Beyond the checkmark: Designing playgrounds with accessibility in mind
By Jill Moore
Thirty-two years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) established the precedent for integrating disability into design, with adaptations for the children’s play space being added throughout the years, and in 2019, those precedents became law in Canada. While these design standards have proved absolutely critical in creating accessibility, they only laid the standards for those specifically with mobility diagnoses.
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Growing up around green space has positive effect on early childhood development, UBC study suggests
Findings raise concerns about how wealth affects access to green space
Time & Reality: A Garden for Adults with Autism
Watch the first webinar in the CSLA-AALA 2020 Congress Webinar Series hosted by Virignia Burt, co-presenting with Emily Thorpe.
Towards Healthy Cities - PAYSAGES (AAPQ)
This new edition of PAYSAGES magazine is an opportunity to demonstrate the critical role that landscape architects play in achieving and maintaining public health. The contributors to this issue were asked to examine and highlight the ways in which the practice of landscape architecture contributes to physical health, protects mental health, and builds strong, egalitarian social connections, three pillars of public health.
In order to optimize the impact of their words, this year we have invited cardiologist François Reeves to bring a complementary perspective to the texts of the journal. In addition to signing the opening text, Dr. Reeves comments and annotates each article. The result is a dynamic 2021 edition that our professionals can rely on and that fully demonstrates the relevance of their actions.
Read the magazine online (French only)What is a healthy landscape?
We believe those involved in creating healthy places should champion the role landscape plays in improving health outcomes. We want public health professionals, planners and landscape architects to promote and act upon the idea that high quality landscape increase wellbeing.
Ground Magazine: Landscapes for Longterm Care Article
"The one thing all the people I provided care for had in common was that their condition, or current physical or cognitive state, caused them to experience their external environment differently from the average, able-bodied person. I realized how important accessibility is to outdoor spaces, but I also began to see another important truth: outdoor spaces need to do more than just meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) or Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility standards."
Healthy and Livable Communities - ASLA
"Working with landscape architects, communities can promote human health and well-being by encouraging the development of environments that offer rich social, economic, and environmental benefits. Healthy, livable communities improve the welfare and well-being of people by expanding the range of affordable transportation, employment, and housing choices."
Interview with Virginia Burt, FCSLA, FASLA
"Virginia Burt, FCSLA, FASLA, creates meaningful landscapes and gardens for residential clients, healthcare facilities and academic and government organizations. For over 30 years, Virginia's design philosophy has reflected these roots, enabling her to create gardens and landscapes that reveal their natural context and reflect and support those who use them."