💫 The Spark Spotlight: Landscape architecture

This is a special edition of our newsletter from Bemari where we talk about how to not get lost in sustainability.

This monthly edition is about how how to focus the energy where it matters and not get distracted by “shiny” things in various industries. Every month, we invite practitioners to share their insights on what creates the most impact and positive change in their sector.

Where energy flows, impact shows: Landscape architecture edition. 

Where does sustainability show up in your area of work?

Everywhere! 

The importance of parks and public green spaces has been understood for a very long time. There are many examples of parks which transform quality of life in towns and cities; from Central Park in Manhattan, Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo, Beihai Park in Beijing to Villa Borghese in Rome. 

The worldwide focus on nature recovery – and the need not just for restoring biodiversity but also for restoring our relationship with nature - has raised up the profile of landscape and green spaces design to an all-time high, not a moment too soon. 

Sustainability shows up specifically in the work of landscape architects, from the start of every project. A sustainable approach means fully understanding a site’s natural resources, landscape character and opportunities, developing proposals which are site-specific and in synergy with these natural assets, habitats and wildlife, soils and water, above and below ground. Key to sustainability is also understanding how people use and relate to places, and shaping proposals through community participation from the outset and co-design, with people who live, work and know that place best of all.  

What are the main sustainability misconceptions in your area?

1. That landscape projects - planting trees, creating places to enjoy outdoors and greener routes for people to walk and cycle away from busy roads - are too expensive to install – and too expensive to maintain!  

2. That there isn’t enough space, so that planting has to be squeezed in around edges where it doesn’t grow well, doesn’t benefit biodiversity or influence people’s day-to-day experience through the seasons.

3. That landscape is somehow static (installed and maintained like a structure) whereas the uniqueness of nature is its constant, dynamic change over time and biodiversity. 

In landscape projects, there are always opportunities to build in benefits which work both for nature and for people. Through a holistic approach, which makes space for nature and integrates environmental purpose. There are many exemplar projects in healthcare, where gardens and courtyards allow recovering patients to access the therapeutic sensory richness of plants and wildlife, supporting physical and psychological recovery and pain relief, also creating important respite spaces for staff, for their health and well-being. In a co-design healthcare project recently, a nurse told me that if their hospital could have planting along the footpath up to the entrance then by showing they care for nature, this reassures and communicates their sense of care for the community and for each other. 

We’re all part of nature, it’s both reassuring and unpredictable and we all need that connection with nature to be resilient and healthy ourselves. Sustainability in healthcare is crucially important and there is a lot of current research (The Lancet et al., Health equity in England, the Marmot review 10 Years On) which demonstrates that access to nature is a key determinant in supporting good and equal health outcomes for individuals and communities, in rural locations as well as towns and cities. 

What are the key things you wish the energy & resources of the industry were focused on?

Making space for nature. 

Conserving water and soils.

Protecting air and water quality, networks of habitats and natural processes as precious resources.

The link between nature restoration and sustainable land uses, including agriculture and food supply chains. 

Not just mitigating things (making impacts less) but always enhancing and extending and connecting habitats in a meaningful way, which also connects people with nature. That’s where green and blue infrastructure projects – our habitats, parks, rivers and wetlands – can build in multiple benefits. For example an urban park can integrate attenuation spaces to collect rainwater like a ‘sponge’, designed to sustainably irrigate planted areas – and avoid unmanageable stormwater discharge into rivers. The Diana Memorial Water Sculpture, designed by Gustafson Porter and Bowman, diverts water from the Serpentine in Hyde Park, oxygenates it and returns it back to the watercourse improving water quality and biodiversity, in addition to delighting visitors most days of the year.   

Designs which build in these multiple-layered benefits are crucially important. We need to understand the opportunities brought by nature recovery and nature-based solutions in adapting to climate change and in creating resilience. 

Another key thing to focus on is the importance of an evidence-based approach – to ensure projects are located in the right places where they have positive impacts.

Interactive mapping tools like GIS (geographical information systems) are powerful and many are open access, allowing us to overlaying data, for example health, equality, access to green spaces, tree canopy cover, with data on projected sensitivities to climate change, including urban heat island effects, surface water flooding. 

What resources would you recommend people to read / listen to learn more?

• Nature Positive - A Global Goal for Nature 

• Nature Recovery Network Handbook from the Wildlife Trusts

• Green Infrastructure Home from Natural England

• Green infrastructure maps and tools (London City Hall)

• London Climate Risk Maps (arcgis.com)

And on the links between nature, health and participatory co-design:

• Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

• Greener NHS

• NHS green social prescribing toolkit

• Wild Tolworth Rewilding Project (Rewilding Britain)

What is your favourite example of a positive change / impactful action that you have recently seen (in your sector)?

The opening statement of the Environment Act 2021 sets out a complete paradigm shift:

This statement offers hope. In a nutshell, it sets out targets for large-scale restoration of nature until it can take care of itself – and us – again. 

This is a completely new spatial framework for restoring biodiversity – also acknowledging the crucial link with ecosystems services, the benefits that nature restoration offers people. 

It is all about making space for nature, bringing together nature, climate and people.

Bemari is a B Corp certified impact consultancy helping businesses accelerate the just transition towards more restorative and regenerative practices. We can help you evaluate your environmental impact and support your transition to nature positive and regenerative business practices. Here is what we offer and how we do it. We also offer training to support your transition.

If what we say and do resonates with you, why not get in touch to discuss how we can support you? We would love to hear from you at [email protected]