Parks & Greenspace Conference

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” ~ John Muir

Whether you live in the city center, the suburbs, or on the countryside, your ability to access and enjoy nature is a vital component for living a happy, healthy life.

However, for those who live in cities, parks can be one of the few, if not only, places to experience nature on a daily basis. Parks offer relief from the concrete, noise, and hurried pace that surrounds us. The slices of nature that exist in parks also serve as important infrastructure for our cities and support habitats for the other living things with which we share this planet.

Diane Jones Allen

Diane Jones Allen is currently the Program Director for Landscape Architecture, in the College of Architecture Planning, and Public Affairs, at the University of Texas at Arlington and Principal Landscape Architect of DesignJones LLC in New Orleans, LA.  Her research and practice is guided by the intersection of environmental justice, identity and sustainability in cultural landscapes, including “Nomadic” responses to “Transit Deserts,”: places of increasing transportation demand and limited access. She is the author of Lost in the Transit Desert: Race, Transit Access, and Suburban Form (2017).

 

David George Haskell

In a world beset by barriers, David Haskell’s work as a writer, scientist, and sound recordist reminds us that life’s substance and beauty emerge from relationship and interdependence. His first book, The Forest Unseen, that explored the secret world hidden in a single square meter of forest, was finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction and received numerous other honors. Haskell received his BA from the University of Oxford and PhD from Cornell University. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, where his classes have received national attention for combining action in the community with contemplative practice.

 

J. Drew Lanham

A native of Edgefield, South Carolina, J. Drew Lanham is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize, and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies, including The Colors of Nature, State of the Heart, Bartram’s Living Legacy, and Carolina Writers at Home. An Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher at Clemson University, he and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk’s downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.

 

Kristine Stratton

Kristine Stratton is the president and chief executive officer of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). In her role, she is responsible for the nearly $20 million national organization that works to ensure that all people have access to parks for health, conservation, and recreation. NRPA is the national voice for the protection and creation of local parks, harnessing the passion and power of its more than 60,000 members and the millions of individuals they serve.

Join over 450 park professionals, advocates, and enthusiasts from across the country at the largest parks and greenspace conference in the Southeast!

Early-bird registration: $140
Limited to the first 75 registrants

Register

The 2020 Parks and Greenspace Conference offers multiple opportunities to extend the learning and experience “The Nature of Our City” in action! Tour registration and payment is separate from conference registration.

We hope you’ll join us at one of our exciting tour options below!

This event is a unique opportunity to market your business to elected officials, community leaders, and park advocates from across the region. Sponsorship levels for the 2020 conference are available for every budget.

Reach out to Chad Nash, Manager, Corporate and Individual Giving, to learn more! 
chad@parkpride.org
404-546-7984