WE LIVE in extraordinary times. Our daily existence is longer, safer, and healthier than at any point in human history. And yet, we worry. For these are also confusing times, scary times. We are richer but less equal, more tolerant but also more envious. Politics are in turmoil, our leaders either technicians or tyrants. We dwell among flickering images, ceding our lives and our politics to the machines (and the elite that controls them). Through it all seeps the terrible realization that, day by day and thread by thread, our species is undoing the fabric of life on Earth. Forget Pascal’s ‘thinking reed.’ We are a thinking asteroid.

IN 2020 the European Conference of Landscape Architecture Educators will consider what landscape architecture, and landscape architects, say to this moment. We will pause, remove our professional masks, and reveal our values, hopes, and fears. We will put aside practical aims and ambitions to talk about what really matters—for ourselves, for our discipline, and for the world we leave to others. We will call things by their proper names, hear ourselves saying what we dare not say elsewhere. If only for a moment, we will stop and think.

WE INVITE you to join us. Submit your proposal for academic paper; academic paper session; thematic roundtable/workshop; exhibition/installation; performance/event; or excursion by following the link below. You will be asked to 1) explain why your contribution is important, 2) describe what you intend to do, and 3) specify any technical and/or logistical requirements. The maximum length for each of these sections is 150 words. PhD students: please note (in the ‘Other’ field) whether you wish your proposal to be considered for the PhD colloquium, general conference, or both.

THE DEADLINE for proposal submission is 31 January 2020.

WE LOOK forward to seeing you in Uppsala on 13-16 September 2020!

ECLAS 2020 Steering Committee (Bruno Santesson, Thomas Oles, Burcu Yigit Turan)

Download the full conference call (PDF, opens new window/tab) >

Submit a proposal (OpenConference website, opens new window/tab) >

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