LI life By Jane Findlay
President’s Update it made for a lively and engaging event. I was honoured to welcome 14 new industry leaders to the LI College of Fellows, including seven through the invited route, as well as seven new invited Chartered members (see page 62 for details). I also had the privilege of presenting the 2020 LI Volunteer of the Year Award to Karen Fitzsimon CMLI, in recognition of her career and achievements spanning 32 years of landscape design and history, and her accomplishments as a leading female role model and Ambassador for Landscape1. 1
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hen I last wrote for the journal as your President, we were eight weeks into our first lockdown. Now, at the time of writing, we’re in week ten of our third. We’re approaching the end of my first presidential year, and the moniker ‘Digital Jane’ is still going strong. Thankfully, so is our Institute. Together, as a body and as a sector, we have risen to meet a tremendous challenge, and I couldn’t be prouder of our efforts. It’s been very hard for all of us, but I have the privilege of being able to reflect on a successful year full of
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remarkable achievements. From a series of excellent CPD events to LI Campus, through to our first ever fully online LI Awards ceremony, our recent Jellicoe lecture focusing on diversity and our policy work on climate change and the greener recovery – we have much to celebrate. Annual General Meeting 2020 The LI held our first fully virtual annual general meeting on Thursday 4 February 2021. We welcomed over 100 delegates – including international attendees – and with LI staff members fielding questions behind the scenes,
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Landscape Institute Awards 2020 I am also delighted to be able to reflect on our online Awards ceremony on 26 November 2020. Lockdown has clearly demonstrated the importance of access to nature, as well as inequality of access, and the huge pressures parks and greenspace managers are under to keep these spaces healthy and fit for use. COVID has provided a stark warning about the challenges of urban density, and the need for professionals like us to step up and reimagine our urban environments. We celebrated outstanding projects that put nature first; that deliver for communities; that make people healthier, happier, and more
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1. Jane Findlay hosting the Greener Recovery Festival from her attic office. © Jane Findlay
2. Dan Cook and Jane Findlay welcome speakers to the Jellicoe Lecture 2020 (available to view on LI Campus). © LI Zoom
3. Dan Cook on stage at the LI Awards 2019 as part of the LI’s 90th birthday celebrations. © Paul Upward
4. Jane Swift, who has recently joined the LI to take up the post of Interim CEO. © Lily Swift
