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Papers by Richard le Brasseur
2013 Proceedings of Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning, 2013
As development pressures and urbanization continue to creep into the remaining highly valued natu... more As development pressures and urbanization continue to creep into the remaining highly valued natural spaces across the globe, the demands communities place on their ecological systems
increase. The predominant environmental planning strategies practiced in the United States focus on ecological issues, and though many demonstrate success, these strategies fail to capitalize on a more comprehensive framework to include a broader range of resources beyond ecological, such as social and economic.
Green infrastructure planning, a relatively new comprehensive planning approach which focuses on ecosystems and environmental networks, has the existing techniques and capacity to provide a more inclusive framework for applying systems-thinking to a broader range of networks beyond natural or ecological systems alone.
Given a thoughtful and interconnected strategy to the planning process, grounded in an asset based context, social and natural systems can operate together to sustain healthy, functional
environments.
(re)connect: The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan, 2012
(re)connect : The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan A regional plan to assist communitie... more (re)connect : The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan
A regional plan to assist communities in the planning, design and management of the diverse green infrastructure resources while
promoting livability and health in the Wasatch Front.
In a two-year collaborative effort between communities, counties, and State and Federal agencies, the Wasatch Front Regional Council partnered with the Center for Green Infrastructure Design to develop a coordinated regional green infrastructure plan. This Plan extends across five counties and sixty-three communities in one of the fastest growing regions in the country. Local agencies and organizations have come together in support of this project because they see a need within the Wasatch Front to identify and conserve the region’s most valued, functional landscapes before they disappear due to development pressures & irreparable alterations to landscape systems.
A region-wide comprehensive plan was needed to coordinate the various existing Federal, State and local efforts to protect natural and social features. Green infrastructure provides this planning approach and presents guides to setting priorities, evaluating land-use alternatives, and optimizing mitigation programs & conservation efforts, and presents a long-term environmental sustainable vision for the Wasatch Front.
This Plan provides a visionary, regional scale map of the region that reflects both existing green infrastructure – forests, farmlands, streams, wetlands, trails – as well as opportunities for expansion, restoration and connections. The Plan’s criteria-driven
methodology recommends that a high priority be given to identifying and preserving important (high quality) but unprotected lands, especially those threatened by
development, and to protecting those areas, and specifically determined scales, that can function and provide services through restoration and management.
The Plan, a strategic approach to preserving economic services through conservation and land-use planning, clarifies the Region’s interconnected network structure, function and value and is a decision support tool and land protection strategy for agencies and organizations which can guide implementation efforts.
The efforts needed to sustain a functional and productive green
infrastructure network are inter-dependent with the efforts needed to address major land use, transportation, and environmental issues considered in the Wasatch Choice for 2040. The information presented in (re)connect: The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan furthers the regional planning vision, reports and studies completed to date. Future planning and development must consider the role a high quality, inter-connected green infrastructure network can play in the health
of the region.
Urban Land, Jun 2007
The Dutch approach to mixed uses, open space, infrastructure, and reuse as creative tools may hol... more The Dutch approach to mixed uses, open space, infrastructure, and reuse as creative tools may hold some lesson for practitioners in North America.
A review of projections for growth in landscape architecture compared to the number of graduates ... more A review of projections for growth in landscape architecture compared to the number of graduates from degree programs suggests that the profession is growing at a rate well below that needed to meet expected demand. In his inaugural address at the Annual ASLA Meeting in Minneapolis, President Patrick Caughey, FASLA, issued a challenge to the practice and academic communities to accelerate the expansion of existing programs and the creation of new programs to address the shortfall. To understand the current status of student enrollment, the ASLA Council on Education distributed a short survey to all programs that offered degrees in landscape architecture and/or environmental design requesting data on degrees offered, accreditation status, time to completion of the program, enrollment by year, capacity by year, limits to capacity, and efforts used to identify and recruit prospective students. This paper summarizes our findings, indicating that while growth has been limited and significant barriers do exist to expanding existing programs, there are indicators to suggest that increased growth is possible with support from the ASLA and professional practitioners.
