2016 ILASA Conference |   
ILASA invites you to attend the 2016 ILASA Conference, which will be held on the 29th and 30th of September at theCSIR International Convention Centre, offering companies and consultancies prime sponsorship and exhibition opportunities. The CSIR is an acclaimed, award-winning function venue that is ideal for hosting an event of this distinction with its excellent facilities and professional service. It is centrally located in Pretoria and easily accessible from the highway. For those who care for the environment and prefer to avoid traffic, the venue is within easy reach via the Gautrain. There is a dedicated Gautrain bus that goes between Hatfield station and the Conference Centre. The conference will include a cocktail event on the Thursday evening that will be held on the beautiful outdoor deck.The deck is surrounded by natural bush and large trees that are lit up at night to create a relaxed atmosphere which will be further enhanced by the vibrant jazz band called Chilli & Lime who will be providing the entertainment for the evening. This will be a perfect opportunity for networking, meeting the speakers and exhibitors, as well as catching up with old friends. | Meet some of our guest speakers | 
| Mia Lehrer, FASLA is the founder of the Los Angeles-based landscape architecture and urban design firm, Mia Lehrer + Associates (ML+A), known for the design and implementation of ambitious public and private-sector projects including complex mixed-use development projects, urban revitalization initiatives, and neighbourhood and regional parks. A native of El Salvador, Ms. Lehrer earned her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. She has applied landscape and urban design innovation and technical expertise on complex Design/Build infrastructure projects, and continues to play a significant leadership role in project stakeholder outreach and consensus building. She has been personally engaged in urban initiatives that include the recalibration of significant works of infrastructure such as channelized rivers, sea ports, military air stations and oil fields from single purpose sites to multi-purpose community resources. Her design excellence and environmental leadership enables government agencies, communities, and stakeholders to create an interconnected system of meaningful open space through well-conceived projects. Within this process, the role of infrastructure is examined for opportunities to improve the relationship between the built environment, natural ecology, and community, thereby enhancing the functionality, mobility, efficiency, and integrity of place. | 
| Mario Schjetnan, born in Mexico City, obtained a degree in Architecture from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1968. Later he obtained a Master Degree in Landscape Architecture emphasizing in Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard. In 1977, started his firm, Grupo de Diseño Urbano / GDU. Executed a wide range of projects, with diverse typologies and scales in Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape. GDU has been distinguished with National and International Awards and Recognitions. Schjetnan has also dedicated to teaching and given numerous workshops and studios in universities, including Harvard University. University of California, Berkeley invited him to give the Beatrix Farrand Chair in Landscape Architecture. He directed the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona. He was distinguished with the Federico Mariscal Chair in Architecture from UNAM. He received the Cathedra Rose Carter, University of Austin and the Cathedra Talbott, University of Virginia. He has given lectures at universities all over the world. The College of Architects of Mexico and the Mexican Society of Architects granted him the Maria Ignacia Rodriguez de Velasco Prize for Projects of Urban Development and Landscape Architecture and his trajectory. He was honored to become a member of the Academy of Arts, Mexico. He received the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award 2015 by the International Federation of Landscape Architects; this is the highest award of Landscape Architecture Worldwide, he is the first Latin American to be awarded.” | 
| Patrick Watson, his design style is unique and somewhat unconventional. It is best described as organic. He comes up with the vision and the design concept instantly and, provided he and the client are in agreement, the elements and details are added as the project matures. In 1991 the South African born Patrick was awarded honorary membership of ILASA in appreciation of his contribution to many of South Africa’s finest gardens. This award has never been repeated. Patrick’s work is not limited to gardens and gardening. Over the last 30 years he has been involved with a variety of organizations in the creation of and for the protection of Parks, River Trails, Natural Ridges, Rock Formations, Trees and Iron Age Sites. He is a founding member of the South African National Trust for gardens and landscapes. His work covers immense range of projects; from tiny private gardens to cast industrial estates, hotel complexes, golf courses, farms and even entire islands. He has designed projects in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland and the D.R.C. He has also worked in Malaysia, India, Mauritius, Seychelles, Saudi Arabia, Malta and Australia. | 
