Dear AILA Members and Supporters,
As we step into April and continue our journey through 2024, I’m excited to share an update on what’s been happening at AILA and give you a sneak peek at what we’ve got in store for the rest of the year.
Chapter Landscape Architecture Awards
A big thank you to everyone who submitted their projects for the Chapter Landscape Architecture Awards. The juries are currently reviewing the submissions, and we’ve already set the dates and locations for the award ceremonies. I, alongside the board, am eagerly looking forward to celebrating the outstanding achievements in landscape architecture from across our beautiful country at these ceremonies. It’s always a joy to see the innovative work being done in each state. Winners from these chapter awards will progress to the prestigious National Landscape Architecture Awards program.
National Landscape Architecture Awards
As many of you might be aware, we’re pausing the Festival of Landscape Architecture in 2024 to brainstorm and relaunch it as a more vibrant, sustainable, and impactful event in 2025. However, the heart of our celebration, the Landscape Architecture Award program, will go on, showcasing the exceptional talent within our Australian landscape architecture community. We’re putting the final touches on this year’s format and can’t wait to share the details with you soon. It promises to be an event that reinvigorates our collective spirit and celebrates our profession’s achievements.
2025 Festival and Beyond
AILA is about to commence a review and refresh to our annual signature event, the AILA Festival of Landscape Architecture.
As part of this AILA will be inviting expressions of interest from Members to join a working group focused on the review and reimagination of the Festival. AILA recognises the significant role Festivals play in celebrating culture, fostering community engagement, and showcasing innovative design and landscapes. AILA looks forward to establishing this working group to explore opinions and set the stage for future Festival format and delivery methods. The working group will convene from the end of April until the end of 2024 and will meet online monthly. The terms of reference and EOI information will be released this week. Please contact National Events Manager Georgina Scriha for more information.
CPD Curriculum
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the updated CPD curriculum, which refines and builds upon the previous versions, offering clearer guidelines for both learners and providers. We value your input and have opened a consultation portal for feedback on the curriculum and our CPD program in general. For those interested in external CPD opportunities, we’re exploring partnerships to offer these at a discount to our members. Plus, we’re committed to providing free CPD opportunities to add even more value to your AILA membership. Register your interest for our initial offerings here.
Membership/Registration Roundtable
In our quest to maximize the benefits for our members and strengthen the standing of AILA registration, we’re initiating a series of membership roundtables to be held both online and physically in each chapter. These discussions will focus on reviewing and future-proofing our membership categories to align with the evolving landscape of our profession. We aim for broad representation at these roundtables, therefore attendance is by invitation and targeted expression of interest. The feedback from these sessions will be collated at a final national roundtable in November where recommendations will be finalised to be tabled at AILA’S December board meeting.
Upcoming AILA Events
Looking ahead, we have an exciting line up of events, both virtual and in-person. Highlights include the third instalment of our Project Spotlight Webinar Series featuring the transformative Southbank Boulevard project, and our LAtitide CPD program, offering a workshop on Writing for Landscape Architecture in May. Be sure to check out these and other events on our calendar.
I’m here to chat if you have any questions or thoughts about these updates or anything else. Please contact AILA office to make a time to chat. Can’t wait to see many of you at our upcoming awards ceremonies and events!
Warmest regards,
Ben Stockwin,
CEO AILA
Image: Transforming Southbank Boulevard, designed by City Design, City of Melbourne with TCL and Mike Hewson. Photographs by Diana Snape and Mike Hewson.