Landscape Architecture , Jun 1, 2003
On Washington's state capitol grounds, years of neglect have turned a vintage Halprin Garden into... more On Washington's state capitol grounds, years of neglect have turned a vintage Halprin Garden into a soulful shrine. Now the state wants to go neglect one better: demolition.
SPUR, Nov 2006
Ecology begins as the vision of a better world – it is often an abstract idea of the interrelatio... more Ecology begins as the vision of a better world – it is often an abstract idea of the interrelations that are often unclear
and must be made concrete and visible. (Peter Latz) The role of a landscape architect and environmental designer is the realization of abstract ideas – in our case nature, ecology, and culture.
Utah Planner - APA, Aug 2010
Sustainable infrastructure begins with comprehensive open space planning. The Center for Green Sp... more Sustainable infrastructure begins with comprehensive open space planning. The Center for Green Space Design (CGSD) has developed a comprehensive open space planning technique that is based on a careful inventory of the community’s cultural, ecological, developmental, agricultural and recreational (CEDAR) open lands and resources.
Conference Presentations by Richard le Brasseur
"Sustainability is a socially-defined problem. Lack of sustainability comes form how humans act ... more "Sustainability is a socially-defined problem. Lack of sustainability comes form how humans act upon the environment. Sustainability, thus, is a human-based problem, not an ecological-based one.
The term sustainability is often derided as ambiguous as well as being interpreted in many, often contradictory, ways. Furthermore the terms ‘sustainable development’, ‘sustainable growth’, and ‘sustainable use’ are often used interchangeably, which they should not be.
Sustainability must be first understood within the influence of complex adaptive systems. Only then can sustainability be viewed in relational terms, through temporal associations, and understood as dynamic, thus inherently uncertain.
A holistic-view of nature and society as rather static and predictable systems must be replaced by a view which emphasizes continuous change and uncertainty. This dynamic view is a prerequisite for better management of complex adaptive ecosystems, so that they can continue to supply the goods and services human society relies upon. "
2013 Proceedings of Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning, 2013
As development pressures and urbanization continue to creep into the remaining highly valued natu... more As development pressures and urbanization continue to creep into the remaining highly valued natural spaces across the globe, the demands communities place on their ecological systems
increase. The predominant environmental planning strategies practiced in the United States focus on ecological issues, and though many demonstrate success, these strategies fail to capitalize on a more comprehensive framework to include a broader range of resources beyond ecological, such as social and economic.
Green infrastructure planning, a relatively new comprehensive planning approach which focuses on ecosystems and environmental networks, has the existing techniques and capacity to provide a more inclusive framework for applying systems-thinking to a broader range of networks beyond natural or ecological systems alone.
Given a thoughtful and interconnected strategy to the planning process, grounded in an asset based context, social and natural systems can operate together to sustain healthy, functional
environments.
(re)connect: The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan, 2012
(re)connect : The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan A regional plan to assist communitie... more (re)connect : The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan
A regional plan to assist communities in the planning, design and management of the diverse green infrastructure resources while
promoting livability and health in the Wasatch Front.
In a two-year collaborative effort between communities, counties, and State and Federal agencies, the Wasatch Front Regional Council partnered with the Center for Green Infrastructure Design to develop a coordinated regional green infrastructure plan. This Plan extends across five counties and sixty-three communities in one of the fastest growing regions in the country. Local agencies and organizations have come together in support of this project because they see a need within the Wasatch Front to identify and conserve the region’s most valued, functional landscapes before they disappear due to development pressures & irreparable alterations to landscape systems.
A region-wide comprehensive plan was needed to coordinate the various existing Federal, State and local efforts to protect natural and social features. Green infrastructure provides this planning approach and presents guides to setting priorities, evaluating land-use alternatives, and optimizing mitigation programs & conservation efforts, and presents a long-term environmental sustainable vision for the Wasatch Front.
