2026 Summit Call for Speakers

Coming soon: Call for speakers and workshops for LAF's 2026 Summit in Detroit June 4-6. Submissions must be received by December 30.

The 3-day summit of keynote presentations, lightning talks, workshops, and optional field sessions will demonstrate taking innovative ideas to action to address climate change, biodiversity, and equity issues. 

• Day 1 is primarily a series of 10-minute action-focused talks, curated to energize and inspire.
• Day 2 consists of workshops and interactive sessions for attendees to learn skills and models for taking innovative ideas to action.
• An optional third day includes local field sessions to illustrate the ideas, innovation, and actions presented during Days 1 and 2. 

Lightning talk and workshop presenters will be selected through an open call for speakers. Submissions are welcome from professional and academic practitioners in landscape architecture, students, and those with non-landscape architecture backgrounds.

LAF uses SlideRoom as its online application platform and will only accept proposals submitted through this system. All must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on December 30.

Visit http://lafoundation.slideroom.com to use the system. Once you have created an account, scroll through the "Programs" to the 2026 Summit Call for Speakers options, and click “Begin” to start the application process. You may save, edit, and review your work prior to submitting. Note that SlideRoom charges a $5 processing fee for each application submitted via this system.

Submission Types

LAF is accepting proposals for 10-minute lightning talks and 1.5-hour workshops. Both submissions types must serve to energize the audience and demonstrate thought leadership through actions, ideas, and innovation that align with the calls to action in LAF's New Landscape Declaration and subsequent Action Plan.

The summit is organized around the following action areas:

1. Up Your Game – Talks/workshops that focus on learning, skill-building, research, and expanding professional or cultural literacy to innovate and transform practice, education and advocacy
2. Design with Purpose – Talks/workshops about innovative design models and emerging practices
3. Prove It – Talks/workshops showing measurable impact – environmental, social, economic and cultural – that influenced decision-making and policy
4. Walk the Talk – Talks/workshops about leading by example through values, organizational culture, and mission-driven practice models
5. Partner, Partner, Partner – Talks/workshops highlighting collaboration across disciplines, sectors, funders, and communities to create change and transformation
6. Future Proof – Talks/workshops about working upstream to inform policy and planning, shaping or changing existing systems and the status quo, securing resources, and reimagining practice models to navigate and thrive in a changing world
7. Use Your Voice – Talks/workshops about impactful advocacy and communication strategies for more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable processes and outcomes
8. Give Back – Talks/workshops that focus on the impact of civic and social responsibility through service, philanthropy, or advocacy.
9. Imagine – Talks/workshops that are future focused, speculative, based in reality but imaginative or not yet proven. 

Speaker Requirements

• Landscape architecture professionals, academics, students, and those with non-landscape architecture backgrounds may respond to the call for speakers.
     - Current members of the LAF Board of Directors and LAF staff cannot submit proposals. Others who work at Board member firms and organizations are eligible, as are past LAF Board members.
     - Current and past LAF program participants are eligible (and encouraged!) to submit.
• Each individual is limited to submitting one proposal for a 10-minute talk and/or one proposal for a 10-minute workshop. (You can submit a talk and a workshop, but not two talks or two workshops.)
• Speakers must commit to attending the full June 4-6 summit in person in Detroit.
• Each accepted speaker will receive one free registration to the summit and a travel stipend they can use toward transportation and hotel expenses (if applicable). For workshops, up to four people can be named as facilitators but only two will receive travel stipends.
• If there are hard costs associated with workshops, reimbursement for these will be considered. 

Selection Process

Submissions will be evaluated by a group of leaders in landscape architecture using the following criteria:

• The content strongly relates to one of the listed key action areas
• The proposal demonstrates innovative, impactful, and inspiring actions and ideas
• The actions and outcomes are relevant to landscape architects, replicable, compelling, and transformative
• The speaker demonstrates their ability to execute the proposed talk or workshop with a high level of quality
• Workshops will be evaluated on their potential for deep audience engagement, skills and knowledge transfer, and learning with clear takeaways

All submitters will be notified of a decision in February 2026.