Conference & Events
DREAM BIG with Design: 2025 Curriculum Showcase
.jpg?n=8394 "Curriclum Showcase 2025 (3)")
Photo credit: istockphoto.com / Jacob Wackerhausen
STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT!
Apply to showcase your prek-12 educational resources.
Building on four years of DREAM BIG with Design programming, ASLA will host its first in-person DREAM BIG with Design: Curriculum Showcase at the ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture.
The showcase will be a festive addition to the conference and will feature design-centered educational resources that connect landscape architecture to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects.
Content developers including ASLA members, project teams, and exhibitors are invited to showcase their resources with presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on activities.
Resources such as lesson plans, educational research projects, academic publications, children's books, board games, card games, learning programs, and more will be considered.
What can attendees expect?
Participating educators (classroom teachers, school counselors, afterschool leaders, and families) will:
- Learn about landscape architecture as a vibrant profession and career option.
- Network with landscape architects.
- Learn strategies to integrate landscape architecture and design principles into STEM curricula.
- Leave with free resources to share with students.
Participating ASLA members and design professionals will:
- Learn about design-centered education, research, and curriculum development.
- Network with educators and learn from their stories, perspectives, and classroom needs.
- Get inspiration to design resources that inspire the next generation of landscape architects.
Get Involved
- Save the Date: Sunday, October 12, 2025, 2-4:30pm.
- Learn more about the DREAM BIG with Design program below.
- Apply to showcase your resources by Monday, September 1.
- Become a Sponsor of the DREAM BIG with Design: Curriculum Showcase. Contact Judy Mehlman, Development Coordinator, at jmehlman@asla.org.
About DREAM BIG with Design
Launched in 2021, DREAM BIG with Design is ASLA's first conference experience for prek-12 student and educator audiences. To date, DREAM BIG with Design events have included two virtual conferences, one in-person conference, and two professional development events for educators.
Pre-Conference Highlights:
In April 2021, ASLA partnered with HHMI Studios and PBS Nature to host a screening of the PBS Nature film, My Garden of a Thousand Bees. The screening was followed by a post-film discussion on Designing for Pollinators with Patricia Algara, ASLA and Clay Bolt, award-winning World Wildlife Fund photographer. Watch the post-film discussion.
In June 2021, ASLA launched DREAM BIG with Minecraft, its first virtual competition for high school students using the popular design and build game played by millions of youth and adult gamers around the world. The competition brought together a diverse community of students from Washington, DC, Miami, FL and New York, NY. View the photo gallery of winning designs.
In September 2021, ASLA launched its inaugural PreK-12 Summit which included two full days of virtual sessions led by landscape architect teams from Legoland Florida, Walt Disney, the Boy Scouts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and more. Program highlights included Story Time (presented in Spanish, Mandarin, and American Sigh Language), an educator session on Next Generation Science Standards from the Chief Learning Officer at the National Science Teachers Association, and a surprise appearance from award-winning children's musician, Billy Jonas who led our prek-grade 5 attendees into conference breaks with his hit song L-M-N-O-P Break. ASLA also partnered with Jonas to produce and release the fun kid's song The Big Idea! Watch The Big Idea! video.
In September 2022, ASLA hosted its second PreK-12 Summit with live, interactive sessions that explored the future of landscape architecture, pollinator design, bee conservation, drone technology, and theme park design. Special guests included landscape architects, noted scientist/entomologist Dr. Samuel Ramsey, award-winning World Wildlife Fund photographer Clay Bolt, and Chip Sullivan, FASLA.
Experience DREAM BIG with Design Now!
Access video recordings from DREAM BIG with Design at no cost below.
Please direct questions to Lisa J. Jennings, Senior Manager, Career Discovery and Diversity at ljennings@asla.org.
DREAM BIG with Design and all other Career Discovery programming would not be possible with the support of the ASLA Fund and its generous sponsors.