BSLA Fieldbook BSLA 2015 Spring Fieldbook | Page 33
NOW /
BSLA
LETTER FROM THE
PRESIDENT-ELECT
CHERI RUANE, ASLA
Happy World Landscape Architecture Month!
What a great time to be a landscape architect in New
England:
• We are witnessing a surge in our society’s local
awareness and willingness to take action as it relates
to impending climate change, sea level rise and storm
surge potential;
• Sustainability is now a baseline rather than a
buzzword;
• Our educational institutions are perched high on lists
of great landscape architecture schools;
• Civic leaders are demanding design excellence in public
and private developments alike;
• Boston is in the running to host the 2024 Olympics;
• Public transportation and multimodal alternatives are
actively expanding in the region.
These are exciting developments for our profession,
and we must leverage this momentum into something
more— something of great public value. The word value
is defined in many ways. For this application, consider
value as meaning: “the worth, importance, or usefulness
of something to somebody.” Isn’t that what it’s all about?
We each choose how we spend our own resources (time,
money, health, happiness), and often we make those
decisions based on the perceived value that we expect to
get back. How has what you value most informed your
choices as you make your way through life?
We’ve all arrived at this point in our careers from
different starting points, taken different routes, and we
continue to evolve as professionals in our own unique
ways. This issue of Fieldbook captures many of these stories
which begin to portray the magnitude of our collective
value as landscape architects in this region, this country
and across the globe. We do important work that is now,
more than ever, a headline rather than a footnote in society
and in our day-to-day lives.
Nationally over the past year, the
American Society of Landscape Architects
has worked to promote our value amongst
allied professionals, clients, communities,
and the public at large. Locally, the Boston
Society of Landscape Architects, as our
professional organization and through
our committed and passionate member
volunteers, has also been hard at work
to enhance your personal membership
experience and provide great value to each
of you.
BSLA again will promote April as World
Landscape Architecture Month and will
continue to champion this great profession
all year long. We ask you to consider taking
action yourself. Consider the opportunity
to provide value back to your profession:
raise awareness, run for office, serve on
your town’s design review committee, or
participate in Park(ing) Day. Get out there
and make something happen! Do what
resonates and provides worth, importance,
and usefulness to you.
President-Elect
Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
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