Before I set out my thoughts on the New Year, I should like to touch on the recent tragic events that resulted in the death of Jo Yeates, who was one of our members.
As many of you will know, Jo worked in the landscape studio of BDP’s Bristol office, and her death shortly before Christmas has affected deeply all those who knew her and many of us who did not. Vice President Brodie McAllister and I have both been in touch with her colleagues and have written to her parents on behalf of the Landscape Institute. I know that the news of her loss will have been felt by you all. I found it especially difficult given the time of year and the emphasis on being together as families.
Planning for the New Year
We start the year with a degree of financial and organisational stability we have not enjoyed for some time. This allows us to think about the future in a more constructive way than had been possible until recently. At our last Board meeting we agreed a strategic framework, resulting from workshops undertaken with Council members and influenced by the recent member survey, which sets out the areas of work we will focus on over the coming period. We agreed on the need to develop our vision and translate it into activities which are both public-facing and serve to raise awareness of the landscape and the work of landscape architects.
Key priorities for the upcoming year will include work on constitutional changes; revisions of key professional practice guidance; greater engagement with Fellows; branches and registered practices. Next month we will be publishing our first campaign leaflet: 'Why Invest in Landscape?' This will be complemented by a series of articles on the economics of landscape to be published in the February edition of the Journal. We will also be responding to the recently-published Localism Bill which receives its first reading in the House of Commons on 17 January, and publishing 'A Guide to Green Infrastructure' at a local level. Later in the year we will be publishing and promoting our first ever Good Client Guide and increasing our work on media coverage of landscape issues and the work of landscape architects.
We are in the process of reviewing our professional standards and specialisms; reviewing the Pathway to Chartership syllabus and evaluating the many changes to higher education funding. At the end of the month we will be running a series of advertising campaigns in the trade press to promote our registered practices. A key priority for the year is the writing of the 3rd edition of GLVIA for publication in 2012. On the digital side of our work we are planning changes to our database to enable members to view and update the details we hold on them online together with a major overhaul of the website and an expansion of our Knowledge Base. We are also delighted to be running seminars for members in March at both Ecobuild in London and Street Design in Birmingham.
I look forward to your feedback.
With my very best wishes for the New Year,
Jo Watkins, president of the Landscape Institute