Call for Abstracts for the 2025 CSLA-OALA Congress

 

The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) together with the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) invite qualified experts to submit abstracts for presentations and sessions to be presented at the upcoming 2025 CSLA-OALA Congress.

In-person presentations are scheduled to be held in Ottawa, Ontario on June 6th and 7th, 2025. We expect 250 to 300 delegates to be present.

Submission Deadline

December 12th, 2024 at 4pm ET

Congress Theme

Outside the Box: Challenging Traditional Paradigms in Landscape Architecture

As communities grapple with the pressures of urban densification, climate adaptation and the global housing crisis, landscape architects are uniquely positioned to move beyond conventional approaches and shape solutions that are both innovative and holistic. The 2025 CSLA-OALA Congress invites professionals and thought leaders to think outside the box, pushing the envelope of design and urban planning. The theme encourages us to think beyond the boundaries - re-imagining placemaking in a way that is both inclusive and responsive to the critical issues of our time—equity, reconciliation, affordable housing, the rise of new technologies including AI-driven design processes and the growing need for biodiverse and sustainable urban environments.

The Congress will explore how forward-thinking design can transform underutilized spaces, create resilient and equitable urban environments, and address the urgent demands of climate adaptation. 

Evaluation

Abstracts will be evaluated on how closely they align with this year’s theme, how the presentation ties in with CSLA’s mission areas, and how relevant the presentation will be to attendees.

Submission Process

The CSLA will be using a web-based application platform (Good Grants) for all submissions going forward. Please follow the steps, below, to make a proposal:

  1. Read carefully through the guidelines on this page;
  2. Create an account on this website, click on the "Apply" tab at the top of the page, then click on the submission form for the congress abstracts.

By creating an account with Good Grants, you will be able to save your application and return to it at another time. Please contact awards@csla-aapc.ca if you have any trouble using the application platform.

The organizing committee will respond to selected proposals within ten weeks of the submission deadline.

Presentation at Congress

Presenters shall prepare to have sufficient copies of any handout(s) to meet the numbers expected at the presentation, at their own cost.

All presenters at Congress will be required to register for the Congress in the same manner as all Congress delegates, and to pay applicable registration fees. Cut off dates for presenter registration will be provided upon notification of acceptance. Failure to register by these dates will result in the presenter being removed from the program and replaced with another speaker.

Audio-Visual Information

Note that laptop, projector, and screens will be available during each session. Presenters must bring their presentations, in power point or .pdf format, on a memory stick to be loaded on the local computer before the presentation. Other visual presentation aids will be the responsibility of the presenter at t own cost.

CSLA | AAPC 12 Forillon Crescent, Ottawa ON K2M 2W5