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ASLA/IFLA 2025 Global Impact Award. Testing Ground: Adapting Fairways to Resilient Barrier Isle Ecosystems. Jekyll Island, Georgia. Design Workshop, Inc. / Jekyll Island Authority / Design Workshop, Inc.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) announced that the Testing Ground: Adapting Fairways to Resilient Barrier Isle Ecosystems in Jekyll Island, by the landscape architecture firm Design Workshop and their client the Jekyll Island Authority has won the ASLA/IFLA 2025 Global Impact Award.

The ASLA/IFLA Global Impact Award is presented to a project in the Analysis and Planning category of the annual ASLA Awards. The award is given to a work of landscape architecture that demonstrates excellence in addressing climate impacts through transformative action, scalable solutions, and adherence to ASLA’s and IFLA’s climate action commitments.  

The Jekyll Island restoration project reverses decades of sea-level rise and the loss of biodiversity and cultural landscapes. It transforms an aging golf course into thriving native habitats—restoring longleaf pine savannas, salt marshes, and sweetgrass prairies. In honoring the island’s ecological heritage and resilience, the project sets a national model for coastal restoration and sustainable development.  

“Our collaboration with the Jekyll Island Authority and local experts reimagines what former golf courses can be—resilient landscapes that elevate ecology, experience, and cultural connection. Georgia holds one-third of the East Coast’s vital salt marshes; therefore, repurposing degraded and underutilized coastal areas sets a vital national precedent,” said Emily McCoy, Principal-in-Charge at Design Workshop, FASLA, PLA. “By blending science, art, and community insight, the project addresses sea-level rise, biodiversity loss, and freshwater challenges with creativity and purpose.”

In using strategic restoration and adaptive management, the project seeks to enhance biodiversity, climate resilience, and soil health. The landscape architects behind the project removed turfgrass and invasive plants, reintroduced fire-adapted native plants, and designed habitats for target species. Their vision transforms the landscape into interconnected habitats that support threatened and at-risk species while increasing ecosystem stability, showing how landscape architecture can help mitigate the effects of climate change. They also repurposed existing infrastructure to anticipate sea-level rise and increased storm surges.   

The restoration is also notable because it honors Jekyll Island’s rich cultural history, especially the Gullah Geechee people. Reintroducing sweetgrass pays homage to their traditional craft, while interpretive trails, art, and educational displays immerse visitors in the island’s complex ecological and cultural narratives and legacies. Elevated boardwalks and a living classroom provide firsthand learning experiences, fostering environmental stewardship and public appreciation for coastal ecosystems. 

The Global Impact Award was announced as part of the ASLA 2025 Professional Awards. This year, 35 winners in multiple categories showcase innovation and represent the highest level of achievement in the landscape architecture profession. Read more in the awards press release.  

Award recipients and their clients will be honored in person at the awards presentation ceremony at the ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture in New Orleans, October 10-13. Media are invited to attend; please email press@asla.org for credentials. For more information, visit www.aslaconference.com.

Members of the media please contact press@asla.org to request hi-res images.

Award Categories

General Design

Award of Excellence
​​​A Floating Forest: Fish Tail Park in Nanchang City
Nanchang, China
Turenscape 

Honor Award
The Beach at Elliott Bay
Seattle, Washington 
SurfaceDesign, Inc. 

Honor Award
Guitou Wetland Park: Reclaiming Public Space for the Rural Forgotten
Shaoguan City, China 
YXDesigners 

Honor Award
The Ellen DeGeneres Campus for the Dian Fossey Fund
Kinigi, Rwanda 
MASS Design Group + TEN x TEN 

Honor Award
More than Human: A Land Bridge for Cultural and Wildlife Connections
San Antonio, Texas
STIMSON 

Honor Award
The Shepherd Arts Park: Community, Art, Play
Detroit, Michigan
OSD – Office of Strategy & Design 

Honor Award
A Walk in the Woods: Re-Wilding, Experimentation and Pedagogy at UMass
Amherst, Massachusetts
STIMSON   

Honor Award
Waterloo Park: Reclaiming Public Space in the Center of Austin
Austin, Texas
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. 

