In April 2021, 3rd year Bachelor of Landscape Architecture students were invited to participate in developing a new student association for students of landscape architecture in Canada. This being the Canadian Association of Students of Landscape Architecture/Association Canadienne des Étudiants en Architecture de Paysage (CASLA/ACÉAP). The newly formed CASLA executive board consists of University of Guelph BLA students, Vincent Fracchioni and Caroline Pottruff, two student members from the University of Montreal who co-founded the association, and a student from the University of Calgary.
The CASLA's goal is to provide a platform for all landscape architecture students in Canada to share ideas, projects, techniques, and networks and build interdisciplinary relationships nationwide.
As a new association, the group is currently working towards being recognized by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects to have access to potential funding opportunities and have association recognition or status. The hope is to have the opportunity to expand our current reach and provide students with a richer professional association experience.
"We are informing SEDRD of the association because we feel it is a great initiative for students," said Vincent. In addition, he explains, "there are proposed events we have planned that will be coming up later in the year that will require student and faculty involvement. Ultimately, we would love to share initiatives in the landscape architecture programs at Guelph with other students. As an example, we could broaden our guest lectures to Landscape Architecture students from other universities, in hopes that other schools do the same! We hope this is just the beginning, and CASLA can serve Landscape Architecture students for the foreseeable future!"
If you are interested in pursuing the CASLA association's progression, please feel free to follow our social media pages below, including CASLA/ACÉAP Facebook [1] and CASLA/ACÉAP Instagram [2]. In addition, CASLA hopes to launch a website soon.
