Great Lakes Region Climate Action Seminar - Day 1 (1/29/2026)

Disaster & Refuge in the Great Lakes: Preparing for Vulnerability and Possibility inthe Climate Crisis

January 29 & 30, 2026

Format: Two half-day virtual seminarsoffering 5 LACES PDH (pending) each day.

The NY Upstate, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan,Illinois, Wisconsinand Minnesota Chapters ofthe American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), as well as the Ontario Associationof Landscape Architects (OALA), are collaborating on the 2026 Great Lakes Region Climate Action Seminar. This is the fourth event in a series aimed to explore and expand landscape architects' and allied professionals' role regarding climate change impacts occurring in urban and natural systems across the Great Lakes Region.

Description:

The theme for the 2026 Seminar is Disaster & Refuge in the Great Lakes: Preparing for Vulnerability and Possibility in the Climate Crisis.

While the Great Lakes Region isn’t commonly perceived as vulnerable to climate change,the impacts of the climate crisis are real and intensifying. Extreme rainfall events and flooding, fluctuating lake levels, heat wave intensity, dangerous air quality, invasive species, and rapid ecosystem changes are occurring with greater magnitude across the Great Lakes. Additionally, the Region faces serious challenges with a vast and aging infrastructure system, legacy industrial contamination, densely populated urban centers, aquatic algal blooms, and fragmented and vulnerable shorelines, all of which will intensify in the changing climate.

Yet, as the largest source of freshwater in North America, the Region also holds great potential as a climate refuge for people needing to relocate from other regions in the U.S. prone to devastating wildfires, hurricanes, sea-level rise, extreme heat, and extreme aridity. The likelihood of populations migrating toward the Great Lakes prompts urgent questions about how to build and strengthen ecological resilience in the region while also preparing for significant demographic transformation.

The goal of the 2026 Great Lakes Region Climate Action Seminar is to share new, emerging, and even radical research, practice, engagement, and financial models needed to address Great Lakes vulnerabilities and possibilities for its future. The seminar will offer informative presentations, provocative proposals, collaborative discussions, and interactive reflections on these intense subjects of concern. We hope to inspire each other, raise questions, identify opportunities, and emerge with new understanding in this work so that we can create, facilitate, and respond to vital initiatives and research to protect and prepare for change in the Great Lakes.

This symposium will bring landscape architects and allied professionbals, educators, and communities together to talk about the pressing challenges facing our region and will unpack how critical partnerships are taking shape to address new challenges and opportunities.

Program Overview & Schedule(all times listed are Central time) January 29, 2026

Day 1 Schedule(9am–2:15 pm Central Time)

9-10 am CT(1.0 LACES HSW)
Keynote - Disaster, Refuge, and the Middle of the Map: The Great Lakes as America's Climate Counterpoint
Presenter: Jonah Susskind, Director of Climate Strategy, SWA

10-11:30 am CT(1.5 LACES HSW)
a. The Port Lands Flood Protection Project: Leading with Landscape,
Presenter: Shannon Baker
b.Resilient by Necessity, Successful by Design: Constructing Climate-ready Shorelines, Presenters: Herb Sweeney, Matthew Bird, Paloma Garcia

11:45 am–12:45 pm CT(1.0 LACES HSW)
Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization: Ecologically Driven Habitat Design Adds Value to Climate Response Infrastructure Investments,
Presenters: Heidi Natura, Hannah Cusick, Jessica Gonzalez

12:45-2:15 pm CT(1.5 LACES HSW)
a. Waste to Refuge: Salvaged Wood for Climate-Resilient Design,
Presenter: J. Zac Tolbert
b. Same City, Different Heat: Designing for Climate Resiliency in the Urban Age,
Presenters: Yi Zhang
c. MKSK Carbon Sequestration Field Guides,
Presenters: JoeChambers,David Stokesd
d. Day 1 Closing Panel Discussion, Moderator: Sara Constantineau and Cat Kana, ASLA Upstate NY Chapter

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Keynote - Disaster, Refuge, and the Middle of the Map: The Great Lakes as America's Climate Counterpoint

Description coming soon...

