Playing well with others: A toolkit for building relationships with allied professions
Purpose: To highlight ideas for initiating and improving collaboration with allied professions
Potential partners include:
Arborists & Foresters
Architects
Engineers
Geologists
Golf Course Architects
Horticulturalists
Irrigation Consultants
Land Surveyors
Landscape Designers
Landscape Contractors
Nurserymen
Planners
Bike/Pedestrian Orgs
Smart Growth Orgs
Transportation Orgs
Park & Recreation Orgs
Historic Preservation Orgs
Green/Sustainability Orgs
Urban Development Orgs
Land/Water Conservation Orgs
Water Usage/Purveyors Orgs
AARP
Am. Water Works Assn.
Complete Streets Coalition
Why Collaborate?
There are various reasons for collaboration, depending on the potential partner and the needs of your chapter. In
addition to building and bettering the relationships with allied professions, these partnerships create efficiencies for
scarce resources. Even when ASLA is the smaller organization in the group, ASLA has expertise, grassroots, and –yes –
financial support to offer. Usually such dues are modest and often prorated based upon membership. Collaboration
provides opportunity to raise awareness of the landscape architecture profession, both within the allied professions and
the general public. For advocacy, this unified front can be a powerful presence in support or opposition to legislation,
while ensuring that landscape architects and landscape architecture remain part of the dialogue.
Initiatives and strategies
Join existing coalition: They’ve already done the work of creating a coalition, now reap the benefits. Options include
design councils, green industry coalitions, planning coalitions, and issue-based organizations. Most coalitions are willing
to work through cost issues to deal with budget limits. In-kind contributions can include using the ASLA Advocacy
Network to generate grassroots advocacy. Issue-based coalitions bring together people and organizations of diverse
perspectives with a common passion or interest in a particular topic that sometimes lacks actual expertise on the issue.
ASLA can ensure that landscape architectural expertise is incorporated to the coalition and represented as part of the
issue.
Create coalition: In the same vein as the description above, but ASLA has to do more of the work to get a coalition
formed from various potential partners. Common examples include a Design Council with other licensed professions,
formalizing a green industry coalition, and various advocacy issues, such as the Complete Streets Coalition. Initial
actions to create a coalition often include some special kick-off event, such as breakfast, lecture, tour, or evening
meeting, to which potential coalition members are invited. Use the event to begin the discussion of why a coalition
would be in the interests of those invited.
Joint event: Join forces on common issues or interests. Combining these efforts can prove more efficient, save money,
and increase visibility for all partners. More attendees = more sponsors. Possible projects Include:
Annual conferences and stand-alone education sessions:. Leverage sessions to appeal to other professionals. In
addition to attention to diverse subject matter, be sure to register education sessions with LA CES and other
entities (AIA CES, AICP, ISA) to draw in outside participants.
Advocacy Day: Join forces with an allied organization and advocate for common interests. Past examples
include AIA, APA, and NRPA. Be sure that the landscape architecture perspective is a featured part of the talking
points, especially If you are partnering with a larger organization. Lobbying is not only a way to advance a policy
agenda, it is also a key strategy for raising the visibility of landscape architecture.
Awards Programs: Create an award that reflects the common interests of ASLA and another organization, such
as for exemplary public spaces, or outstanding conservation efforts or individuals.
Community Service: Combine resources in support of a pro bono charrette or other community-based activity.
Special invitations: Invite an allied professional organization to offer panelist(s) for chapter’s annual conference or a
stand-alone education session. Other courtesies include inviting representatives of the organization to exhibit at the
conference (at no charge), giving other organization members a discount rate to attend the conference, or inviting an
organization to provide a juror for a chapter awards program. In the case of nearly all these activities, there should be
an expectation of reciprocal treatment and exchange.
Partnerships: Co-author or publish a technical publication or regulatory reviews for public agencies where a common
interest exists. Other opportunities include sharing an executive director, lobbyist, or other consultant. When setting
up arrangements, be wary of an arrangement that seems to “give something for nothing” (or very little). Ensure that
ASLA’s interests receive the attention that is needed and work out potential conflict of interest issues prior to signing on
the dotted line. To this end, consulting contracts should clearly state the scope of work, even if it is a part-time
contract. Be sure that the collaboration meets ASLA goals - do not let ASLA issues become merely a token part of the
collaboration.
Outreach: Relationship Building
The start of a partnership can happen formally or informally. Make the most out of existing relationships, including
those between colleagues. Identify landscape architects in your chapter who have these relationships, whether by dual
membership, through their coworkers/colleagues, or even by marriage and family.
The impetus for the discussion can be specific or general. If you know of a specific event or issue that could develop into
a good collaboration, then target your outreach to that issue. However, general common ground between two
organizations can lead to partnerships as well. To solidify the partnership, it will be important to create an outlet for
action or it could lead to a false start.
Although the most effective long-term partnerships will happen at the organization level (chapter to chapter/ section to
section), individual outreach is valuable. Individual landscape architects are urged to inform the chapter of any such
activities that could be translated into a chapter-wide partnership. After all, the larger goal is for better relationships
and raising the visibility of the landscape architecture profession.
Examples
Green Industries of Colorado (GreenCo)
Washington State Architects & Engineers Legislative Council (AELC)
Alaska Professional Design Council
South Dakota Design Professionals Coalition
National Complete Streets Coalition