On the 23 and 24 February the Landscape Institute welcomed Chartered graduates and Fellows, along with their mentors, colleagues, friends and family, to the Royal College of Physicians to celebrate their achievements.
170 individuals received Chartered status and 38 individuals were awarded with LI Fellowship at this year’s LI Graduation.
LI President, Jane Findlay, opened the first in-person ceremony since 2019, welcoming graduate to the landscape profession and thanking them for choosing a career that’s so important to our planet, environment, and future.
“You’ve all become Chartered members of a profession that spans the arts and the sciences to achieve truly amazing things. You’re about to embark upon a career where your everyday work will tackle climate change, restore nature, boost well-being for people, and much more. And it couldn’t be at a more important time in human history.”
It was followed by an inspiring speech from Kotchakorn Voraakhom, Landscape Architect, LANDPROCESS and Porous City Network – an educator, entrepreneur, writer, social changemaker, and TED Fellow. Kotchakorn congratulated graduates on their achievements, as Landscape Architects of the future they have the tools to turn grey cities to green, and contribute to better public health and well-being for all. She encouraged graduates to use their tools to create design based on compassion above all else.
The fireside chat, chaired by Jane Findlay, welcomed Ruth Lin Wong Holmes, Design Principal at the London Legacy Development Corporation, Nicola Mathers, CEO of Future of London, Monika Nair FLI, Associate Practice Director from Atkins and Pooja Agrawal, CEO of Public Practice. Speakers discussed their routes into the built and natural environment sector, highlighting their career highs and lows, and provided some useful tips and advice for the new cohort.
‘The values you have and the ways you think as a landscape architect are really important, working together and understanding the power we have is key’.
Ruth Lin Wong Holmes
Making change
Jane Findlay closed the ceremony with a call to action to be active in our profession and our Institute so we’re shouting not just as individuals, but as a united voice.
“We need you to take the fire and the ambition and the brilliance that brought you through your Pathway to Chartership and keep it up.
Chartership and Fellowship of the LI demonstrate that you’ve reached the highest level and standard of knowledge in your field. And you never know – that knowledge, if shared, could be what takes the LI to the next level.
The Landscape Institute is here to deliver for you, to support you in your career, so you can continue to do what you do best: making beautiful, healthy, sustainable places that deliver for people and nature. ”
Thanks also go to our examiners, monitors, supervisors, and LI Pathway team as well as our sponsors Arup, Atkins, Grant Associates, LDA Design, and Pegasus Group.
Thanks once again to all our graduates, for Choosing Landscape. For choosing this profession, and for excelling in it to become our next generation of ambassadors, agitators, changemakers, and champions.
Please do share your stories and photos from the night on social media using the official event hashtag #LIGraduation2022.
