Fostering (not Fighting) Change: Innovative Approaches to Preservation Practice - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)

Recorded On: 10/11/2025

Preservation practice must evolve in the face of cultural and ecological change. When significance is grounded in the narratives people hold and the ways in which stewards care for places rather than primarily in their material condition, change and preservation are possible, often uplifting the voices of long-underrepresented communities.

Learning objectives:

Build arguments for sensitive change in historically significant sites by taking a new approach to the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines.
Recognize the multitude of decisions that landscape architects and other professionals make to balance accommodating change and preserving design integrity.
Understand change as a positive force in retaining or amplifying the relevance, quality, and performance of designed landscapes as they age.

Eric Kramer, FASLA

Principal

Reed Hilderbrand

Eric’s work focuses on questions of what landscapes communicate to and about their communities—whether cherished memories, bold aspirations or contested histories. A writer, teacher, and thought leader within the discipline, Eric’s approach to practice is rooted equally in basic research and applied design thinking. He leads commissions with the understanding that landscapes are cultural spaces speaking for the societies who build them and speaking to future generations who experience them. Eric is a board member of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, taught landscape history at Rhode Island School of Design and is teaching currently at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Mark Hough, FASLA

University Landscape Architect

Duke University

Mark Hough has guided the evolution of the dynamic Olmsted Brothers-designed campus at Duke University for 25 years. Outside of Duke, Mark is a prolific writer with a focus on cultural, campus, and urban landscapes. In his recently published book, Design Through Time, he explores the evolutionary nature of designed landscapes and the critical process of stewardship. ASLA awarded Mark the Bradford Williams Medal in 2011 and elevated him to Fellow in 2014. He currently serves on the boards of the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB) and the Association of University Landscape Architects (AULA), where he is a founding director.

Monica Rhodes, FAAR

President & Founder

Rhodes Heritage Group

Monica Rhodes is an international award-winning cultural preservationist who has made significant contributions at the intersection of history, policy, and civic engagement. She has established programs at national organizations to advance socially and economically inclusive preservation practices. Rhodes was appointed by President Joseph Biden as an Expert Member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Over the course of Rhodes' career, she has spearheaded the development of hundreds of partnerships, engaged thousands of community members and impacted millions of visitors to national parks through preservation efforts at some of our nation’s most iconic sites.