The 2015 Festival of Landscape Architecture has officially been launched. On a brisk Melbourne evening, over 100 landscape architects, students and members of the Melbourne design and open space community attended the launch in the HASSELL rooftop garden. The creative directors presented the themes of the Festival as well as an impressive list of speakers from around the globe that have already been confirmed. It is a very topical time for the profession to be coming together to discuss “this public life”. As with last year, the provocations from the presenters are bound to stimulate discussions amongst Festival-goers during and between sessions. As Cameron Bruhn noted at the launch, one of the goals of the creative directors is to inspire and challenge landscape architects by presenting ideas which can be applied to their work.

Federation Square is the venue for the 2015 Festival which will add to the overall event experience. Hopefully you have already put the event in your diary with tickets now on sale at www.aila.org.au/thispubliclife. It would be great to have you there and remember to book early so you don’t miss out.

There are still a few days to go in World Landscape Architecture Month. ASLA and IFLA has prepared a map of projects posted during the month and Australian projects are definitely underrepresented. It’s not too late to post a project and if you or your workplace aren't on social media is might be a good excuse to set up an account. Don’t forget AILA FRESH is running a terrific campaign at http://www.aila.org.au/wlam2015 as part of the month where you can win a prize just by taking part. Make sure your projects are being featured in this international campaign to promote landscape architecture.

Mark Frisby

AILA National President

Australian Institute of Landscape Architects