Inclusions – Landscape Narratives for Enhancing Landscape Architecture Pedagogy

With the escalating challenges of the climate crisis, we are confronted with accelerated urbanisation and environmental degradation, there is an urgent need for the transformation of our landscape and urban systems. This transformation necessitates the creation of environments that are not only equitable and resilient but also adaptive, with the capability to mend and respond adeptly toward more equitable, resilient, and adaptive environments that imbue the capacity to repair and respond to indeterminate future crises. Landscape architecture as a discipline has a pivotal role in designing alternative landscapes that have the ability to innovatively endure the uncertainties and challenges of a complex, ever evolving polycrisis set in motion by the climate crisis. The application of sophisticated analytical design tools and data from related disciplines, have the capacity to significantly enhance landscape design methodologies. Despite this potential, the integration into landscape architectural education remains sporadically implemented. This inconsistency highlights the imperative for a paradigm shift in landscape architectural pedagogy, that transcends the traditional digital/ analogue and computational distinctions. It advocates for a design thinking approach where techniques are critically evaluated, and innovation is deemed essential in addressing the climate crisis. A re-evaluation of landscape architectural design pedagogy is necessary. Building on the discussions on future pedagogical methods at the DLA 2023 conference, an international workshop was convened to further this dialogue focusing on ‘inclusion’, ‘narratives’, and ‘co-design’ amidst the complex global challenges posed by the climate crisis. This involved analysing practice projects and design studio pedagogies guided by the question how to achieve climate responsive designs. This analysis explored the diverse flow of ideas, dynamics and frictions that emerge from multiple viewpoints. These critical evaluations of current theoretical and practical underpinnings helped in outlining a methodological framework for landscape design. This framework is intended to foster the creation of new landscape narratives, incorporating digital design education guidelines that underscore the urgent need for innovation and diversification of approaches within the field of landscape architecture. This investigative process ultimately led to the development of a set of guidelines that advocate for a significant transformation of landscape architecture education.