Award-winning garden
designer, landscape architect and newly appointed President of The Landscape
Institute, Adam White, has launched a new campaign to promote the range of
career choices and opportunities in the landscape profession.
Adam announced the #ChooseLandscape campaign at a packed
reception at the Garden Museum in Lambeth, where he accepted the LI Presidency
from Merrick Denton-Thompson.
The landscape
profession has a huge impact on lives and communities. It has grown by nearly
16% since 2010 and contributed nearly £1 billion to the UK economy.
The LI’s new
report, the
Future State of Landscape, highlights an urgent skills shortage in the
landscape profession.
"Good landscape
plays such an important role in all of our lives," said Adam White PLI.
"It’s where people, place and nature connect. It makes us feel good,
improving our well-being through better planned greener cities and open spaces.
"But the nature
neurons in our brains are flatlining as we become less and less connected to
nature and there are some pretty big challenges ahead as our cities continue to
grow and the environment comes under more pressure.
"That is why I
am really pleased to be involved in launching this important campaign at the
start of my two-year tenure as LI President. It is vital we tackle the growing
skills gap and inspire and encourage more young people to choose a career in landscape
by working together across this exciting profession. I’ll be championing the
cause throughout my presidency.
"The campaign
makes clear the range of opportunities in landscape for all kinds of people –
from someone who loves creative design to a science enthusiast, from those that
are passionate about tackling climate change to those who just love using the
latest digital technology. All of these passions and skills are needed in the
profession.
"That is why as
part of the campaign, we have created a special new website to showcase the
different opportunities all in one place. From matching hobbies and interests
with potential careers, to information broken down by job roles, young people will
be able to see at a glance the sorts of skills, background and motivations will
help them. They will also be able to find out the qualifications needed for
each role, the salary you might expect and what you could be doing on a
day-to-day basis."
