Education and the Landscape Institute

Robert Holden 24 August 2023

The Landscape Institute (LI) regulates landscape architecture education in the UK, i.e. it accredits courses. However, there are problems: the LI is not clear what landscape architecture is, and uses the term ‘landscape professional’ on its website. It has a muddled identity. Yet landscape architect is the internationally recognised title. In a way the LI denies the identity of most of its members. The term ‘landscape professional’ is little used in the UK and not at all internationally. All but three of the 31 LI accredited courses use the term landscape architecture (ref.i)

In the USA and in Canada landscape architecture education is six years and involves an undergraduate degree (typically of four academic years) plus a Master degree of two academic years. In Europe the norm now (since the Bologna Declaration of 1999) is a three year Bachelors degree plus a two academic year Masters, totalling five years. Today the UK norm is a three year Bachelors degree plus a twelve month Masters degree, totalling four and a half academic years. In the USA conversion Masters (MLAs) for non landscape architecture graduates are three academic years, in the UK conversion Masters are generally two academic years.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Landscape Institute had to battle to establish a four year (Bachelor + Diploma) entry level for landscape architects. So why does the LI now accept for Associate Membership

Landscape Architecture Bachelors graduates from LI accredited courses after just three years of work experience, in lieu of doing a Masters degree (ref. ii)? This undermines the viability of our landscape courses. NB the graduate entry Diploma has largely been superseded by Masters degrees since the introduction of tuition fees in England.

Furthermore the Landscape Institute denies the value of its own professional qualification (the Pathway to Chartership) by accepting for full Chartered Membership professionally qualified landscape architects who are members of other EU national associations. This is despite the UK having left the European Union, despite the EU Professions Directive not requiring the acceptance of automatic entry to full Chartered (CMLI) status and despite many other IFLA Europe landscape national associations not having professional practice exams. All chartered members should have an understanding of UK law, the UK planning system and UK contracts. The RIBA does not do this so why does the LI?

Following a referendum of all members in 1975 and a general meeting decision in 1977 the LI changed its name from the Institute of Landscape Architects to the Landscape Institute and introduced three divisions of membership: Landscape Design, Landscape Management and Landscape Science. Both Landscape Management and Landscape Science Chartered Membership required just Bachelor level education qualifications. In c.2016 the divisions were abolished and now the profession is open to graduates in landscape planning and urban design as well. Yet the LI does not accredit any urban design or landscape or countryside management courses and only one landscape planning course. So it should actively work to accredit courses in those areas.

It can do this by reintroducing the divisions (call them what you will, e.g. areas of expertise) as a definition of entry to the profession. So entry to Associate membership for graduates in urban design, landscape planning, landscape management and landscape science can be after a three undergraduate degree or a one year conversion Masters: while entry for landscape architects (aka landscape design members) can still require a minimum of a Bachelors plus a Masters degree or conversion Masters (i.e. the situation prior to 2016). The presumption is that the twenty, one year Masters courses in urban design (ref.iii) are not being accredited for the reason that they should be two years long. There are potentially scores of courses in landscape planning, management and science that could be accredited.

The Landscape Institute does not seem to engage directly with landscape students: contrast the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) which has student chapters based in nearly every state. The Landscape Institute could also revive the Students’ Landscape Institute Council (SLIC) which used to meet annually with representatives from every accredited school. But of course the LI fails to engage directly with the majority of its members. Most are not members of their local LI branch e.g. only about 300 of the 1,200 members in the London branch.

Currently the LI states it accredits 31 courses, and all but three are landscape architecture courses. The LI does not accredit any urban design courses. And it only accredits two landscape science courses and one landscape management course (ii) Instead in recent years it has promoted a Technician membership based on an A-level (higher education level 3) apprenticeship education; with no apprenticeship route to Bachelors and Masters level education. By contrast the RIBA accredits two Bachelor level (HE level 6) and ten Masters level (HE level 7) apprenticeship courses (ref. iv). Indeed as noted above the LI undervalues and undermines landscape architecture higher education by accepting three years work experience in case of a post graduate course.

So what should the Landscape Institute do? A list for Education and Membership committee to consider is:

• require the Education and Membership Committee to include members with a professional understanding of higher education; by increasing the numbers of educationalist places on this committee from one to two; and also it should end its unwritten rule that Chairs of its Education and Membership Committee are not educationalists;
• end exemption for members from other IFLA Europe national associations undertaking the Institute’s professional practice exam (whether by direct entry for via Pathway to Chartership);
• actively promote accreditation, by accrediting courses in urban design, landscape planning, landscape management and landscape science; and streamline the paperwork the LI requires for seeking such accreditation (i.e. use university internal course validation documents rather than require a voluminous load of LI documentation);
• promote apprenticeship courses at Bachelors and Masters level;
• certainly value work experience, but increase the requirement for entry to Associateship for those without relevant landscape education from five to ten years landscape related work experience in lieu of Bachelors and Masters level entry.
• and finally promote transparency within the Institute and, in particular in relation to education, resume enabling LI Members access to Education and Membership Committee minutes; and resume reports from chairs of the three standing committees to AGMs.

But none of the above should proceed without discussion with Advisory Council and the Heads of Landscape Schools (SCHOLA). The Landscape Institute should value landscape education. In short clarity of thought, full understanding, effective governance and administration and full transparency involving all the membership are key to promotion of landscape education as well as other aspects of the Landscape Institute.

Refs.

i) In August 2023 there were two landscape sciences courses listed as LI accredited, the BSc (Hons) Environmental Science at Sheffield Hallam University (listed as no longer accepting applications) and the BSc (Hons) Landscape Architecture with Ecology at University of Sheffield. There was one landscape planning/ landscape architecture course listed as accredited the BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture with Planning also at University of Sheffield. The list of LI accredited courses is on https://www.chooselandscape.org/courses/ Curiously the Li Choose Landscape website does not list the HE level 3 Landscape Technician course at Capel College which is noted on https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/news/landscape-apprenticeships-november-2020-update/

ii) Landscape Institute Licentiate Membership Requirements (August 2019) Category 7 Requirement – “BA in Landscape Architecture/Planning accredited course totalling 360 UK credits plus 3 years relevant work experience” https://landscapewpstorage01.blob.core.windows.net/www-landscapeinstitute-org/2020/01/landscape-institute-licentiate-membership-requirements-august-2019.pdf NB Licentiate membership changed to Associate later in 2019.

iii) Urban Design Masters courses are listed on https://www.udg.org.uk/directory/courses

iv) RIBA list of apprenticeship courses: https://www.architecture.com/education-cpd-and-careers/apprenticeships/universities-offering-architecture-apprenticeship-training

1. When the three Divisions of the Landscape Institute were established (in the 1970s) the Institute asked Professor Peter Youngman to write an advisory paper. Among other comments he advised that (1) he did not think the divisions were a good idea (2) if they were going to be created then there must be divisions for Urban Design and Garden Design. I very much agreed with his second point and made the point on many occasions (including letters to the Journal of the Landscape Institute).
2. With regard to Robert Holden’s concluding point I believe the Landscape Institute should conduct the widest possible consultation and then adapt its involvement with education and training. The results of the consultation should be summarised in a consultation report which should be circulated with proposals for change. This procedure would accord with the advice on membership involvement given in the LI’s 2021 Independent Review. The consultation should include individual members (including student members), LI committees (eg the Advisory Council and the Technical Committee) and outsiders with a professional (or other) interest with the work of the Landscape Institute’s membes.