| Elsa Pooley (b. 1947) grew up in Johannesburg, Harare (Zimbabwe) and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She went to live in the game reserves of Maputaland when she married Tony Pooley in the mid-1960s, moving to the KZN South Coast in 1984. During 20 years in the Zululand game reserves, Elsa studied and made an extensive herbarium collection of plants of the region, experimenting with propagation and gardening with local plants. From 1990-2005 she researched and wrote bestselling field guides to plants of the region. Elsa’s first landscaping project was a complete redesign of the Ndumu Game Reserve rest camp gardens in 1967 (on the Mozambique border). Since 2004 Elsa has run an indigenous landscaping and rehabilitation business dealing with both small private spaces and large developments. She has designed and laid out indigenous gardens at various game reserves and crocodile farms including the 17ha Crocworld on the KZN South Coast, as well as establishing two indigenous plant nurseries. She was landscaping and rehabilitation consultant on the Durban Central Beachfront upgrade and new promenade for the World cup (2009-2014). Elsa first exhibited her botanical paintings in 1973. Her work is known locally and internationally. She was a founder member of the Botanical Artists Association of SA. She has been running botanical art workshops in the Drakensberg with Gillian Condy since 2004. Elsa has been leading botanical tours celebrating the plant diversity of the eastern region of southern Africa since 2003. | 
| Christina Culwick has been a researcher at Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) since 2013. Before that completed both undergraduate (BSc Geography & Maths) and postgraduate studies (BScHons & MSc Geography) at Wits University. Her research interests lie in urban sustainability transitions, resilience, environmental governance, and transforming Gauteng towards a liveable, sustainable, inclusive and just city-region. Her research extends across a range of disciplines, with specific focus on collaborative knowledge creation and the role of transdisciplinary research in informing policy and governance practices. She currently sits on the Gauteng Transport Commission’s panel of experts. She has presented and published her research both locally and internationally. Beyond her GCRO work, Christina holds a postgraduate teaching diploma from UNISA and she worked as an SABC broadcasting meteorologist for 6years. Her climbing and traveling trips help to sustain her love for Johannesburg, where she grew up and now lives with her husband. | 
| Tunji Adejumo is a Nigerian landscape architect. He graduated from State University of New York, Syracuse, USA with Master of Landscape Architecture degree in 1983. He built upon his Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from University of Ibadan, Nigeria in1978. His Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture from University of Lagos, is in urban design. He brought his strong ecological background to bear on his 32 years of practice as a landscape architect in Nigeria spanning site, urban and regional scales. Early years of practice were with consulting firms of Architects, Planners and Project Managers. Tunji Adejumo cofounded Generation Twenty One Consult in 1989 – a consulting landscape architecture and environmental planning firm with focus on natural estates including nature reserves, national parks, regional planning, oil and gas environmental impact assessment. He also incorporated Planetary People Initiative, an environmental non-governmental organisation emphasizing community participatory productive landscapes. The two organisations later improved his appreciation of people driven landscape schemes where expertise midwifes developmental initiatives through strategic planning that respects contextual bioregional resources. His landscape architecture dictum is rooted in Geosophy as a creative approach to sustainable design and planning that respects the needs of local people. Tunji Adejumo joined Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos in 2001 to start Master of Landscape Architecture program in the Department of Architecture. His research interest is in the interface of cultural system and ecological system as a determinant of useful worldview principles relevant to the conceptualisation of contemporary urban interstitial spaces as meaningful places. It is a geosophic perspective in city regeneration that is culturally resilient to the prevailing art and architectural internationalisation. Dr Tunji Adejumo was the immediate past president of Society of Landscape Architects of Nigeria (SLAN) and currently preside over International Federation of Landscape Architects Africa Region (IFLA Africa) | Sponsorship & Exhibition | The conference will be combined with an exhibition hall where suppliers will have an opportunity to market their product directly to the people on the forefront of the landscaping industry. Having an exhibition shell scheme stand is a great way to display your products / services to the delegates. To book your exhibition stand, click here Companies are also invited to be one of ILASA’s prestigious sponsors. Various sponsorship opportunities are available with great benefits to the sponsor company. There is also an opportunity to sponsor students to attend the conference, please contact eileen@vdw.co.za for more information. For more information on the available sponsorship packages please and for the sponsorship booking form click here. |
Wetland Rehabilitation and Construction Course 28 Sept & 1 Oct 2016 |
Having identified the need for a workshop in 2015, the Institute for Landscape Architecture in South Africa will be hosting a two day wetland course that will coincide with the ILASA Conference 2016. The course, presented by the University of the Free State, in association with Dr Piet-Louis Grundling of the Wetlands Programme, DEA, will cover the processes driving wetland dynamics, and introduce delegates to various processes and principles that can be used in the construction of wetlands and in the mitigation of degradation and rehabilitation of wetlands. Delegates will be informed of the necessity of strategy and planning, and introduced to relevant policies and legislation. The course will provide exposure to real-life situations and the opportunity for hands-on application of principles in the field. Course content
The final course content is being developed to achieve the following outcomes: - An introduction to wetland ecology and functioning, the objectives of wetland rehabilitation and construction, the legal implications of working with wetlands.
