F E AT U R E
Inclusive Environments Conference In summer 2021, the Landscape Institute held its first Inclusive Environments Conference. The three-day online event inspired this edition of the journal. Evan White outlines some of the key themes.
Evan White
Speakers considered the subject of inclusivity within the landscape sector from very different angles and from a great variety of projects, practices and organisations. Presentations were packed with actionable advice for practitioners to implement in their own work. 16
Many presenters highlighted the real importance of understanding and properly considering the cultures, religions and backgrounds of site users in all design and planning. Phineas Harper (Director of Open City) warned of the exclusionary tendencies and patterns present in our architecture, and suggested some ways in which we should start to challenge and move away from certain “traditions”. Part of this involves understanding the difficult histories of many of our landscapes, as was explored by Professor Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester). Fowler suggested we should
acknowledge and interpret this history – in particular of sites with colonial history – and use our understanding to build usable, accessible and relevant sites for every member of local communities. We need to know how people want to, or are restricted from, using public spaces and recognise that there could be a huge variety of expectations of what these spaces need to provide for, and allow this to shape planning. Dr Bridget Snaith CMLI (University of East London) pressed home the need to “recognise and respect diversity enough to adapt practice.”
1. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park © LLDC
