100 Years of CELA: Past, Present, and Future. The 2020 Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Conference

How does one go about composing a review for the canceled 100-year Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Conference? With 89 institutions and more than 810 members globally, CELA planned the conference to showcase the most relevant topics for landscape architecture research, education, and service. The 2020 conference, scheduled for March 18–21, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky, was organized as a celebration of 100 years of service to landscape architecture (LA) and allied disciplines. During the final phases of conference preparation, the CELA board of directors came to the grim realization that the COVID-19 pandemic required canceling the in-person conference. Only two other CELA (known then as the NCILA, National Conference in Instruction in Landscape Architecture) meetings in 1951 and 1962 have not been held. The determination of CELA and its participants, supported by the emerging digital technologies and tools that were not available to NCILA, enabled CELA to connect with its members and provide content in an alternative format. This review covers the data created from a content analysis of accepted and published 2020 CELA abstracts, information on the CELA awards and recognitions delivered virtually, and the changes and format that shaped this pivotal conference. In an effort to showcase CELA’s resilience and the nature of human spirit, this review concludes with some insights, highlights, and aspirations for LA educators, scholars, professionals, and students.

The conference’s theme of “100 Years of CELA: Past, Present, and Future” celebrates the events that changed the course of LA education and affected the profession. The CELA conference investigated the courses of action, directions, and visions needed to ensure that the association continues to be a leader in supporting LA research, education, and service for the next 100 years. The conference was hosted—for the first time—only by CELA (with no major local institution affiliation). Sponsorship commitments were secured from Anova, DAAP at University of Cincinnati, Permaloc, Land F/X, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Pine Hall Brick, Actar, Landscape Journal, and Landscape Forms and with participation commitments from Sigma Lambda Alpha, LAAB, ASLA, and CELA Fellows. From 420 abstract submissions, 395 abstracts from 14 different countries were accepted for the 2020 conference; 355 accepted abstracts were for oral presentations, 21 were panel presentations, 17 were poster presentations, and 2 were films. The conference was organized by 13 core tracks, anchored by the annual theme track of “100 Years of CELA: Past, Present, and Future,” and two new tracks: “Landscape Architecture for Health” and “Geo-Spatial and Digital Analytics.”

Analysis and Highlights on Conference Tracks

After the conference was canceled, 99 of the 395 submissions (abstracts, panels, posters, and films) remained registered, at first authors’ discretion, and became part of the 2020 proceedings. We analyzed the text of those 99 abstracts to review research coverage and impact. Two continents were represented by the first author registrants, including 40 North American Institutions and 5 Asian Institutions.

Three new core tracks were added to CELA’s 2020 conference line-up, to make a total of 16 tracks. Two tracks were not represented in proceedings, after submissions were withdrawn: “Design Implementation” and “Film Tracks.”

The most popular tracks for inclusion in the proceedings were “Design Education and Pedagogy”; “History, Theory and Culture”; and “People-Environment Relationships” (combined total 44).

Of these three, “Design Education and Pedagogy” (n = 20) was the most favored track. Abstracts were primarily concerned with design studio instruction, study abroad education, and pedagogical delivery, with research reporting on cases, author’s accounts and positions, or interview outcomes. For example, research from Colorado State University titled “Making, Design Pedagogy, Poetic and Technical” explored using “making” as a method for emphasizing and engaging the complexity and coexistence of the poetic and technical in the design process. The top reoccurring words were “student,” “studio,” “site,” “learn,” and “process.” Other frequently captured topics in this track included creativity, environment, climate change, renewable energy, and diversity and inclusion as part of design education–related research and creative scholarship.

In the “People-Environment...