About

ASLA Conference and Business Operations: Climate Action Commitments and Progress

2024

Status on Climate Goals

• Conference and business operations assessments will be released in 2025
• Set new goals for energy, food, waste (see details below)

Conference

Practice: Scale Up Climate Positive Approaches

• Conduct an assessment of ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture
  • Result: In Progress 
   
• Make a positive carbon contribution during the 2024 Conference by purchasing up to 3,500 tons of carbon offsets
  • Result: ASLA on track to achieve goal with offset partner National Indian Carbon Coalition
   
• Implement communications strategy to encourage attendees to take the train or carpool
  • Result: Educated members on climate impacts of different modes of transportation through conference emails, infographics, and videos
  • Result: 2024 Conference on track to see a significant reduction in air travel in favor of train travel
   
• Update future conference request for proposals to include questions about venue and hotel sustainability programs
  • Result: Completed
   
• Set new energy goal: Require renewable energy credits for any convention center not powered by on-site renewable energy or renewable energy provider
  
  • Result: Completed for 2023 and 2024 and in place for future years
   
• Set new food goal: Increase plant-based foods ordered by ASLA for the conference
  • Result: Implementation in progress for 2024 conference 
   
• Set new waste goal: 2 pounds of waste per person and a waste diversion rate of above 71%
  • Result: On track to achieve goal 
  • Waste management program within the venues has been enhanced to increase waste diversion
  • Result: All serviceware used in the conference venue to be compostable
  • Result: All serviceware used in exhibit booths to be reusable (no plasticware)
   

Equity: Empower Communities to Achieve Climate Justice

• Create ASLA Young Climate Leaders Program and invite students from Washington, D.C. high school in an underserved community
  
  • Result: Completed
   
• Invite Washington, D.C.-based climate equity and justice leaders to attend the conference
  • Result: Completed
   
• Feature Indigenous leaders and traditional ecological knowledge and other diverse leaders in conference educational program
  • Result: Completed
   

Advocacy: Build Coalitions for Climate Action

•  Create climate change and biodiversity educational tracks at the conference
  •  Result: Completed
   

• Update ASLA Exhibitor Sustainability Pledge and incentivize participation
  
  • Result: Campaign in progress to secure exhibitor participation in the 2024 Impact Assessment Survey and Pledge
  • Result: Recognize exhibitors who complete pledge in ASLA 2024 mobile app via icon
  • Result: Provide 5 percent increase in priority points for exhibitors that complete survey and pledge
  • Result: Include exhibitor pledge in ASLA 2025 exhibit booth application
  • Result: Participation in the 2025 Impact Assessment Survey added to the 2025 Exhibit Booth Contract
  • Result: New compostable serviceware mandate
   

Business Operations

• Complete assessment of ASLA business operations, which includes the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C.; LABash; and Landscape Architecture Magazine printing and shipping.
  • Result: December 2024 release
   

2023


Status on ASLA Climate Goals   

• Conference greenhouse emissions increased by 17 percent from 2022 to 2023.
  • Key causes:
    • The energy mix in Minneapolis, Minnesota included more fossil fuels than San Francisco, California, where the 2022 Conference was hosted
    • Collection of additional transportation emissions data
    • Updated methodology and calculations to align with the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative. (See 2023 assessment for updated 2022 baseline data).
     
   

Conference

• Conduct an assessment of the ASLA 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture
  • Result: Completed in 2024
   
• Create climate change and biodiversity educational tracks at the conference     
  • Result: Completed
   
• Reduce food waste. Improve food guarantees by 5% to minimize over production of food.
  • Result: Completed
   
• Improve the Waste Diversion Rate year over year by reducing the amount of landfill from the conference, with a goal of less than 4.9 pounds per person (per EPA).  
  • Result: 2.27 lbs per person and waste diversion rate of 71%
   
• Make a positive carbon contribution by purchasing 1,500 tons of carbon offsets
  
  • Result: 1,226 tons of offsets purchased from partner Green Minneapolis  
   
• Launch a new Sustainability Pledge for EXPO exhibitors
  • Result: 44 firms signed on
   
• Develop a strategy to reduce transportation emissions for attendees and exhibitors traveling to and from the conference and while traveling in the host city.
  • Result: Initial strategy developed, with focus on incentivizing train travel and carpooling for the 2024 conference.  
   

2022

Status on Climate Goals

• ASLA Climate Action Plan released with key goals for ASLA and the profession
  
  • Set goal of reducing conference and business operations emissions by 20 percent for 2024
  • Set goal of achieving zero-emission conference and business operations by 2040 
  • Set goal of publicly-releasing annual conference and business operations sustainability assessments
   

Conference

• Conducted a baseline audit of the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture, released in 2023