If you ever wondered how to start your week, try giving a presentation to 120 Key Stage 2 (7-11 year-old) students about why landscape architecture is such an important and rewarding profession.
This is what Atkins have committed to following our 40th anniversary: to go out to 40 schools nationwide to promote our profession, and help encourage the next generation to tackle the big environmental issues facing our society.
To date we’ve spoken at primary and secondary schools from Exeter to Glasgow. We hoped that by covering current hot topics – climate change, air quality, well-being, and biodiversity – we’d strike a chord. How right we were! Primary schools in particular have risen to our offer.
We set out a clear format for our teams to get out there and show what landscape architects do; the who, what, and why of our profession. They covered famous places, travel opportunities, and the range of amazing people they get to meet through their work. The talks finished on how the students could become landscape architects, including the move towards new landscape apprenticeships.
Finally, students watched a short film on the roles and value of a landscape architect, which Atkins produced to help celebrate our 40th year in practice.
My only hope is that the enthusiasm we found in school across the country results into new converts for our profession in the coming years!
Thank you Simon Ward from @atkinsglobal for coming in to speak to our Key Stage 2 children about the positive impact landscape architecture can have on our environment - they absolutely loved it! pic.twitter.com/kc2DrWQYn5
— St John's RC Primary (@St_Johns_RC) November 18, 2019
Simon Ward
Simon Ward is a chartered landscape architect and professional head of discipline for landscape architecture and urban design (UK and Europe) at Atkins Global