URI offers the only accredited BLA program in the state of Rhode Island and one of only a handful in New England. A unique feature of our small program is that we can respond effectively to changes and trends in practice by incorporating new ideas and practices into classes, for example understanding the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on local communities; urbanization and land use policy changes; sustainability, resilience, and green infrastructure.

 
Each semester, faculty are involved in service-learning community design projects for cities and towns from around the state. During 2022, these projects focused on Rhode Island coastal habitats and restoration in the town of Warren and the port of Galilee. In December 2022, there was a public showcase of senior capstone work at Waterfire Museum, Providence. This was the culmination of a project involving six universities addressing climate change in the Narragansett Bay area.
The URI Landscape Architecture Lecture Series, which Professor Green established in 1993, continues to attract exciting practitioners and academics to the university to speak on landscape architecture, urban design, climate change, cultural relevance, social justice, diversity, and other relevant topics.
Landscape Architecture faculty and students took a bus trip to NYC in the fall of 2022 and explored the High Line and Little Island sites together. The senior class also took field trips to Boston in the Spring of 2023 to visit landscape architecture firms and projects.
The last year has been a time of transition in our department. We have welcomed two new Assistant Teaching Professors, Gavin Zeitz, MLA and Courtney Goode, MLA, RLA.