Equity and Inclusion

WED-B06: Landscape Architects as Equity Champions: Collective Actions for Environmental Justice

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM PT

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Speaker(s)

Brett Weidl, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP (she/her/hers)

Principal
MKSK
Chicago, Illinois
Brian Hurd

Founder
CDTA Partners LLC
Creve Coeur, Missouri
Jack Jordan (he/him/his)

Executive Director
Climate Action Evanston
Chicago, Illinois

Landscape architects have the power to champion environmental justice by working actively with communities to illuminate systemic disparities and shape future policies toward greater equity. Discover how one community in Evanston, Illinois is actively confronting generations of racial injustice through collective action toward more healthy and equitable urban environments.

Learning Outcomes:

Analyze how historic injustices—such as access to green space, mobility, housing, and environmental quality—have shaped today’s climate, health, and environmental inequities.
Lead trauma-informed community engagement that reveals how social and physical conditions influence wellbeing, environmental exposure, and generational health disparities.
Discover how partnerships among cities, public health leaders, climate advocates, and communities can align investments that address systemic inequities while improving safety, environmental quality, and long-term health outcomes.
Gain strategies for shaping policies, practices, and priorities that integrate climate resilience with social and physical determinants of health to create more equitable, healthy, and just communities with improved outcomes.