2026 LAF Future Now Summit in Detroit

The 2026 LAF Future Now Summit begins this week in Detroit, Michigan!

Building on what was started 10 years ago with the release of the New Landscape Declaration, the 2-day summit convenes landscape architects and allied professionals to think big and exchange ideas, actions, tools, knowledge, and inspiration.

TBGers attending include Amy Starling Rampy, Elaine Kearney, Jordan Clark, Jason Radcliff, and Nik Braun. Jason and Nik will be leading a workshop on Friday to share some major advancements made in soil data management and interpretation. Elaine will be involved throughout the summit as LAF’s President-Elect.

TBG-led Workshop: Friday, June 5^th at 1:30pm

Speakers: Jason Radcliff and Nik Braun

Soil is the primary technology for a resilient future — yet it remains a critical knowledge gap in landscape practice. This workshop treats soil literacy as a core design competency, connecting soil data to plant performance, lifecycle costs, and carbon investment. Participants decode real soil reports, explore Power BI dashboards for evidence-based decision-making, and see how AI and BIM workflows make soil constraints visible where design decisions happen. Leave with a practical cheat sheet and a roadmap for your practice.

Learning Objectives

1. Articulate why soil literacy is foundational to climate, biodiversity, and equity outcomes and interpret key soil metrics to drive design, specification, and construction decisions.
2. Understand how soil data dashboards can be used to identify recurring issues, support lifecycle cost arguments, and demonstrate measurable performance.
3. Learn how AI and BIM workflows can quickly illustrate soil risks and requirements at critical design and maintenance moments, keeping human expertise at the center.

Resources:

Learn more about all the Summit Workshops

Grab your ticket on LAF’s website

We hope to see you there!