In late 2023, Landscape Architecture Australia brought together representatives from Australia’s eight landscape architectuåre programs, along with AILA’s Education Committee Chair, to discuss trends in education. Whether you think universities exist to drive innovation in practice, to meet the vocational needs of students, or to fulfil the supply demands of practice, the engaging and nuanced discussion reinforced the saliency of landscape architecture, but left me wondering: why don’t more people want to study it?
Supply and demand: enterprising alliances
The discussion’s opening dialogue focused on the continuing downward pressures on higher education and the challenges of program viability. In one instance, where a landscape architecture program had closed, landscape subjects have been integrated within architecture,these difficulties and the value of both entrepreneurship and bringing people in. Other program representatives discussed the role of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in tackling real-world problems through community-based projects, and the ability to strengthen programs in the long term by building the professional base through partnerships with industry and community.
