by Lee Parks, International ASLA, and LIAO Jingjing
On November 18, 2023, the 10th Shanghai Landscape Forum took center stage at the Shanghai International Design Festival. Instigated by founding firms Sasaki, SWA, and AECOM and co-organized with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Hassell, and ASPECT Studios, the theme for the forum was “Climate Action, Now!” This focused on strengthening awareness of ASLA’s Climate Action Plan and was the first forum to include live presentations from ASLA speakers in the United States to a live Shanghai audience.
To open the forum, Shuyi Chang, ASLA, co-founder of the Shanghai Landscape Forum, set the stage for the Climate Action Now theme with a compelling reminder of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement which gave rise to international consensus to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. Shuyi then introduced the forum presentations around decarbonization, extreme heat, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and more.
Sarah Fitzgerald, ASLA – Associate at SWA Group, Climate and Sustainability Lead
As an ASLA Climate Action Plan Task Force member and SWA’s firmwide climate champion, Sarah Fitzgerald presented the ASLA Climate Action Plan (CAP)—an industry-wide strategy to decarbonize and enhance the environmental and societal impacts of landscape architecture as a profession. She explained the CAP structure, the vision, goals and initiatives, and then focused on specific examples of how ASLA is advancing carbon drawdown, as well as how designers can utilize the Climate Action Field Guide to push decarbonization in practice. She encouraged landscape architects to act faster and to utilize resources such as the ASLA Climate Action Field Guide and the Climate Positive Design Pathfinder tool.
Scott Bishop, ASLA – Founding Principal of Bishop Land Design
Scott Bishop introduced the Equity Initiative for Cultural Empowerment and the Advocacy Initiative for Global Alliance, citing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Scott’s commitment to the CAP was reflected in the Q&A when he quipped about the risk of losing projects when insisting that clients take action to tackle climate change. His honesty was a refreshing reminder to landscape professionals in China to stand up and be prepared to do more to address the climate and biodiversity crises.
SOM
Look both ways: investigation into compound solutions to address the planet’s recovery
Robert Alan Lewis – Open Space Practice Leader
Through a series of recent multi-scale global explorations across different climate and geographic conditions, Alan Lewis shared compound solutions to address the planet’s recovery. He drew examples from a community-stewarded eco-park which seeks to transform a branch of the Chicago River from an industrial canal into an inviting habitat for wildlife and a living laboratory for education and research at Wild Mile. Alan also introduced the Cedar Creek Waterway Master Plan, a trail system to link a series of new parks and public destinations as part of Abilene, Texas’ goal to strengthen its downtown community and celebrate its natural resources.
Sasaki
From Climate to Action: Design Exploration of Co-evolution with Nature
Xu Han – Urban Designer and Jing Liu – Landscape Architect
From Boston’s climate change strategic plan to the master plan for Huangshi Bay Coastal Park, Sasaki offered interventions across various scales and levels. These strategies aim to assist communities in managing disasters, fostering connections, protecting coastal areas, and enhancing the resilience and adaptability of infrastructure and buildings.
SWA
SWA’s Climate Infrastructure Toolkit
Jonah Susskind – Senior Research Associate, Zhilan Song – Associate, and Wenxin Deng – Designer
Zhilan Song and Wenxin Deng presented alongside Jonah Susskind to introduce XL Lab’s Climate Infrastructure Toolkit—an impact-based tool to scale up and accelerate climate action within SWA’s professional services. This simple, easy to use tool is designed to support the four ways that landscape architects, planners, and urban designers can address climate change in order to scale up and speed up climate action in the built environment.
This project was developed through XL Lab, SWA’s firm-wide research and innovation platform. The team used literature review, existing certification programs, peer review, and case studies including resilience, net zero carbon, and performance-based sustainable options to inform the tool. The project extends SWA’s work and research on applied climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
ASPECT Studios
Exploration of Heat and Optimizing Thermal Comfort
Damian Holmes – Chief Technical Officer
ASPECT Studios’ Damian Holmes featured as a virtual speaker with the topic ‘Exploration of Heat and Optimizing Thermal Comfort,’ in which he provided valuable insights on how to mitigate urban heat and the landscape architect’s role in designing for urban cooling. The key points included selecting climate adaptive vegetation, providing shade, material selection to reduce heat, utilizing green infrastructure, educating people, and collaboration with other disciplines to increase urban cooling opportunities.
AECOM
Digital Design and Carbon-Negative Landscape
Xiaofei Shen – Head of AECOM iLab in China and Jingjing Liao – Landscape Designer
Centered around the theme of ‘Digital Design and Carbon-Negative Landscapes,’ Xiaofei Shen shared global cases to examine how digital technology can empower the design industry. Viable zero-carbon strategies and technological solutions were presented with the assistance of digital tools developed by iLab, such as SSIM Rapid and a tool currently under development called AECOMzero. Subsequently, landscape designer Liao Jingjing demonstrated the application of AECOM tools for the Suzhou Taihu Greenway, a landscape planning project that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology for a sustainable future.
Hassell
Sean Lin – Principal and Yuru Ding – Researcher
All Things Living Together: Reflections on the Relationship between Environmental Climate and Place
Hassell focused on how we can live better with nature and how the company is taking action through their commitment to sustainability and community engagement. This was illustrated using the Tongzhou Green Heart project, which turned a polluted industrial area into an extensive urban forest park, and a recent installation called ‘cohabitate’ for the Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (SUSAS) 2023. The key points included advocacy to bring nature back to the city, provide opportunities for education, and how to increase the value of design to make measurable and positive impacts for our environment, communities, and the next generation.
Roundtable Discussion
Following the presentations, a roundtable discussion was hosted by Dou Zhang, FASLA, Director at Sasaki and co-founder of the Shanghai Landscape Forum. Guests from USGBC, TREND, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University, and Shanghai Longlv Building Technology Company, Ltd, discussed issues related to low carbon buildings and carbon neutrality, green building certification, green co-governance, and flood risk to Shanghai.
Closing Speech
Lee Parks, International ASLA, Executive Director, Landscape at AECOM
To close the forum, Lee Parks summarized the need to increases awareness and advocacy of ASLA’s Climate Action Plan and encouraged the audience to do more to take climate action right now!
Lee Parks, International ASLA, is a British landscape architect, Executive Director at AECOM, and co-founder of the Shanghai Landscape Forum, based in Shanghai. Lee is a Teaching Fellow at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and his practice and research focuses on ecological landscape planning, green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and ecological planting design.
LIAO Jingjing, Master, is a landscape designer at AECOM. Her research focuses on green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and community renewal and empowerment.
