IFLA President's Bulletin

President’s bulletin

Issue #02 – MARCH 2013

Dear Delegates and Presidents of the IFLA-Member Associations, February has been an intense month for Landscape Architecture this year. After our meeting in Brussels, the ExCo and the strategic plan working group (SPWG) have been working closely together to prepare hopefully for a very fruitful World Council.

The document you are going to receive in the World Council package reflects the hard work of the colleagues from the group and the members of the ExCo. The document represents the interpretation of your needs and visions, expressed though your answers to the last year’s applied questionnaire!

Auckland view from Mt Eden, just located 4 km away of the Central Business District, our background scenery for the World Council and Congress Image courtesy of IFLA 2013

You will have the chance to continue shaping IFLA´s future through your participation at the World Council and its scheduled workshops!

Please consider how important your presence is and attend the World Council meeting and the Congress!!!

A new organisational framework for IFLA – summary of key issues and proposals IFLA is at a turning point in its history. A number of strategic issues have come together, which require resolution for the Federation to be able to clearly define its future pathway and further build its overall success and influence.

A central issue concerns IFLA’s overall structure. IFLA is currently constituted as a global body formally operating around four semi-autonomous Regions (IFLA Europe, IFLA Americas, IFLA Asia-Pacific and IFLA Africa) and its Constitution lays down a range of detailed governance arrangements, which each Region is expected to follow.

However, the current Constitution ignores how different these regions are and with different levels of development in terms of how they are running their affairs. The question is how to have a regional but flexible aspect to IFLA and still keep a united, global body?

It is proposed that IFLA only needs its four (current) formal Regions as a basis for composing the Executive Committee (ExCo), and that, operationally, the Federation should give members more freedom to run activities and form member groups - geographical and more global, with only a limited, set of centrally-defined set of rules needed for good management and to integrate IFLA as one global brand and institution.

International Landscape Convention (ILC) Keep signing the petition here

IFLA online forum to discuss the new organisational framework Access here

IFLA 50 – Shared Wisdom in a Age of Change For registrations access here

(cont.)

In this new structure, the role of the IFLA centre is to focus on three key areas: central administration needed for IFLA overall; support to and co-ordination of IFLA members (including communications with members); and marketing & promotion of IFLA externally at a global level.

In terms of the roles and mechanisms making up the IFLA centre, it is not proposed to make any major changes to the role or composition of World Council but that the ExCo should be widened to include the chairs of IFLA’s main central committees in order to integrate their work better with the leadership of IFLA. Other important proposals to strengthen the effectiveness of the IFLA centre are the appointment of an Executive Director and re-defining IFLA’s central (global) committees and main working groups with fresh terms of reference.

To support these new, proposed governance arrangements, it is intended that IFLA enhance the effectiveness of how it implements ideas, decisions and policies – from World Council to individual committees – by adopting more professional project planning and management techniques. Additionally, it is proposed that IFLA needs to enhance its overall financial management processes and make more extensive use of strategic and business planning.

The document you are going to receive in the World Council package reflects the hard work of colleagues from the group and on ExCo. The document represents the interpretation of the needs and visions you indicated in last year’s questionnaire.

You will have the chance to continue shaping IFLA’s future by attending the World Council and its scheduled workshops.

Please do consider how important your presence is there!

In advance of Auckland, the article below outlines the main proposals to be presented. We have also set up a special online forum where you can ask questions and share views with other members about the ideas. Please see the link here.

Do try visiting the forum a few times before Auckland to read people’s latest thoughts!

IFLA 50: Shared wisdom – you’re invited to make a change!

Not only is 2013 the 50th anniversary of the World Congress, but it’s also the first time the conference has been held in New Zealand.

This is a great opportunity to benchmark your work against global best practice and to inspire and challenge your own thinking. While visiting New Zealand you may also have the opportunity to see up close some of the stunning “Middle Earth” landscapes made famous in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit!

The World Congress line up includes some of the most experienced, fascinating and creative people, with a passion for the environment including: • Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence for National Geographic, who travelled the “four” corners of the globe. [WEB INFO] • Michael Pawlyn, Director of Exploration Architecture in London, a firm that focuses exclusively on biomimicry. [WEB INFO] • Adrian McGregor, Managing Director of McGregor+Coxall, a Sydney, and Melbourne based environmental design studio. [WEB INFO]

In addition to these interesting speakers, there are more international and local speakers who also have great stories to tell. To find out more about IFLA 50 and registrations visit http://www.ifla2013.com/

Looking forward to see you all in Auckland, Desiree Martínez IFLA-President president.ifla@gmail.com

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