Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture

2026 Call for Abstracts

2026 Call for Abstracts

CELA 2026 Call for Abstracts Now Open

 

Conference Theme – Catalyzing Connections: Integrating Strategies, Knowledge, and Action with Communities in Landscape Architecture

CELA invites you to submit your innovative research, groundbreaking projects, and inspiring teaching methodologies for consideration. Your contributions will shape the discourse on landscape architecture education and inspire the next generation of professionals.

Submission Deadlines  

  • Abstract Deadline: 09/15/2025, 11:59 pm author’s time zone EXTENDED 9/26/2026 11:59 pm author’s time zone
  • Full Paper Submission Deadline: 04/15/2026, 11:59 pm author’s time zone

Submit Your Abstracts

  • Step 1 

Go to link: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/79455/submitter. If you created your Oxford Abstracts account last year, log in using your Email and Password. If you have not created an account, use the “New to Oxford Abstracts? Create an account” button to create your account.

  • Step 2

Review the Submission Guidelines to learn more about the submission and review process. When you are ready to submit, click “NEXT” at the bottom of the page to start your entry.

  • Step 3

Fill out the form completely (fields marked with * are required). Click “Submit” to finalize your submission. If you see a “Submission incomplete” warning, address the missing fields and resubmit. A confirmation email will also be sent upon successful submission. For CES track submitters, even if the system marks your submission as complete, ensure all optional CES-related fields are filled as needed.

The system will notify authors of incomplete submissions via email. Please note that the system sends email reminders for incomplete submissions every time an author logs in without finishing the submission form. To avoid repeated notifications, authors may prefer to finalize their abstract before entering it into the system.

CELA 2026 Abstract Submission Guidelines

Please review the CELA 2026 Submission Guidelines carefully, as we have made some changes based on the feedback we received to help ensure the conference’s quality.

Required Information for Each Submission:

  • Presentation format (i.e., oral, panel, or poster/demonstration)
  • Conference track (select one from 16  tracks provided)
  • Author information (i.e., title, name, highest degree, email, institution/organization of all authors)
  • Professional status of first author (student, practitioner, or educator/academic)
  • Abstract title (up to 20 words)
  • Keywords (3-5)
  • Abstract (up to 400 words)
  • Reference (up to 10 references, APA Style, 7th edition)
  • Learning objectives (3-5) and author bio (required only for LA CES tracks)

Submission Restrictions:

  • Each person is limited to no more than two first-author submissions. The platform will automatically withdraw additional first-authored submissions. There is no limit on the number of co-authored submissions.
  • Student Submissions are encouraged by the CELA. PhD students may submit as single authors. All other students must co-author submissions with faculty advisors. Abstracts with a non-PhD student as the first author and no faculty member as the co-author will be automatically withdrawn by the platform. Faculty shouldn’t have their students or assistants submit submissions on their behalf. If a student is submitting, they must use their student email address.

Presentation Format:

  • CELA 2026 will be an in-person conference, and no virtual option will be provided.
  • Oral Presentations are typically individual presentations organized into 75-minute concurrent sessions (four presenters each have 15 minutes, including Q&A time in the middle or at the end for open discussion). The first author must be the presenting author and must complete early bird registration to be included in the conference schedule.
  • Panel Submissions are 75-minute integrated presentations on a single topic offered by 3-5 panelists. Panel proposals require a full description of the topic, the rationale for its importance, presentation structure, and the names of all speakers. A minimum of two panelists must complete early bird registration to be included in the conference schedule.
  • Poster/Demonstration Submissions are presentations of research and/or creative scholarship information in the form of printed posters that conference participants may view. Poster abstracts should follow the same suggested abstract format.
  • The first author (= presenting author) must complete early bird registration to be included in the conference schedule. The actual name, not a nickname, of the author needs to be used for submissions. The first author’s (= presenting author) email needs to be the direct contact of this person. Authors are strongly encouraged to use their institutional email to submit their abstracts and contact CELA.

Conference Tracks:

There are currently 15 CELA tracks and the 2026 CELA theme track. Authors are encouraged to review the descriptions of each track here to determine the best fit for their submission: https://thecela.org/2026-cela/2026-conference-tracks/

  • 2026 CELA theme track: Catalyzing Connections (new-LA CES)
  • Communication and Visualization
  • Design Education and Pedagogy
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Film + New Media
  • Geo-Spatial and Digital Analytics
  • History, Theory, and Culture
  • Landscape Architecture for Health (new-LA CES)
  • Landscape Performance (LA CES)
  • Landscape Planning and Ecology (LA CES)
  • People-Environment Relationships
  • Research Methods
  • Research by Design and Implementation (LA CES)
  • Resilience and Climate Action (new-LA CES)
  • Service Learning and Community Engagement
  • Urban Design

Review Process and Criteria

The CELA supports and encourages submissions focusing on research and creative scholarship of all paradigms, e.g., qualitative, quantitative, mixed inquiry, etc. The CELA operates a double-blind peer-review process managed by CELA Track Chairs. We respect the work of the blind peer reviewers and track chairs regarding decisions about acceptances and presentation methods. Abstracts will not be re-reviewed once a decision has been made.