The Port Lands Flood Protection Project: Leading with Landscape

The Port Lands Flood Protection Project: Leading with LandscapeThe Port Lands Flood Protection and Enabling Infrastructure (PLFP) Project is a $1.4B landscapeinfrastructure project led by Waterfront Toronto, funded by the three levels of government. In addition toproviding flood protection to approximately 250ha offlood vulnerable lands, this project will transform ~30hectares of industrial brownfields into a naturalized, multi-outlet river valley system, while unlocking thearea for revitalization and facilitate billions of dollars in investment. PLFP improves quality of life, bringnature back to an underused industrial site and better protect waterfront neighbourhoods from climatechange and extreme weather conditions.

Resilient by Necessity, Successful by Design: Constructing Climate-ready Shorelines

By both necessity and choice, many cities located along the shoreline of the Great Lakes are reconsidering their relationship to the water’s edge, looking for ways to achieve greater ecologicalbalance, resilience, and meaningful community access. Landscape architecture brings together themultiple benefits that these cities are seeking. Addressing sites that range from post-industrial brownfieldsto underutilized open spaces, this presentation will share the story of three new riverfronts that arehelping prepare Great Lakes cities for the future.

Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization: Ecologically Driven Habitat Design Adds Value toClimate Response Infrastructure Investments

In this session, listeners will learn about the Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project inZion, IL. Living Habitats, the landscape architect and ecological consultant on the project, will convey theimportance of role that LA’s can play in creating space for habitat design on projects that are inherentlyfocused on traditional engineering solutions and how stabilization structures can be amended toincorporate habitat design solutions that are ecologically-focused. Lastly, the team will relay howinterdisciplinary teams can collaborate to use salvaged site materials when paired with custom elementsto make for ideal aquatic and avian habitat conditions.

Waste to Refuge: Salvaged Wood for Climate-Resilient Design
Each year, millions of trees are lost across the Great Lakes region to storms, pests, and development—most ending up as waste. This session reimagines that loss as opportunity. Waste to Refuge: SalvagedWood for Climate-Resilient Design explores how storm-fallen and removed trees can be transformed intodurable, low-carbon materials that mitigate climate impactand support local economies. Blending data,design, and storytelling, the session highlights real-world case studies—from residential projects to post-disaster recovery—showing how salvaged wood turns vulnerability into regeneration and aligns with the2026 Climate Action Seminar theme: Disaster and Refuge.

Same City, Different Heat: Designing for Climate Resiliency in the Urban Age
This session explores how extreme heat is reshaping pedestrian infrastructure and public health in urbanenvironments.Drawing from personal experience and peer-reviewed research, it examines designstrategies such as shade, materials, and rest access that enhance equity and mobility. Grounded inexamples from New York City and the Great Lakes region, the session connectsclimate science, urbandesign, and social resilience. It offers actionable insights for planners, designers, and policy makers whoare working to adapt the built environment to meet the challenges of a rapidly warming world.

MKSK Carbon Sequestration Field Guides
For the last few years, the focus of fighting climate change has been shifting in the design professions,opening opportunities for landscape architects to play a larger role in sustainable design and planning.Carbon sequestration through high biomass planting is a practice central to landscape architects’expertise. These practices have great potential to reduce atmospheric carbon while providing manyenvironmental co-benefits, however, there is a lack of resources for landscape architects to easilycommunicate these practices to communities and developers. In 2023/24 MKSK developed a series ofCarbon Sequestration Field Guides that seek to address this gap.

Day 1 Closing Panel Discussion
This session is structured as a roundtable discussion designed to help participants consider ways totranslate ideas into action. Building on the conference’s themes, the conversation will encourageattendees to reflect on what they learned, identify opportunities for interdisciplinary or regionalcollaboration,and examine barriers that prevent climate strategies from advancing in practice. Thediscussion will also explore ways to build and sustain networks that support long-term climate action andcarry conference momentum forward

___________________________________________

REGISTRATION RATES

• ASLA or OALA Member: $35/day (includes LACES credits)
• Emerging Professional ASLA Member: $25/day (An emerging professional is an ASLA member who has graduated within the last 5 years)
• Student: Free
• Non Members: $50/day (includes LACES, CM or PIE credits - pending)

THIS EVENT HAS A 2 PART REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Your registration confirmation email will include a link to the Zoom registration. After completing the Zoom registration, you will receive a link and password to access the event.