Travelling for Landscape: Isabel Swift

Isabel Swift (Leeds Beckett University) won the 2017 LI Student Travel Award for her proposal, ‘Active and passive healthy landscapes in Sweden’. She visited Uppsala, Stockholm and Malmö in Sweden over eight days.

Norrbron cultural festival

Isabel Swift

What was the idea behind your proposal?

I wanted to visit the therapy garden at Alnarp University in Uppsala to see a landscape that had been purposefully designed as a rehab space for medical and social issues. I also wanted to see how Swedish society, which has a strong cultural connection to nature and a high ranking in the world happiness index, designed its towns and cities.

Why did you choose the location you did?

I lived in Sweden in my early 20s. In my 30s, as a therapeutic horticulturalist, I knew that I’d felt Sweden was different and wanted to go back with designer’s eyes and take a fresh look.

What did you learn from your trip?

The importance of integrating towns and cities with nature, with no hard boundaries between housing and woods, and town planning that facilitates recycling, energy generation, exercise, active travel and positive community interaction.

How has your trip influenced you and your practice?

I’m re-examining existing run-down neighbourhoods, ways to link or relink green areas and create spaces for neighbours to meet, play, grow food, and travel to school and the city centre. My practice involves work with corporate clients wanting to promote biodiversity and staff wellbeing.

Did your trip reveal new opportunities for landscape practitioners?

I visited a garden designed for older people which was used by two adjoining older people’s homes and facilitated by a local authority-employed horticultural therapist. It was based in a park, and municipal facilities like this to support social prescribing is an important opportunity for us in the future.