Professional Practice Network Chairs Share Accomplishments and Goals

ASLA’s 17 Professional Practice Networks range in size from slightly more than 100 to over 1,000 members. While size and content area of groups are varied, most groups have in common certain practical issues, such as how to garner articles for newsletters, how to communicate more effectively among members, and how to determine member interests and needs. Every year the PPN Council, consisting of PPN chairs, Council leaders, the ASLA VP for Information and Practice, and ASLA Professional Practice staff have the opportunity to come together at the Annual Meeting prior to the individual PPN meetings.

This year’s Council received a warm welcome from incoming President Perry Howard, FASLA, and Executive Vice President Nancy Somerville, who emphasized the importance of the PPNs to ASLA. The meeting that followed was a lively and productive one, with chairs sharing achievements, goals, and suggestions for the coming year.

Highlights of reports from the PPNs include:

• Context-Sensitive Solutions in Transportation Chair Tom Doolittle, ASLA, reported that the PPN facilitated ASLA’s sponsorship of a midyear meeting of the Transportation Research Board.
• Jon Burley, ASLA, International Practice PPN Chair, said that there are two issues of particular interest to the group’s members: 1) nongovernmental organizations, and 2) how to work in a particular country.
• Nana Kirk, ASLA, said that as the new chair of Housing and Community Design, her goal is to find out who the group’s members are.
• Water Conservation’s incoming cochair Rick Wagner, ASLA, said that his group asked the question “who are we” at last year’s meeting in Minneapolis. Wagner spearheaded the development of a Water Conservation PPN member survey to address that question.
• Ben Dozier, ASLA, the new chair of the Design/Build.PPN, said that last year’s meeting covered large, broad issues, and he is looking forward to the challenge of narrowing down the topics and focusing on a few.
• Sustainable Design & Development PPN cochairs Allegra Bukojemsky, ASLA, and Deb Guenther, ASLA, reported that the group is now looking to function as a PPN, after having focused for so long on developing the Sustainable Sites Initiative, which is now “out of our hands.” The officers would like to see more coordination on sustainability among PPNs, and suggested other PPNs might make use of the case study form recently produced by the group.
• Campus Planning & Design’s Gary Brown, who is finishing his term as cochair, reported that the PPN had an informal campus tour, as it has in past years. A goal for next year will be to lobby for an official tour.
• Healthcare & Therapeutic Design’s cochairs Naomi Sachs, ASLA, and Marguerite Koepke, ASLA, are looking forward to using the group’s new e-community, pointing to the benefit that all discussions will be archived. The PPN is the first recipient of a PPN Initiatives grant and wants to make the most of it.
• Jim Speck, ASLA, chair of Parks and Recreation, has as a goal to follow up on informal discussions held with the National Recreation & Parks Association and to develop a consistent relationship with that organization.
• Restoration and Reclamation PPN cochairs Lee Skabelund, ASLA, and Joe Howard, ASLA, reported that three ed sessions in this interest area were proposed for this year’s Annual Meeting, resulting in both a tour and an ed session. One of the goals of this practice area is to consider how to bridge the gap between science and practice.
• Chris Pattillo, ASLA, cochair of the Historic Preservation PPN, says the main effort this year has been supporting the Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS). Members also presented an ed session at this year’s meeting.

For additional information about ASLA’s PPNs, visit the PPN web page at http://www.asla.org/members/ppn/home.htm or contact Rachel Shaw, Manager of Professional Practice, at rshaw@asla.org.