As you start planning for the New Year, take a look at the Living Landscape Observer events calendar.
Over the next six months, there are lots of opportunities to advance all of our understandings of large landscapes and living places.
- January 14-15 – First up is the Conservation Landscapes Summit Naturally Connecting People and Places in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This conference was rescheduled from its original date in October and features two nationally known experts on large landscapes – Lynn Scarlett, co-director of the Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth, and Rob Pirani of the Regional Plan Association. Also inspirational will be panels featuring grassroots leaders who have tackled land conservation, recreation and trails, and heritage tourism. It is not too late to register and it is worth the drive to Harrisburg to hear Ta Brant talk about her work in the Pennsylvania Wilds. http://www.pawilds.com
- March 11-15 – The George Wright Society holds its conference every other year and it is the place to catch up on the latest trends in protected areas management. The 2013 conference Protected Areas in a Changing World will be held in Denver, Colorado. Look for sessions on federal landscape scale policy initiatives, a report on international cultural landscape efforts, and the emerging concept of Indigenous Cultural Landscapes.
- April 12-13 – The Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning is only held every three years and this is the year! Planned for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the event brings together experts who are influencing landscape planning, policy making and greenway planning from the local to international level. A special session is scheduled on state and national heritage areas from the foundation of the movement to predictions on its future.
- May 2-4 – US ICOMOS 16th Annual Conference titled The Historic Center and the Next City: Envisioning Urban Heritage Evolution will be held in Savannah, Georgia. The conference will join in the discussion of the recent UNESCO ‘Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape’ encouraging a landscape approach to the study and conservation of cities within their broader urban contexts and their geographical settings.
- May 30-June 2 – The Society for Industrial Archaeology will be holding its annual meeting in the twin cites of Minneapolis/ St. Paul. Admirers of big stuff will gather to tour the industrial landscapes of the twin cities and to share their expertise on industrial places across the nation.
So pull out your planners and I predict that 2013 could be a landmark year for the living landscape movement.