Virtual LA CES™ Education Sessions

We are pleased to bring you live virtual learning opportunities and look forward to joining you and your team. Additional live events are in planning for 2023. Please sign-up for our E-NEWS to be alerted when new sessions become available.

 

 

 

THE POWER OF SACRED PLACES: A Primer on Nature Sacred’s Community-Led Design Methodology for Healing Green Space

Credits: 1.0 PDH
Speakers: Erin Robertson | Chief Programs Officer @Nature Sacred
Neha Srinivasan | Sacred Place Project Manager @Nature Sacred

• REGISTER | May 30, 2023 | 2 PM EST
• LA CES Quiz | complete for a LA CES™ certificate of completion after watching the course

 
Nature Sacred exists to inspire, inform and guide communities in the creation of public green spaces—called Sacred Places—designed to improve mental health, unify communities and engender peace. Through a collaborative, community-led process and an evidence-based design model, each Sacred Place is bonded together by a common goal: to reconnect people with nature in ways that foster mindful reflection, restore mental health and strengthen communities. As each community imagines its own space, the design becomes a unique reflection of the community’s culture, story and place—making it inherently sacred to them.

This certification program is intended to give an introduction to the tools necessary to help guide community members through the various stages of this process and to design the Sacred Place. The program will discuss our model, our approach, and our network; we will show examples of past built projects to reinforce how Nature Sacred’s goals to engage community and create a reflective space were met in each project.

Learning objectives:
1. Become familiar with the research backing nature interventions and Sacred Place creation.
2. Develop an understanding of the 5 elements of a Sacred Place, including the importance of the experience on and around the Nature Sacred Bench.
3. Recognize the uniqueness of each site and each community, including maintenance regime and capability, in order to produce a culturally responsive Sacred Place design.
4. Understand the Design Advisor’s role in the different phases of the project, from initial site inspection, to the 2 charettes and steering committee actions and to the final design plans developed for the space.

Erin Robertson
Chief Programs Officer @Nature Sacred
Erin joined Nature Sacred in 2015, and has since created the Nature Sacred Network, a thriving coalition of Firesouls who convene, share, learn, and grow from each other. It was from this Network and its collective strength that the potential to scale the organization’s outcomes was born. Inspired by the power of nature to transform individuals and communities, she believes that bonded together, Sacred Places can have a real impact on a city’s health and prosperity. As Chief Programs Officer, she continues to work to place a spotlight on the way these greenspaces can foster thriving and resilient cities in lasting, meaningful ways. Prior to joining Nature Sacred, Erin was with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s development department. She also previously served as Legislative Director for the Majority Leader of the Maryland State Senate. Erin is a graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, MD, and currently resides in Annapolis with her husband and four children. Erin gets her 20 minutes a day of nature by walking with (chasing) her children and golden retriever through the many beautiful parks in Maryland, coaching youth sports, and connecting with Firesouls and communities in Nature Sacred’s vibrant and growing Network of Sacred Places.
 
Neha Srinivasan
Sacred Place Project Manager @Nature Sacred
Neha’s training in landscape architecture and environmental science combine with her talent for art and writing to make her a versatile thinker who can creatively solve complex problems. Whether she’s designing a small space or planning for a larger region, her aspiration is always to create resilient, sustainable urban spaces that honor the communities she works with, both human and natural. As the Sacred Places Project Manager, she leverages the entirety of her diverse skill set on projects that foster enduring positive environmental, social, economic, and aesthetic change. Neha graduated with a B.S. in environmental science and a Master’s of Landscape Architecture, both from the University of Michigan. In her spare time, Neha enjoys reading, various forms of art, and dancing. She gets her 20 minutes a day of nature by taking as many of these activities outdoors as possible, soaking up every stray ray of sunshine spilling through her windows, and talking to her houseplants.
 

 

 

 

 

The logo and word marks “LA CES” and “Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System” are a collaboration of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board, and the Landscape Architecture Foundation.