- Wetland ecosystem drivers: Factors that disrupt wetland drivers, introduction to Wetland soils, Wetland soilshydrology and ecology Wetland structure & processes: Principles and the effectiveness of landscape modification measures, methods and products,
- Wetland project management: Monitoring and evaluation principles,
- Fieldwork will involve visits to case studies covering constructed and rehabilitated sites in and around Pretoria.
About the course presenters Piet-Louis Grundling Piet-Louis is at present Deputy director: Programme Implementation, NRM, and Department of Environmental Affairs. He was previously director of Ixhaphozi Enviro Services the Centre for Wetland Research and Training (WetResT). He has been involved in wetland research since 1987 and was appointed in 2002 the first National Coordinator of the Working for Wetlands Programme in South Africa. His dedication in wetland rehabilitation and capacity building earned him the South African Vley Lily award at the 2002 National Wetland Action Group Conference (now known as the National Wetland Indaba). He was nominated for the 2013 Stewardship National Wetland Award. He has served on numerous wetland related forums and Water Research Commission (WRC) committees in South Africa and various international organisations such as the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) and CC-GAP of Ramsar. He is currently the chair of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) and editor of its monthly news bulletin as well as chair of the South African Wetland Society. He has published several scientific papers and presented at various national and international conferences (refer to list attached) and has reviewed several theses for South African and foreign universities and papers for national and international journals. He is furthermore co-supervisor of various students and a mentor (as a volunteer) to young employees in the private and public sector. He has initiated short wetland courses (with the University of Pretoria in 2004 and in 2011 with the University of the Free State where he is presently a research associate) focusing on wetland management and rehabilitation. In 2006 he resigned from the Working for Wetlands Programme, SANBI to pursue a PhD in wetland hydrology after been offered a scholarship at the University of Waterloo, Canada. On his return in 2010 he pursue a career as a wetland consultant. Retief Grobler
Retief, the director and owner of Imperata Consulting, has over nine years of experience in wetland delineation and assessment. He is a co-author in three published articles relating to wetlands. Retief’s experience in wetland assessment and rehabilitation mitigation recommendations cover a rage of project types including mining activities, linear development and a number of strategic, industrial and residential projects. He is involved in wetland rehabilitation and river reinstatement assessments and drafting of monitoring programmes for SANBI and Gauteng provincial and local government authorities. Johan Smuts
Johan, a Director at the law firm Boshoff Smuts INC concentrating on Mining, Environmental and Corporate Law, is a passionate attorney who always strives to provide his clients with the best tailored solution for their transactions. By specializing in a field of law with vast complexities it is everyday a challenge to practice as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa. I have a keen interest in mining law and the structuring of different commercial entities. | Register Now | EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION – Closes 30 June 2016 ILASA Members Conference Registration only: R2520 ILASA Conference Registration only: R2800
ILASA Conference + Wetland Course: R6000
Wetland Course only: R3500
Cocktail event: R250 Students conference only: R1250
Speakers conference only: R2000 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! | LATE REGISTRATION – Opens 1 July 2016 ILASA Conference Registration only: R3300
ILASA Conference + Wetland Course: R6500
Wetland Course only: R3800
Cocktail event: R250 Students conference only: R1500
Speaker conference only: R2000 | CPD Accreditation | The 2016 ILASA Conference is currently undergoing CPD point review from SACLAP as per the new CPD structure. The Conference and Wetland course will definitely be CPD point accredited and as soon as we know the verdict of SACLAP it will be added to the conference webpage. | Accommodation | Various accommodation options are available within close proximity of the CSIR. Click here |
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