Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

To provide an introduction to: elements and areas of practice in landscape architecture, planning and management, including ethics and values.

To provide an introduction to key areas of the Landscape Institute's Competency Framework: professional judgements, ethics and values; sustainability, climate and resilience; planning, legal, policy and regulatory compliance; contract administration and contract management; landscape assessment; environmental legislation; professional relationships; and broader issues associated with professional practice.

To provide an introduction to research by design, in advance of the design thesis module in semester 2 (APL8012).

Outline Of Syllabus

The module provides an introduction to professional practice as a landscape architect/professional in Britain. The module follows the Landscape Institute's entry standards competency framework syllabus.

1. The landscape profession: ethics and values. The role of the Landscape Institute. Charter and Code of Practice. Ethics, values and professional relationships. Forms of practice. CPD.

2. Basic concepts of land law, contract law and the law of tort. Contracts of employment.

3. Planning law and the laws related to environmental protection.

4. Tendering and contract administration.


The module includes four seminars led by local landscape professionals.

The module also introduces research by design and its application to landscape architecture. Students put together a research by design proposal to undertake in semester 2.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

1. An understanding of the nature of landscape professional practice.
2. An evolving ethical framework for decision-making in practice, with a focus on climate and biodiversity resilience and adaptation, and inclusivity and social justice.
3. An essential understanding of the English legal system, international agreements and legislative frameworks which relate to the land.
4. An essential understanding of contract law, documentation, administration and management.
5. An essential understanding of planning and environmental law, particularly as it pertains to practice as a landscape architect.
6. An understanding of research by design and its applications to landscape architecture practice.

Intended Skill Outcomes

1. The ability to critically read and research to inform all stages of the live of a Landscape Architecture project.
2. The development of learning skills necessary to embark on the Landscape Institute's Pathway to Chartership upon graduation.
3. The ability to produce a research by design proposal.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Knowledge of the key areas of the Landscape Institute's competency framework is delivered through a combination of seminars and workshops, supplemented by guided reading. Students also learn experientially by discussing practical questions related to each topic in workshops.

Research by design is introduced through a lecture and a series of workshops where students present incipient research proposals to tutors and peers in small groups.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

A written diary encourages learners to engage with and reflect on learning material on a weekly basis. It also mirrors the Landscape Institute’s Pathway to Chartership approach where graduates reflect on their learning as they practice.

The research by design proposal involves identifying a topic to research, carrying out literature and practice review, selecting a site, producing a brief and undertaking initial fieldwork for a thesis design undertaken over the second semester of stage 2.

General Notes

N/A