Authors are encouraged to include the necessary information below in their abstracts:

  • Introduction: What is the theoretical foundation and current knowledge about the topic? Why is the topic important?  What are the goals/objectives/research questions?
  • Methods: What methods were used? How was the study done?
  • Results: What are the findings?
  • Discussion: What do the results mean? What are the implications for landscape architecture theory and practice? What are the limitations of this study?
  • Conclusion: What do the findings mean for researchers and practitioners?

Submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Completeness: abstract needs to include all required information (e.g., references, learning outcomes for LA CES tracks).
  • Originality: The abstract produces new knowledge/understanding.
  • Importance: The abstract advances the discipline/profession.
  • Rigor: The method used is robust and clearly described and justified.
  • Clarity: The abstract is well organized and can be easily understood.

Submitters are strongly encouraged to use the provided components and criteria to self-evaluate their abstracts before submission. Given the double-blind review process, the abstract serves as the sole basis for evaluation. To ensure clarity and completeness, revise your abstract to succinctly (also sufficiently) convey the study’s core idea, rationale, methodology, data, and significance in alignment with the criteria.

The review outcomes will be communicated to the first authors by email. Possible outcomes include: Accept, Revise and resubmit, and Reject. Authors who receive the “Revise and Resubmit” decision are required to revise their abstracts based on reviewer/track chair suggestions satisfactorily by the deadline for the abstract to be included in the conference schedule. If the abstract is not revised by the deadline, it will not be accepted. In addition to the three outcomes, track chairs may recommend a change of presentation format or conference track as appropriate.

Submissions to the Film + New Media Track

New Media, such as film and virtual reality (VR), play critical roles in the inquiries of landscape architecture. They provide powerful visual tools that help communicate design research, methodologies, and findings. Emerging technologies also provide insight into the future of how landscapes may be explored, developed, and depicted. Examples include, but are not limited to, film, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), or other types of creative scholarship best demonstrated interactively. Presenters may participate in Oral Presentation, Panel Session, or Poster/Demonstration Session formats. We welcome creative work of all types.

Authors submitting to the Film + New Media Track are required to submit a written abstract that includes a URL link to an excerpt or work sample for review. The written abstract must include a URL link (to Vimeo or a similar password-protected site) and the password. The excerpt or work sample hosted on the password-protected site must be 5-7 minutes in duration and representative of the quality and content of the final presentation.

Submission decisions will be based on a review of the abstract and the excerpt of the creative work. If the abstract and work sample are accepted, you will receive email instructions on preparing your work for presentation. Please note that you will be responsible for bringing any technology beyond typical conference setups, including VR or AR devices.

In addition to the conference presentation, authors whose abstracts were accepted have the option of submitting a full paper for consideration in the Landscape Research Record (LRR).

Submission to LA CES Tracks

The Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES) offers the following tracks:

  • Landscape Performance
  • Landscape Planning and Ecology
  • Research by Design and Implementation

For CELA 2026, three (3) additional CES tracks will be introduced:

  • Catalyzing Connections (2026 CELA Theme Track)
  • Landscape Architecture for Health
  • Resilience and Climate Action

Authors who submit abstracts for these SIX tracks must include three to five learning outcomes and the bios of all authors in the text boxes provided.

This information will be assessed as required by the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES). LA CES criteria can be found online at: https://laces.asla.org/ApprovedProviderGuidelines.aspx.

Example learning outcomes:

  1. Learn how to determine the major functions and components of a green roof.
  2. Identify the factors that influence costs.
  3. Learn how to utilize an integrated design process in your project for maximum performance benefits.

Example author bio:

John Radke, Ph.D., University of British Columbia. Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning, University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Radke is interested in Geographic Information Systems; database design and construction, spatial analysis, pattern recognition, computational morphology, environmental assessment, landscape characterization, and potential modeling.

CELA Abstract Proceedings

CELA publishes the Proceedings online, which include full written abstracts that are presented at the Conference. Abstracts that are not accepted or presented at the conference (if the author did not show up and present at the scheduled session) will not be included in the final Proceedings.

Full Paper Submission for Landscape Research Record (LRR)

Please note that for the CELA 2026, we have changed the LRR submission deadline to after the CELA conference, on 04/15/2026.

For each accepted and presented abstract, the author is encouraged to submit a full paper for review and possible publication in Landscape Research Record (LRR). LRR is published annually with a collection of papers presented at the CELA annual conference of that year. For a paper to be considered for the LRR review process, authors must submit their full papers to CELA by the deadline. Paper submission templates and guidelines will be shared when notifications of abstract acceptance are out.

Submission to LRR implies the author’s permission for CELA to publish the paper in LRR. The author(s) must affirm that the paper is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and has not been previously published or presented elsewhere.

Deadlines  

  • Abstract Deadline: 09/15/2025, 11:59 pm author’s time zone
  • Full Paper Submission Deadline: 04/15/2026, 11:59 pm author’s time zone

 

Presentation Submission Questions?

For questions regarding abstract submissions/review, please e-mail CELA Vice President of Research Dr Bo Zhang.

Travel Letters and Conference Questions?

For questions regarding travel documents and conference logistics, and/or require a visa, please email CELA Conference Managers.