Design Activism: A Call to Action for Landscape Architecture Education

Is the current model of landscape architecture education providing students with the necessary skills and knowledge to confront the urgent issues of equity, justice, and climate resilience? How can we prepare students to become not only competent professionals but also proactive practitioners who are socially and politically engaged to produce transformative outcomes? How can we transform the profession and society starting with education? This article presents the outcomes of one of the projects of the 2019 Landscape Architecture Foundation Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership. Through workshops at a series of conferences in the United States, interviews with educational leaders and practitioners, and a questionnaire that was distributed to schools and programs and through the Landscape Architecture Foundation e-newsletter, the study sought to identify the challenges, opportunities, and perspectives from leading educators, students, program administrators, and practitioners on the relationships between activist practices and design education. Following a discussion of skill sets, challenges, opportunities, and existing models, a document was developed that included a framework for actions and a list of propositions for landscape architecture education.