Boston Flora

Tag: ecomarketplace

  • Wednesday & Thursday, August 26 & 27 – Ecological Landscape Alliance’s 32nd Annual Conference & Ecomarketplace: Navigating Uncertainty

    The Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA) is excited to announce the 2026 Annual Conference & Eco-Marketplace to be held in Providence, Rhode Island. The Annual Conference brings together leaders in ecological landscape practices with a diverse range of professionals involved in landcare, including landscape architects, designers, growers, horticulturists, land stewards, arborists, and installation/maintenance technicians. We also welcome students, educators, native plant enthusiasts, community activists, and home gardeners. The event will feature a two-day, multi-track program with opportunities to network, learn, and share new insights and strategies that contribute to sustainable and regenerative landscape management.

    Explore innovative ways to use native plants, mitigate climate change, and design spaces that encourage biodiversity, including habitats for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Join us for some interactive workshops and discussions that will equip participants with practical tools and ideas for integrating ecological principles into landscape design.

    One keynote presentation will be led by Dr. Evelyn Beaury of the New York Botanical Garden on Seeding Ecosystems of the Future. The decisions we make in our gardens will have a large effect on what species will persist under climate change, which is already impacting the distribution of biodiversity across time and space. In this talk, Dr. Beaury will discuss the latest research on these impacts and give you some ideas for how your garden can help ecosystems for the future, such as reducing the spread of invasive species and supporting climate-resilient native plants. 

    Another talk will be by Christopher Roddick , head arborist of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Working with trees is hard. The work can be demanding and sometimes dangerous: long hours in all kinds of weather, cutting wood with a chainsaw while hanging from a rope, or chipping brush into a man-eating machine.

    As hard as all of that is, it was actually far more difficult and stressful for me to acquire the level of knowledge I needed to do the job well. Thousands of plant names to memorize, insects and diseases to identify, soil science, biology, ecology, and the list goes on. It’s daunting, especially for people like myself who aren’t traditional learners. But not knowing a plant, a pollinator partner, or a mushroom growing on a tree seemed far more unsettling.

    This is the story of one tree guy’s 40-year journey, seeking knowledge from plants, trees, eccentric plant people, while fighting distraction, trying not to get killed or joining too many plant societies.

    To register for this two day event at the Omni in Providence, Rhode Island, visit https://ecolandscaping.org/events/

  • Wednesday, March 3 – Thursday, March 4, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm – ELA Virtual Conference & Eco-Marketplace

    Join the Ecological Landscape Alliance on March 3 & 4, 2021 for the 27th Conference & Eco-Marketplace – all online.  We’ll energize your practice and prepare you for spring with two full days of research and field-tested expertise, as well as innovative case studies on a wide range of topics.

    In our online conference space, you can pick and choose from presentations in multiple tracks. You can easily move from presentation to presentation with a couple of clicks, and if you miss a presentation, you’ll have access to recordings after the conference. The conference platform also lets you connect with exhibitors in their own conference spaces and network with colleagues and friends in rooms designated for that purpose. A short initial orientation and continuously available technical assistance help support a positive conference experience.

    Wednesday sessions will probe landscapes bracing for climate change. How will a changing climate affect our landscapes and our practices, and what can we do to prepare? Learn the latest research and find new information to help you prepare your landscapes for the future. Choose from two educational tracks:

    Thursday sessions in three separate tracks provide insightful explorations of landscape design, land care practices, and current hot topics. In the Focus on Design track, you can explore the connection between designs that introduce beauty and landscapes that restore natural systems, provide valuable habitat, and offer climate relief. The Focus on Practice track shares insights into innovative large-scale landscape management; delves into smaller-scale landscape projects that incorporate dry stone walls; and offers a soil update relevant to landscapes of any scale. This year’s Idea Exchanges track explores a wide range of thought provoking topics from rewilding landscapes and reconsidering the concept of Native to the intersection of the landscape profession and the issues of diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

    Fees range from $50 – $290. Register and learn more at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/ela-virtual-conference-eco-marketplace-2021/