Smart Policies for a Changing Climate: the Report and Recommendations of the ASLA Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) interdisciplinary Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience has identified key planning and design strategies, and public policies to establish healthy, climate-smart, and resilient communities. The strategies are founded on core principles of design for natural systems, community development, vulnerable communities, transportation and agriculture. Many of these policy recommendations focus on the integration of climate resilience and adaptation into land use planning and development.

The ability to design around maintaining the integrity of natural systems, or ecosystems, strengthens climate resilience, secures the ongoing benefits of nature resources, and has been found to provide a greater long-term return on investment than conventional development.