NEWS EXTRA
Panel discussion on ‘Challenging Boundaries’
A launch party was held at the Last Drop Terrace
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special event was held by the Landscape Institute (LI) to celebrate the creativity and impact of landscape, while addressing the industry’s future. Held on Friday 7 June and Saturday 8 June at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, the Festival of Ideas was part of the LI’s 90th birthday celebrations. Part of the London Festival of Architecture, the event explored the role of the landscape professional, and showcased the ways in which people, place and nature interact. Topics discussed under the banner ‘Transforming Landscape, Challenging Boundaries’ included climate change, digital technology, community engagement and other challenges facing the landscape profession. Other key themes included public health and wellbeing, the value of the natural environment, nature as a means of escape in the modern city, and how landscape transcends boundaries to connect communities. A launch party was held at the Last Drop Terrace on Friday 7 June, and the following day
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Adam White, president of the LI addressing the audience
Dan Cook, CEO of the Landscape Institute
Photographs ©Paul Upward/Landscape Institute
Prof. Rainer Stange, president of the Norwegian Association of Landscape Architects (NLA)
FESTIVAL OF IDEAS Landscape Institute event tackles challenges facing the industry
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comprised a mixture of seminars and activities held at the Olympic site. Morning sessions offered interactive workshops and themed walking and boating tours. This was followed by a landscape forum involving panel discussions with speakers from from around the globe. Speakers included: Andrew Harland (LDA Design - who led the team that designed and delivered the Olympic Park), Dr Phil Askew (Peabody), and Prof Rainer Stange (president of the Norwegian Association of Landscape Architects). Andrew, now designing the landscape for the Park’s new East Bank, spoke about how (by re-imaging and reconnecting East London) different boundaries are being overcome. Prof Stange shared news of the Oslo Parks Scheme.
Speaking at the event, Dan Cook CEO of the Landscape Institute, explained how the concept of an ‘ideas festival’ was developed following discussions with the Norwegian Association of Landscape Architects about the IFLA World Congress that will be held 18-20 September. “We thought in the spirit of co-operation and in the spirit of joint working globally with our international partners, perhaps we might not have a regular conference of our own this year and do some different things, and not run anything in competition with the IFLA World Congress.” Following consultation with members, it was decided to have an interactive daytime festival. “We wanted it to be forward-looking, and we wanted it to be more inclusive and familyfriendly. We also wanted to have diverse voices to help shape and inform what we do next as a profession,” he added. Dan also explained how the theme of the conference had been to ‘pay homage to the past, but was also looking at where we could go in the future’. www.landscapeinstitute.org
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11/06/2019 10:42