Viewpoint: Climate positive design – it’s time

AILA National President Claire Martin

Through membership consultation, AILA has undertaken an annual renewal of our strategic plan and the development of our vision as part of our governance framework, to ensure that we have both clarity and purpose. As an organization, our focus is on what we can do for our members and stakeholders that they cannot do for themselves, with an emphasis on the strategic pillars of a sustainable AILA: membership, education, advocacy and profile.

As a contributing editor of Landscape Architecture Australia and president of AILA, I would like to acknowledge the ongoing role that this publication has in raising the profile of landscape architecture in Australia, and ensuring that our profession is understood and respected by built environment professionals and by the communities of which we are part.

In 2019, AILA declared a Climate and Biodiversity Loss Emergency and established an action plan committing us to a number of activities, including: playing a crucial role in leading the profession to respond to this unfolding emergency; continuing to lobby all levels of government to recognize the emergency; allocating resources to advise on relevant policy; promoting landscape architecture as a leading profession in policy development and actions to respond to the emergency; collaborating with allied professions and engaging with our international colleagues to support the efforts of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) to advocate globally; lobbying for improved industry standards and practice; and providing resources, education and information to members on how they can respond to the emergency.

I am pleased to report that since then, through our distributed model of leadership, we have:

• Made a submission to the House Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy in respect of the Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020 and Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2020 and supported a joint letter alongside more than 100 organizations to all MPs in support of the Bill;
• Submitted to the independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements;
• Produced a Climate Positive Design Position Statement and formed a Climate Positive Design working group with a diverse membership from across Australia that will help to develop resources to support our members in the transition;
• Met regularly with the CEOs of the Australian Institute of Architects and the Planning Institute of Australia;
• Chaired the IFLA Asia-Pacific Region Climate Change Working Group, and represented the region on the IFLA World Climate Change Working Group, addressing the IFLA World Congress on ecosystems health; and
• Committed to being part of the working group formed to help develop an Urban Green Infrastructure National Interim Standard, being facilitated by Standards Australia in early 2021.

So, this edition of Landscape Architecture Australia is timely. It celebrates landscape-led planning projects, green infrastructure frameworks and the strategic roles that landscape architects play in all levels of government across Australia – all of which are critical to achieving climate positive design. This issue demonstrates the complexity and breadth of Australian communities of practice, and the diversity of landscape architecture and our membership – whether in the academic community, government, the client side or private practice.

The AILA Board and CEO are committed to growing the value proposition of AILA membership for all Australian landscape architects. We encourage you to join AILA, or to renew your membership, and to identify ways in which you can support our work advocating for accelerated climate change mitigation and adaptation, for the public good.

– Claire Martin, AILA National President