{"id":111181,"date":"2026-10-06T15:37:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=111181"},"modified":"2026-10-06T16:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:10:52","slug":"uri-lecture-series-explores-regenerative-landscapes-through-science-planning-and-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/uri-lecture-series-explores-regenerative-landscapes-through-science-planning-and-design\/","title":{"rendered":"URI lecture series explores regenerative landscapes through science, planning, and design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 6, 2026 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island’s 34th annual Landscape Architecture Lecture Series will bring three nationally recognized practitioners and scholars to campus this fall to explore how science, planning, and design can work together to create more resilient and regenerative landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free public lectures carry added significance this year as the first series hosted by URI’s new Department of Earth Sciences, Planning, and Design<\/a> (ESPD), which brings together the former departments of Geosciences and Landscape Architecture and Planning.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Nicholas
URI\u2019s 2026 Landscape Architecture Lecture Series opens Oct. 14 with Nick Nelson, a geomorphologist focused on rivers, streams and flowing water. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This year’s theme, \u201cRegenerative Landscapes,\u201d will examine environmental challenges at multiple scales, from restoring rivers and local ecologies to designing for decarbonization and adapting landscapes to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Regenerative Landscapes theme was inspired by the need to go beyond sustainability and consider how we can repair, restore, and steward positive environmental change,” said Gavin Zeitz<\/a>, assistant teaching professor of landscape architecture. \u201cThe theme operates from a multidisciplinary perspective, exploring how science, planning, and design each approach the challenge of creating regenerative landscapes in their own ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three perspectives, three scales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lectures are free and open to the public and will be held at 5:30 p.m. in URI\u2019s Richard E. Beaupre Center (Room 105), 140 Flagg Rd., Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Billy
On Nov. 2, Billy Flemming will discuss building postcarbon futures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The series opens Wednesday, Oct. 14<\/strong>, at the regional scale with Nick Nelson, a fluvial geomorphologist with Interfluve and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His lecture, \u201cEcological Restoration + Nature Based Solutions,\u201d will examine environmental systems alongside cultural questions about how communities live in harmony with, and restore, rivers and local ecologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Nov. 2<\/strong>, designer and planner Billy Flemming, assistant professor of landscape architecture at Temple University, will present \u201cBuilding Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions,\u201d exploring precedents for using design and planning to address climate change at a planetary scale.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Wendy
Wendy Andringa concludes the series, discussing dynamic landscapes and climate adaptation on Nov. 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The series concludes Wednesday, Nov. 18<\/strong>, at the site scale with landscape architect Wendy Andringa of Assemblage Landscape Architecture, who will present \u201cDesigning for Dynamic Landscapes + Climate Adaptation,\u201d focusing on how landscapes can be designed to respond and adapt to a changing climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting knowledge to action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That range reflects the broader ambitions of the new Department of Earth Sciences, Planning, and Design, which was created in response to the increasingly interconnected nature of environmental challenges: Geoscientists help communities understand environmental systems and change, while planners and designers translate that knowledge into policies, plans, and physical interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work bridges a diverse range of scales\u2014from the Earth’s crust to the atmosphere, the garden to the watershed, and the street to the community,\u201d Zeitz said. “We are a department full of systems thinkers, united by a shared interest in tackling the most pressing challenges facing our planet.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students and other attendees, Zeitz hopes the series will encourage a broader understanding of environmental responsibility. \u201cTo sustain life on this planet, we need to plan, design, study, and advocate for models of regenerative development that actively promote the health and resilience of our living systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As ESPD enters its first year, the lecture series offers an early public expression of the department’s interdisciplinary mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe our department can be a model for how science, planning, and design can come together to produce novel, community-engaged approaches to environmental and social challenges,\u201d Zeitz said. \u201cWe’re excited to see where this journey takes us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was written by Anna Gray in URI\u2019s College of the Environment and Life Sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 6, 2026 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island’s 34th annual Landscape Architecture Lecture Series will bring three nationally recognized practitioners and scholars to campus this fall to explore how science, planning, and design can work together to create more resilient and regenerative landscapes. The free public lectures carry added significance this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":111194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,1913],"class_list":["post-111181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences","tag-public-engagement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111181"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111197,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111181\/revisions\/111197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}