News
Leading practitioners to speak at Landscape Institute Annual Conference
1st November 2007
A host of leading practitioners from the UK and overseas will demonstrate how policy and practice are being effectively developed in landscape architecture to deal with the climate change crisis at the Landscape Institute annual conference today and tomorrow (Nov 1 and 2).
The conference, entitled “Climate Change: The Challenge for Landscape Architecture,” will demonstrate the vital role played by landscape architects in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Keynote speaker will be Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, who will detail the government’s position on climate changes in the context of landscapes, land use and the public realm.
On day one, Professor Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University and a regular advisor to the World Health Organisation, will argue that land use as a core challenge for policy is back on the political agenda. He believes we mine land both physically and emotionally and that land is the ultimate material good on which human activity depends.
Television producer David Barrie will speak on how more than a thousand people in Middlesbrough have been pioneering a new edible landscape, growing fresh produce across the town as part of a larger programme devoted to designing a healthier, more local food system.
Landscape architect Kim Wilkie, who advises the Conservatives’ Policy of Life group, will argue that in the face of environmental disasters, panic reactions often make a bad situation worse. He will explore the swing from drought to flood and back again and ask how basic stewardship of rural and urban land can make a significant difference.
On day two, Professor John Handley, director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology, based in the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, will explore the expected trajectory of climate change in the UK. He will also examine the emergence of new tools and approaches which will allow us to evaluate the significance of these changes for the landscape both in town and country.
Eco-entrepeneur Andy Middleton, who has also worked as a gold miner and adventure guide, will inform delegates on eco-design in action, how local government and businesses react and the latest on his efforts to turn his home city of St David’s into the world’s first eco-city.
The final speaker will be Professor Robert Tregay, senior partner at LDA Design and an honorary Professor at the University of Wales, who will focus on how new housing developments are being masterplanned, designed and managed in response to climate change and how sustainable design is being used to reduce energy loss and consumption from buildings.
