Kees Lokman, Associate Professor and Chair, Landscape Architecture: “Living With Water” 

• Cameron Owen, Cherie Xiao and Sheri DeBoer: City of Vancouver Green - Rainwater Infrastructure 

•  Sharon MacGougan, Garden City Conservation Society: Starting a Miyawaki Pocket Forest Gardens at a Richmond High School During a Pandemic

• Dominique Madill: Intimacy in the Garden: Plant and Wind
• Carmen Rosen, Artistic Director - Still Moon Arts Society: Making Art Outdoors - Healing and Community Building during a pandemic
• Dr. Christine Thuring:  Gardens that Buzz: Resources to Support Native Bees in BC
• Amy Walker, Showing Up Imperfectly: Mending Public Space with Our Presence

Conference Programme

SPECIAL EVENT-THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2022 - FREE

We are pleased to report that Paul Craven, Superintendent of Professional Governance, will be speaking in person to BCSLA Members and Associates on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 6:00 pm at the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel in Vancouver.  You will learn more about the Professional Governance Act and Landscape Architecture in BC.  We recommend that all BCSLA Members and Associates attend the presentation.  Volunteers are working on logistics to stream the event. 

Mr. Craven's presentation will be preceded by the Clive Justice Book Awards to those members who became registered in 2019, 2020 and 2021.  Douglas Justice will be on hand to share stories and memoirs of his Father. A meet and greet will follow the presentation.  There is no charge for this event, but advance registration will be required.  More details soon. 
 

PROGRAM SPONSORS AND SHOWCASE OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES

The Conference is the premier networking and educational event for the landscape architecture profession in BC. The event brings together decision-makers from the landscape architecture profession, including landscape architects from private practices, educational facilities, municipalities, government ministries and agencies. The Conference provides a rare opportunity to engage with a cross-section of industry leaders.  The program will be released soon!  

We invite you to join us for the 2022 Showcase or to participate as a Program Sponsor to increase your company profile and remind our design professionals about quality services, new and innovative products, and leading-edge technology that can be used by landscape architects in their offices and projects.  The Showcase and Sponsor information package is available here.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE (subject to change)

Note that the Conference / Continuing Education Committee is well-prepared to shift the conference to an online virtual platform if required by public health orders.  As we return to in-person events, the health and safety of our conference speakers, attendees,  and staff are of the utmost importance.  The BCSLA will continue to follow the latest government recommendations to provide you with the best level of protection at the conference this fall.