Future plans

1. Upholding and advancing the arts and sciences of landscape architecture

Knowledge

i. Knowledge framework

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will use the framework of professional standards and statements of specialism to:

- Review the core areas of knowledge on the university curriculum to ensure appropriate coverage of technical, scientific and legal matters

- Review the syllabus for the Pathway to Chartership

- Create a more structured approach for CPD in collaboration with branches

- Develop the Knowledge Base

ii. Research

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Encourage new research e.g. by supporting funding bids with Higher Education Institutions

- Disseminate emerging research though its journal, through the Knowledge Base and through    branch events

- Act as a research observatory, interpreting research outputs, reviewing their impact on professional practice and publishing practice notes and guidance notes as appropriate

- Support and encourage the use of our archive by researchers

iii. Education

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Cultivate better links with art and design courses outside the built environment5

- Prepare career entrants as effectively as possible for a professional life that embraces constant and unpredictable change

Skills

i. Delivery of CPD

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Develop alliances with universities, colleges and other tuition providers for CPD, and deploy webinars, youtube video and podcasts as well as traditional face-to-face delivery  methods involving the branches

ii. Key themes for CPD

Over the next five years the will focus of CPD will be on:

- leadership skills to ensure that landscape architects who are developing their pivotal role in multidisciplinary teams are best equipped for success

- project and programme management  skills to ensure landscape architects work in ways which are reflect current business and financial management practices

- communication and marketing skills to ensure landscape architects can work as effectively as possible with developers, project managers and other clients as well as with fellow professionals

- community engagement and public consultation skills to ensure that the solutions landscape architects propose and deliver represent real public benefit

- creativity and critical thinking to ensure that the profession remains vibrant, forward looking, multidisciplinary and relevant

- technical, scientific and legal issues to ensure that landscape architects maintain the highest levels of competence in their work

- policy issues to ensure that landscape architects remain up to date on changes in the planning systems and other key elements of the regulatory framework

2. Promoting the arts and sciences of landscape architecture

Global

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Support the efforts towards the development of a UN Landscape Convention through UNESCO

- Foster and encourage the development and advancement of the landscape architecture profession in other countries where it is practical to do so

UK government

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Engage with policy-making with the aim of ensuring that the UK remains compliant with the European Landscape Convention and that emerging public policy is conducive to sustainable and enriching public spaces

- Work with relevant All Party Parliamentary Groups respond to consultations and engage ministers with our own position papers to ensure the best understanding of landscape issues at the level of national policymaking

- Campaign for procurement processes and insurance requirements which are fair and proportionate and do not disadvantage small and medium sized enterprises.

- Seek to develop links with individual MPs to promote better understanding of landscape issues and solutions

Devolved government

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Adapt to the diverging policy environments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, building the capacity to engage more effectively with elected politicians and public officials at the levels of key decision-making.

- Encourage devolved governments to recognise the importance of landscape-level policymaking and commissioning of works

- Campaign for procurement processes and insurance requirements which are fair and proportionate and do not disadvantage small and medium sized enterprises.

- Seek to develop links with individuals MSPs and Assembly members to promote better understanding of landscape issues and solutions

English local government

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Adjust its advocacy work to take account of the localism agenda and the move away from centrally-driven guidance.

- Encourage local authorities to recognise the importance of landscape architecture in planning, design, assessment and management

- Campaign for procurement processes and insurance requirements which are fair and proportionate and do not disadvantage small and medium sized enterprises.

- Seek to develop links with local authorities to promote better understanding of landscape issues and solutions

Prospective clients

Over the next five year the Landscape Institute will:

- Promote its design competitions service to prospective clients and run competitions where opportunities exist to do so

- Identify ways of supporting registered practices to better promote themselves through seminars, CPD and appropriate support services

- Produce a range of client focused publications, including a good client guide

Other built environment professionals

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Use its network of Fellows to build more effective alliances with other professions

- Encourage branches to work closely with branches of sister professions

- Promote the directory of registered practices in sector publications

- Use the Awards to showcase the unique work of landscape architects to fellow professions

Career entrants

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Develop and promote the schools toolkit for landscape architects to use in schools engagement work

- Continue to encourage people to enter the profession from a wide range of educational and practical backgrounds, and encourage them to enrich the professional environment with the diversity of their experiences

- Build on the success of the ‘I want to be a Landscape Architect’ campaign

- Seek ways of expanding the activities and scope of the Student Landscape Institute Council

3. Competence and conduct

Over the next five years the Landscape Institute will:

- Promote excellence within the professional community of landscape architects through the journal, the website, training events and through branch and other events

- Review and update the of code of conduct

- Review and update the disciplinary code

- Review of terms of the registered practice scheme to determine whether it can more effectively communicate the values they embody

- Review and update the dispute resolution processes of arbitration, adjudication, and mediation it currently offers

- Promote public awareness of the standards they can expect from chartered landscape architects and, in particular, from registered practices.

- Review and issue new editions of JCLI contracts; the guide to competitive tendering; and the landscape consultants’ appointment

- Use the Awards to promote the highest standards of science, planning, management and design across the profession and use them to communicate those standards to a wider audience

4. Organisational

In support of these strategic goals, the Landscape Institute will:

- Build networking opportunities for members and fellow professionals

- Monitor member perceptions of the Landscape Institute and respond to changing needs

- Identify means to building greater involvement of volunteers in Institute work, managing them effectively and retaining their skills as effectively as possible