Many congratulations to the new Chartered Landscape Architects who have just passed their exams. The results are out today and many candidates and their mentors will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. Nothing beats the feeling of getting to the end of the year and seeing something you have worked at for a long time coming to fruition.
Without all the stress and drama of chartership exams, I have a few other things to celebrate along the same lines – things that have taken a lot of work for many months, finally coming together at the end of the year. Today our new publication ’Why Invest in Landscape?’ goes off to the printers and will be going out to members in the first issue of the Journal next year. Today we also formally hand over the UK entry for the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe to DEFRA who will submit it on behalf of the UK government. Last month, the submission from Durham Heritage Coast beat all other entries to become the UK winner, and that now goes forward into the landscape equivalent of Eurovision. That decision won’t take place until 2011 but in handing the entry over we will have completed the last stage of our work. The entry was superb and the UK must have a good chance of winning. If we win, the opportunity to get the government to appreciate the value of good design and management of landscapes will be unparalleled.
Good news too on the CABE front. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment has been a strong ally for the LI over the years and the news, just six weeks ago, that its funding was to be cut and it faced closure, was a serious blow. Through a month of discussions in which the LI has been involved, it seems a possible solution has been found involving a merger between CABE and the Design Council. The proposal will be finalised by the two organisations this week and then go for a ministerial decision. The chances are reasonably good that the new body will get the green light and be up and running within a few months, enabling key landscape-related services such as CABE Enabling and Spaceshaper to continue.
One more good thing coming to fruition in 2010. Some months ago we entered into an agreement with the Stephen Lawrence Trust and the Worshipful Company of Paviors to offer a bursary to a young person from a non-traditional background studying landscape architecture at university. The scheme is now open for applications and we hope to have the first bursary holder starting their degree in the autumn of 2011. Last night I attended a Christmas reception held by the Stephen Lawrence Trust and it was inspiring to see a small organisation so determined to make a big impact. I am confident that many good things will come from this relationship in future years.
Best wishes to all for a happy and prosperous 2011.