On May 3, 2023, sixteen students, two faculty, and ten professionals advocated for the landscape architecture profession in Delaware at the legislative campus in Dover, Delaware. We set up a small table inside the Legislative Hall rotunda with information detailing the scope of work Delaware licensed landscape architects are able to do in the state. Two landscape architects and two students were stationed in the hall to chat with legislators about the profession. We also gave out tickets which the legislators and their staffers could redeem for bagged lunches they could pick up out on the mall. A group of ASLA section members and students went to the various offices of the senate and house representatives to introduce ourselves and give tickets for lunches. Because some of the legislators don’t arrive until later in the day, their staffers were responsible for grabbing lunch for them. In order to make sure our message was not lost, we also put small postcards with the language from the Delaware Landscape Architectural Code in each bagged lunch.
Outside on Legislative Mall, UD students set up the UD Parklet and two pop-up tents with posters of landscape architecture projects around the state by Delaware landscape architects. The bagged lunches from Cafe Gelato were a success and we had a lot of foot traffic, though we had competition with a late scheduled event, the Memorial Ceremony by the Fraternal Order of Police. Students and professionals were able to talk to lots of people about the impact of landscape architecture and how it contributes to health, safety, and welfare around the state of Delaware and beyond.
One of the best parts of the event was getting members of the section to come together from all three counties and having a chance to hear about what everyone is up to. In order to strengthen the impact of the message for future Advocacy Day events, we will schedule meetings with individual legislators.