Landscape for 2030

By Theo Plowman

Theo Plowman is Policy Manager at the Landscape Institute.

A new publication establishes landscape as a leader in the fight against climate change.

In 2008, the Landscape Institute published a ground-breaking Climate Change Position Statement. There was clear recognition within our own industry that we needed to make a greater contribution to tackling climate change. As the scientific community’s understanding of the extreme threats of both climate change and biodiversity loss changed, so must our response.

These crises are explicitly linked, and there is a strong interrelationship between climate change, biodiversity loss, and human wellbeing. The landscape sector is at the juncture of these issues, and our response must address the existential threats to all three.

Our new publication, Landscape for 2030, highlights the central role that the landscape sector can play in delivering climate change action, with eleven case studies showcasing the work that members of our profession are doing at all scales. These projects will both demonstrate to stakeholders the multiple benefits that landscape can deliver, and help inspire best practice throughout the profession. Landscape professionals can help mitigate climate change – by reducing their own footprint, by creating places that encourage low-carbon lifestyles, and by building resilience into our environments to help them adapt to already inevitable climate shifts.

This publication is part of the commitments we made in our 2020 Climate and Biodiversity Action Plan to establish the landscape profession as leaders in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as provide more best practice examples for our sector to follow. Government, clients and stakeholders can now see in one place the incredible range of measures our sector can utilise.

Members can browse examples of best practice in sustainable and biodiversity-focused landscape planning, design, and management across a wide range of contexts, including: – large-scale urban developments focusing on sustainability,

regeneration and adaptation – small, community-focused schemes and single building projects – a flagship wildlife sanctuary and ecotourism design – research and tools to explore future impacts of climate change on our landscapes

We will be continuing to research and promote practical examples of how our members on the ground can make a difference. If you have a case study of good landscape practice – across design, planning, management or science – please share it with us.

All enquiries to: climate@landscapeinstitute.org.

Download a copy of the Action Plan here. https://landscapewpstorage01. blob.core.windows.net/wwwlandscapeinstitute-org/2021/04/12510LANDSCAPE-2030_v6.pdf