Welcome to EDRA! The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) is an exciting, interdisciplinary community of research and design professionals, educators, and students focused on the reciprocal relationships of people and their built and natural environments.

Founded in 1969, EDRA is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. In EDRA, the ideas of tomorrow are being identified today. Issues such as accessibility, diversity, digital methods, sustainability, and productivity received early attention from EDRA members  long before capturing the imagination of design and environmental fields.

What will these disciplines be discussing in five years? Come join EDRA and find out! Explore research and conceptual issues and their application in environmental planning, design, and management through this website, our membership networks, annual conferences, and publications. As an EDRA member, you receive our annual conference proceedings, reduced conference and journal subscription fees, and access to our member networks and resources.

This is an exciting time for EDRA. Design research is exploding.  Every day, we learn about important advances in research on health care design, green building, and design and planning for active living.  EDRA and our members play leadership roles in these movements.  EDRA is also involved in other important activities.  We are helping to develop a new National Academy for Environmental Design (NAED--a sister organization to the National Academy of Science and other national academies.)  This year, EDRA celebrated the 12th anniversary of our GreatPlaces design awards program with Places journal and Metropolis magazine. And we are planning EDRA's 41st annual conference in Washington, DC, June 2 to June 6, 2010.  You can read more about all of these initiatives on this web site.

EDRA's 40th anniversary offers a time for reflection and imagination for all who are committed to improving the quality of human-environment relationships.  I hope that you will join EDRA and help us to advance this essential work.

If you have questions or suggestions, please send me an e-mail.

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Chair, EDRA Board of Directors