Advocacy

APLD Members ADVOCATE.

In our world as Landscape Designers, we advocate for our privilege to practice, our environment, our education, and for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our profession.
— APLD CA Chapter Advocacy Committee

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Advocacy can mean something different from one person to the next. The California Chapter’s Advocacy & Sustainability (A/S) Task Force was formed to consider what advocacy and sustainability mean to us as members and as a professional organization. These pages are the result.

Environment

As designers, we are the ones that create the connections between our clients and the outdoor world. We also create the connection between past, present, and future in the landscapes around us.

Education

Education is at the core of what the APLD California Chapter and Advocacy Committee Education Working Group advocate for to increase the legitimacy of our members and their profession.

Legislation

APLD California Chapter members advocate for many important causes that impact our members, profession, environment, and issues in respect to our right to practice, equity, and justice.

DEI

The triple ideal of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) is one of the core values of the California Chapter of the APLD, and members throughout our districts strive to live up to that ideal every day.

Outreach

California Chapter members are the lifeblood of APLD, and this website is a springboard to reach out to and promote our members, our causes, our accomplishments, and our activities.

It’s exciting that we can reflect on the many efforts that have been done in the past, and it’s a great time to see where we are now and where we want to put our efforts in the future.

What IS “advocacy and sustainability”? And what do we “Advocate” for?

We advocate for…

Our rights as professionals to practice our craft.
Legislation that supports our profession and commitment to the environment.
Education and professional development.
Communication and collaboration.
Our clients to enjoy healthy and beautiful living spaces designed by creative and qualified professionals.
Biological diversity, conservation, protection, and regeneration at all levels.
Cultural, social, and racial equality, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

I encourage you to explore what advocacy and sustainability mean to you. Get involved, however possible, and to whatever extent you wish. Your unique voice matters and can have immediate and long-term impacts.

— Martin Carrion van Rijn

To learn more about what the Advocacy Committee has been doing and is planning for the future, see below.

Advocacy and Sustainability Task Force

We wanted to get a fresh perspective of what advocacy means to our members and identify priorities for the Advocacy Committee to undertake, so a Task Force was formed. We kicked it off with a brainstorming/information gathering session.

A graphic recorder created an illustration on the spot during our discussion. Here is a snippet of that illustration.

(Click to enlarge)

To see the full graphic and to learn more about the process, see the article “A New Tool in the Shed: Using a Real-time Infographic to Visually Guide Next Steps” in APLD’S May 2021 Design Online, pages 4 and 5.

While a number of interests were identified, the Task Force agreed upon these top three priorities:

Our Right to Practice
Education, specifically, firescaping
Environment, specifically APLD’s Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet Initiative

Call to Action

Time is precious and interests diverse. The Advocacy Committee as a whole periodically meets, but the boots-on-the-ground action takes place in these results-oriented Working Groups that were formed to work on the top priorities. You may notice some overlap among the Working Groups. For example, the Model Water-efficient Landscape Ordinance relates to our Right to Practice as well as the Environment. Also, communication and collaboration are considered to be key in each one.

What are your interests? What are you passionate about? What expertise do you have? What can you do? Please consider joining one (or more) of the Working Groups in the following Advocacy categories:

Environment
Healthy Pots Healthy Planet (HPHP) Initiative
Education
Regenerative and Fire-resilient Landscape Design Education
Legislation
Legislation and Right to Practice
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Resources
Outreach
Website Outreach and Promotion

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Meet Our APLD CA Advocacy Chair

Cheryl Buckwalter
(Landscape Liaisons)

Cheryl Buckwalter

In the California Chapter, Cheryl is one of the members who has led the way for regional and statewide sustainability programming, education, and opportunities for APLD members to participate in productive partnerships for change.

As APLD Sacramento District president from 2007 to 2009, Cheryl solidified a now long-established structure of service and relationships to educate and advocate for ecologically responsible landscapes. Her list of collaborations and accomplishments includes state agencies and nonprofit organizations such as the California Water Efficiency Partnership’s Landscape Sub-Committee, the California Department of Water Resources Landscape Stakeholder Advisory Group (LSAG), and the Regional Water Authority.

A 2018 recipient of the APLD Award for Leadership in Landscape Sustainability, Cheryl represents a model for how APLD members can become involved in organizations, issues, and education to promote ambitious and lasting change for the betterment of our families, communities, landscapes, and environment.