LAF, the association, which supports the preservation, improvement and enhancement of the environment, has announced five $2,500 mini-grants for university faculty.

The Landscape Architecture Foundation has announced the availability of five $2,500 mini-grants to select university faculty for the Spring 2014 semester/term.

This initiative, made possible by the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's Foundation for Education & Research, will allow LAF to award a total of $25,000 in grants to educators, with five grants made in the 2013-2014 academic year and five in 2014-2015.

According to LAF, landscape architecture students need awareness, skills, and resources to be able to design for, evaluate, and communicate landscape performance.

As landscape performance is not yet an established part of the educational curriculum, this initiative will prepare students by teaching metrics to convey the environmental, economic, and social value of excellent design.

Participating faculty will work with LAF to develop and test one or more models for integrating landscape performance into standard landscape architecture course offerings, such as research and methods, site planning and analysis, design studios, and other lecture or seminar courses.

Grant applications are now available and are due by Oct 31, 2013.

For application information please visit lafoundation.org.

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