Upcoming Webinar - Ethically Sourcing the Ground: Investigating Forced Labor in Landscape Architecture Material Supply Chains

Ethically Sourcing the Ground: Investigating Forced Labor in Landscape Architecture Material Supply Chains

Thursday, January 29
12-1pm EST 

An estimated 28 million people worldwide are ensnared in forced labor today. While the United States Customs and Border Protection bans products made with forced labor, the lack of supply chain transparency and the disaggregated nature of the building material industry allow for products made with forced labor to inadvertently infiltrate the US market. As a result, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is one of the most at risk of unwittingly supporting forced labor practices through its material specification and procurement processes.

The fifth LAF Research Grant in Honor of Deb Mitchell was awarded to “Ethically Sourcing the Ground: Investigating Forced Labor in Landscape Architecture Material Supply Chains.” This 16-month research project investigated commonly specified products in landscape architecture such as permeable pavers, geotextile filter fabric, synthetic turf, rubber safety surface, and recycled plastic lumber to develop analytical methods for evaluating the forced labor risk for these products.

In this webinar, the Principal Investigators and research team will share their research process and present their findings, exploring these questions: How can the field of landscape architecture evaluate its exposure risk to materials produced through forced labor? Can more conscientious sourcing of construction materials address this important question of social equity? Their findings will illuminate how landscape architects can use project specifications and procurement processes to address these critical issues and help to advance fair labor practices. 

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Learning Objectives

1. Explain the relevance of forced labor to landscape architecture practice, including why the AEC industry faces elevated exposure risk due to opaque global supply chains.
2. Identify commonly specified landscape materials that carry higher forced labor risk.
3. Describe emerging approaches within the AEC industry that can be used to address forced labor.

Continuing Education Credits

This course is pending approval for 1.0 Professional Development Hour (PDH) through the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES) and meets the health, safety and welfare requirements (HSW). 1.0 LA CES (HSW) may be earned upon completion of a short quiz following the webinar.

Presenters

Noriko Maeda, RLA
Senior Associate
MNLA
With over 30 years of experience in practice, Noriko is an advocate for fostering design stewardship to advance social equity and quality of life. 

Franca Trubiano, PhD
Associate Professor of Architecture and Graduate Group Chair of the PhD Program in Architecture
The University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
Franca's research focuses on building materials including forced labor.

Research Team

Signe Nielsen, RLA, FASLA, Founding Principal, MNLA
Amy Arato, LA, ASLA, ISA, WEDG, Senior Landscape Architect, MNLA
Jeb Polstein, WEDG, Senior Landscape Designer, MNLA
Emily Silber, RLA, ASLA, Landscape Architect, MNLA
Lee Williams, RLA, WEDG, Landscape Architect, MNLA