The purpose of EDRA is the advancement and dissemination of environmental design research, thereby improving understanding of the interrelationships between people, their built and natural surroundings, and helping to create environments responsive to human needs.
Along with IAPS, MERA, PaPER, and EBRA, EDRA is one of the major international associations that focuses on the field of Environmental Design Research.
[1] EDRA holds an annual conference in different locations around the United States and around the world.
The first annual conference was held at Chapel Hill, North Carolina on June 8–10, 1969.
These include full-length refereed and invited papers, symposia, workshops, and posters.