Landscape Architecture Education and Professional Practice and Its Future Challenges in Landscape Design, Planning, Conservation and Management

Dear Colleagues,

The fundamental goal of scholarship in the field of landscape architecture is to enhance the practice of designing, planning, conserving and managing the land. Due to the inherently multifunctional nature of landscapes, both biophysical and cultural, many scholars and practitioners have addressed the importance of multi-, trans- and interdisciplinary approaches to landscape architecture education, research and practice. Such approaches have resulted in new skills, competences, methods, and processes to be articulated, and have led to professional organisations being more involved in accrediting and regulating educational programmes, advancing continuous professional development and training and introducing ethical and moral codes for professional practice. 

Despite major efforts in teaching and research activities that nurture the future of design professions, considerable challenges still confront efforts to reconcile the academic and professional facets. Demands of professional organisations in terms of landscape architectural standards, curriculum development and recognition procedures as well as the changing focus of design pedagogy faced by higher education providers are putting at risk the long-term outcomes of landscape architecture and planning and its fundamental role in promoting social and environmental justice.

This Special Issue invites papers that discuss and present perspectives from both academia and professional practice in landscape architecture which address the synergies between academic programmes and professional organisations. We aim for this Special Issue to critically look at existing system barriers and opportunities afforded by educational standards and assessment of landscape architecture programmes and to explore strategies required to promote a better collaboration between education institutions and professional bodies in terms of landscape design, planning, conservation and management.

Senior Lecturer Bruno Marques
Mr. Lecturer Andreja Tutundžić
Mrs. Emilia Weckman
Mrs. Lecturer Marina Cervera Alonso de Medina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.