Earlier this year the LI renewed its Standing Committees, moving from 3 to 4 and recruiting a new cohort of members to sit on them and guide the LI’s work. They cover the vital areas of Membership and Professional Standards, Knowledge and Practice, Education, and Policy and Public Affairs.
For the last 6 months the Committees have been busy agreeing priorities and pursuing them. As we prepare to recruit members to the Task and Finish Groups that will sit under the Committees, we thought it worth outlining the work the Committees have got underway in the past 6 months.
Membership and Professional Standards
The MPSC has got off to a really good start. The Committee is developing its workplan, and its plans for Task & Finish groups to support its work.
A significant amount of attention has been focused on how to strengthen member engagement with Branches, taking forward the recommendations from the first phase of the Branch Review, and planning for the next phase of that important project. The Committee is also working closely with Branch Chairs in taking this forward.
The Committee has also been considering how to grow the LI’s membership, and improve the member value proposition for individual members and for our Registered Practices.
With responsibility for our entry routes, the Committee has reviewed and updated the terms of reference for the Membership Admissions Panel, is exploring how we can better support assessors, supervisors and mentors on the Pathway to Chartership, and developed draft guidelines on the use of AI in the Institute’s professional assessments that will be finalised very soon.
Looking ahead the Committee’s workplan includes undertaking a review of the Competency Framework, and the development of a new Code of Conduct to sit alongside the Code of Practice. Member input to these pieces of work will be vital, so watch out for opportunities to get involved in the near future.
Knowledge and Practice
The K&PC has had a busy period contributing to Defra’s BNG consultations and Ofgem’s RIIO-3 Draft Determinations, advocating for a landscape-led approach to National Grid Electricity Transmission projects. There has also been significant effort in providing a landscape element to NESO’s Energy Transmission Design Principles and work here continues. As the Committee becomes more established members are representing the LI and landscape in multiple external working groups and events, promoting the profession and encouraging collaborative work with a more holistic approach.
With an extensive Workplan of proactive work the Committee has been prioritising previous commitments and LI member needs. Work has begun on an LVIA accreditation scheme Feasibility Study and creating Task and Finish Groups to support the LI’s biodiversity work, the review of TGN 06/19 and existing work on the LI’s LCA Database, GLVIA Panel and updating the Digital Plan of Works for Landscape RIBA Overlay. With a ambitious pipeline and a watching brief on subjects such as digital skills, plant health, AI and standards it is an exciting time.
Education and Careers
The ECC has been focusing on the development of a brand new education and careers strategy for the Institute, identifying priorities and actions.
The new strategy will focus on promoting landscape as a career of choice, and includes an exciting new opportunity to work with the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to increase the visibility of the landscape profession to young people, and tackling the long-standing lack of visibility of landscape architecture.
As part of the new strategy, the Committee is supporting exciting new projects around the country bringing education providers and practices together in innovative new ways.
More information on the new education and careers strategy will be shared with members very soon.
One of the functions of the Committee is to oversee the LI’s accreditation programme, and our strategic relationship with our higher education partners. The Committee has been exploring steps we can take to help support our HE partners in the face of huge challenges in the HE sector, and the LI education team has been visiting all of our HE partners in recent weeks.
The Committee will shortly also be inviting members to join a number of Task & Finish groups, covering key functions including accreditation, apprenticeships, and promoting landscape as a positive career choice. Details on how you can get involved will be shared very soon.
Policy and Public Affairs
Our recent policy-related activity includes responses on Land Use and Development & Nature Recovery consultations, as well as collaborating with the Knowledge and Practice Committee on Biodiversity and RIIO-3 consultations. We’ve also worked with coalition partners to help shape feedback for the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, especially on nature-related clauses.
Planning remains a central focus, with a consultation on further changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) revisions expected before Christmas. We are establishing a new Planning Task and Finish Group to promote to government our message that a landscape-led approach to development is key to ensuring long-term people, place and nature benefits.
We participated in a Net Zero Week parliamentary roundtable on building green skills, gave evidence to the Commission on Housing Quality, following our submission to the APPG Excellence in Building consultation, hosted a site visit for Gideon Amos MP, the Lib Dem Shadow Housing spokesperson and one for the MHCLG Planning Policy Team.
Outputs from the Landscape & Carbon project are now supporting landscape professionals with practical resources that add significant value while actively reducing project carbon outputs. We recently published the first Landscape Carbon Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, successfully promoted via a well-received webinar. We will soon be publishing new resources on carbon tools, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and EPD databases, accompanied by a masterclass.
Coming up
Each Committee will soon be recruiting to Task and Finish Groups that will do specific work under the guidance of the Committee. Please keep an eye out in Vista and on the website for opportunities to get involved in these or one of the Committees themselves.