Starting a new practice is daunting. During this session you will hear from three new business owners who will share both the practical and philosophical considerations that go into forging a new direction for yourself, your practice, and the profession.

This session explores the potential scoping gap where landscape architecture, structural engineering, civil engineering, and waterproofing come together. Designing the sub-surface support for site hardscapes and shallow foundations is not trivial, and complications abound at this interface between pavements, foundations, drainage, utilities, soils, and root systems.

The role of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in the design profession is quickly evolving, creating challenges for landscape architects. The session will provide a historical context that has led to the current uses of AI, explore the ethical and technical issues associated with AI, and provide a lens on its future applications.

Dive into three alternative models of ownership and candidly explore the decision-making process, setbacks, and the psychological explorations that lead to founding and running mission-based firms. These practices include non-profits, B Corps, cooperatives, and perpetual purpose trusts.

Stewardship of historic landscapes and the inclusion of disabled people traditionally clash: Why is this? How can landscape architects preserve the character and experience of cultural landscapes AND improve accessibility? In this session, experts will share successful methods used by projects that bridge the gap between historic preservation and accessibility.

The opportunity to make shifts in the public's perception of an idealized landscape can often depend upon our ability to connect audiences with a meaningful story of the place. Three leading residential designers explain how their analysis, design, and marketing processes drive design excellence and stewardship of our lands.

As the urgency to provide access to green open space in dense urban neighborhoods increases, more parks are being constructed on structure—over buildings, highways, and bridges. This session explores these projects' technical challenges and a range of strategies for designing and engineering public open space on new and existing structures.

Landscape architects touch only one percent of the planet's surface, but massive public parks present an outsized opportunity to advance climate action, implement carbon-positive design, and increase biodiversity. With an evidence-based approach guiding design decisions, innovative examples demonstrate how complex projects can offer transferable and replicable lessons for projects of any scale.

In this session, an artist and academic, a non-profit administrator, and a design-build practitioner share their approaches to redefining our relationship with meadows. From creating community-friendly designs to engaging the meadow as an outdoor classroom to tracking and promoting native plant sales, this session explores the biodiversity of our native meadows.

This session will review how historic racist housing policies led to systemic inequities, disinvestment, and displacement of minority communities. We will address Portland's Lower Albina neighborhood, where the construction of I-5 displaced Portland's Black community, and how community-centered engagement and landscape architecture can be tools for restorative justice.