Honor Award
Mill 19: A Catalytic Postindustrial Landscape
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TEN x TEN + D.I.R.T. Studio 

Urban Design

Honor Award
Jiaxing Station Park
Zhejiang, China
Z'scape + MAD 

Honor Award
Shanghai Underpass Hubs: Bridging Divides, Building Community
Shanghai, China
FISH DESIGN 

Honor Award
China Basin Park: A Dynamic Urban Connector
San Francisco, California
SCAPE 

Honor Award
Generosity of Place: Water Street Tampa’s Continuous Canopy
Tampa, Florida
Reed Hilderbrand LLC 

Honor Award
​​Turning Gray into Green: Meishe River Greenway and Fengxiang Park​
Haikou City, China
Turenscape 

Honor Award
UNIT.City: Transforming an Industrial Zone into an Innovation District
Kyiv, Ukraine
KOTSIUBA 

Residential Design

Award of Excellence
And the Wild Comes Right up to the Door
Princeton, Massachusetts
STIMSON 

Honor Award
The Little Project: Unlocking the Potential of an Everyday Urban Lot
St. Paul, Minnesota
Ping Design LLC 

Honor Award 
Huckleberry Perch
Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts
Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design 

Honor Award 
Inez Point: Embracing an Old Growth Forest
Whitefish, Montana
Design Workshop, Inc. 

Honor Award
Springy Banks
East Hampton, New York
LaGuardia Design Group 

Honor Award
Sendero Verde
New York, New York
AECOM LAUD NYC 

Honor Award
Norweta
Chicago, Illinois
Site Design Group, Ltd. Honor Award

Analysis & Planning

Award of Excellence 
Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park: A Landscape of Healing and Renewal
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Design Collective with Carmichael Associates 

Honor Award
Somerville Pollinator Action Plan: A Pollinator’s Guide to City Living
Somerville, Massachusetts
Offshoots, Inc. 

Honor Award 
Rural Abundance & Vitality: The Chaobai River Basin
Tianjin Municipality, China
Sasaki Associates, Inc  

Honor Award
Sea2City: Reimagining Reconciliation in Design and Policy
Vancouver, Canada
Mithun + ONE, and PWL Partnership 

Communications

Honor Award
Greening Five Points: Growing a Grassroots Movement in Denver
Denver, Colorado 
Design Workshop + Design Workshop Foundation 

Honor Award
WORKS with Nature: Low-Carbon Adaptation for a Changing World
Boston, Massachusetts
Climate Positive Design 

Honor Award
Playbook for the Pyrocene
SWA Group 

Honor Award
Empty Pedestals
Southwestern U.S.
Kofi Boone, FASLA & M. Elen Deming, FASLA 

Research

Honor Award 
About Time: Adaptive Management for Coastal Salt Marshes
Stone Harbor, New Jersey
University of Pennsylvania Environmental Modeling Lab (EMLab) 

Honor Award
Charles River Floating Wetland Pilot Project: Multi-Year Findings
Boston, Massachusetts
Sasaki Associates, Inc + The Hideo Sasaki Foundation and Dr. McNamara Rome 

Honor Award
LONGQUAN MOUNTAIN Park: Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research
Sichuan, China
ZAP Associates LLC 

Jury: General Design, Residential Design, Urban Design & Landmark Award

Jury Chair: Thomas Balsley, FASLA, SWA/Balsley

Members:

Jury: Analysis & Planning ASLA / IFLA Global Impact Award, Research, Communications & Landmark Award

Jury Chair: Diane Fernandez Bibeau, ASLA, City of Boston 

Members:

IFLA Representative: Monica Pallares Trujillo, IFLA America Region 

CELA Representative: Bo Zhang, ASLA, Oklahoma State University 

LAF Representative: Signe Nielsen, FASLA, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, P.C.