This Plan provides a visionary, regional scale map of the region that reflects both existing green infrastructure – forests, farmlands, streams, wetlands, trails – as well as opportunities for expansion, restoration and connections. The Plan’s criteria-driven
methodology recommends that a high priority be given to identifying and preserving important (high quality) but unprotected lands, especially those threatened by
development, and to protecting those areas, and specifically determined scales, that can function and provide services through restoration and management.
The Plan, a strategic approach to preserving economic services through conservation and land-use planning, clarifies the Region’s interconnected network structure, function and value and is a decision support tool and land protection strategy for agencies and organizations which can guide implementation efforts.
The efforts needed to sustain a functional and productive green
infrastructure network are inter-dependent with the efforts needed to address major land use, transportation, and environmental issues considered in the Wasatch Choice for 2040. The information presented in (re)connect: The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Plan furthers the regional planning vision, reports and studies completed to date. Future planning and development must consider the role a high quality, inter-connected green infrastructure network can play in the health
of the region.
Urban Land, Jun 2007
The Dutch approach to mixed uses, open space, infrastructure, and reuse as creative tools may hol... more The Dutch approach to mixed uses, open space, infrastructure, and reuse as creative tools may hold some lesson for practitioners in North America.
A review of projections for growth in landscape architecture compared to the number of graduates ... more A review of projections for growth in landscape architecture compared to the number of graduates from degree programs suggests that the profession is growing at a rate well below that needed to meet expected demand. In his inaugural address at the Annual ASLA Meeting in Minneapolis, President Patrick Caughey, FASLA, issued a challenge to the practice and academic communities to accelerate the expansion of existing programs and the creation of new programs to address the shortfall. To understand the current status of student enrollment, the ASLA Council on Education distributed a short survey to all programs that offered degrees in landscape architecture and/or environmental design requesting data on degrees offered, accreditation status, time to completion of the program, enrollment by year, capacity by year, limits to capacity, and efforts used to identify and recruit prospective students. This paper summarizes our findings, indicating that while growth has been limited and significant barriers do exist to expanding existing programs, there are indicators to suggest that increased growth is possible with support from the ASLA and professional practitioners.
Landscape Architecture , Jun 1, 2003
On Washington's state capitol grounds, years of neglect have turned a vintage Halprin Garden into... more On Washington's state capitol grounds, years of neglect have turned a vintage Halprin Garden into a soulful shrine. Now the state wants to go neglect one better: demolition.
SPUR, Nov 2006
Ecology begins as the vision of a better world – it is often an abstract idea of the interrelatio... more Ecology begins as the vision of a better world – it is often an abstract idea of the interrelations that are often unclear
and must be made concrete and visible. (Peter Latz) The role of a landscape architect and environmental designer is the realization of abstract ideas – in our case nature, ecology, and culture.
Utah Planner - APA, Aug 2010
Sustainable infrastructure begins with comprehensive open space planning. The Center for Green Sp... more Sustainable infrastructure begins with comprehensive open space planning. The Center for Green Space Design (CGSD) has developed a comprehensive open space planning technique that is based on a careful inventory of the community’s cultural, ecological, developmental, agricultural and recreational (CEDAR) open lands and resources.
"Sustainability is a socially-defined problem. Lack of sustainability comes form how humans act ... more "Sustainability is a socially-defined problem. Lack of sustainability comes form how humans act upon the environment. Sustainability, thus, is a human-based problem, not an ecological-based one.
The term sustainability is often derided as ambiguous as well as being interpreted in many, often contradictory, ways. Furthermore the terms ‘sustainable development’, ‘sustainable growth’, and ‘sustainable use’ are often used interchangeably, which they should not be.
Sustainability must be first understood within the influence of complex adaptive systems. Only then can sustainability be viewed in relational terms, through temporal associations, and understood as dynamic, thus inherently uncertain.
A holistic-view of nature and society as rather static and predictable systems must be replaced by a view which emphasizes continuous change and uncertainty. This dynamic view is a prerequisite for better management of complex adaptive ecosystems, so that they can continue to supply the goods and services human society relies upon. "