Graduation Ceremony

The Landscape Institute graduation ceremony this February saw a spectacular return to in-person events with a celebration of the latest cohort of CMLI and FLI members. Lucy Pickford, the LI’s membership and marketing manager reports.

It was held over two nights at the Royal College of Physicians, a wonderful modernist masterpiece, the post-war building with its garden of medicinal plants was the perfect setting for this auspicious occasion. The ceremony saw over 200 of our members become Chartered members and Fellows.

A rousing introduction The evening started with an emotive speech from our president Jane Findlay, discussing the pivotal role that landscape professionals play in collectively helping to realise the green, sustainable future we so desperately need. Jane has been championing the role of landscape professionals throughout her presidency. She used the ceremony as a prime opportunity for a call to arms for the new generation of qualified landscape architects and professionals that will be leading these changes.

“We need you to take the fire and the ambition and the brilliance that brought you through your Pathway to Chartership and keep it up. Chartership and Fellowship of the LI demonstrate that you’ve reached the highest level and standard of knowledge in your field. And you never know – that knowledge, if shared, could be what takes the LI to the next level.”

Turning the grey to green Those attending were extremely lucky to have their keynote speech delivered by the inspirational Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a landscape architect from LANDPROCESS and CEO of Porous City Network. She is an educator, entrepreneur, writer, social changemaker, and TED Fellow. She highlighted just how difficult the journey has already been for those graduating, as they undertook their studies during an extremely difficult period and most importantly, that they should be proud of just how far they’ve come. Kotchakorn described our graduates as resilient and passionate – these are terms that could easily be applied to our whole profession. Seconding Jane’s earlier call to arms, Kotchakorn encouraged this year’s cohort to “use their tools to create change to the world in need by designing based on compassion above all else. Find your journey as a landscape architect.”

Standing out Both nights included a fascinating round table discussion featuring Ruth Lin Wong Holmes, Design Principal at the London Legacy Development Corporation, Nicola Mathers, CEO of Future of London, Monika Nair FLI, Associate Practice Director from Atkins, and Pooja Agrawal, CEO of Public Practice.

As well as a discussion around their varied and exciting routes into the built and natural environment sector, they discussed the challenges they faced throughout their careers, particularly as women in the sector, which included struggling to have their voices heard. They also discussed the conscious choices they’ve made in their respective practices that have allowed them to facilitate the changes they wanted to see. They encouraged the graduates to make the most of their unique positions as landscape professionals. The range of skills that we possess as a profession means we’re ideally placed to help tackle many of the challenges we’re facing as a society.

“Landscape professionals are the lucky charm,” said Ruth Lin Wong Holmes. ‘’We need to be our own advocates, when sat in a room with other built environment professionals we need to keep pushing to always have a landscape professional involved in any development project.’’

Graduates with family and friends

© Ron Gilmour

Graduates with family and friends

© Ron Gilmour

Graduates with family and friends

© Ron Gilmour

Importance of chartership The role of chartership and professional qualification within the industry is an integral one. It sets a high standard for those of us working to make these pivotal changes needed to tackle the joint climate and biodiversity crises we are currently facing. It’s the mark of quality and excellence for the profession. It communicates to employers and clients that they can expect the highest standards of professional knowledge and quality of service.

The past few years have seen a revamp of our chartership and the introduction of a new competency framework to ensure that the needs of all our professionals in the sector are being met. In next year’s ceremony, we hope to see the next generation of CMLIs alongside our first TMLIs – technician members of the Landscape Institute. This new qualification sits alongside chartership but is tailored for the technicians and specialists of the sector.

Fellowship in turn demonstrates a level of skill and leadership in the profession that is unmatched. It is for our innovators, leaders and ambassadors. It acknowledges their special contribution to the development and promotion of the landscape profession.

The ceremony closed on the most important point: “Thanks once again to all our graduates, for Choosing Landscape. For choosing this profession, and for excelling in it to become our next generation of ambassadors, agitators, changemakers, and champions.”