Transforming the agency and influence of landscape architects in climate change actions: An empirical analysis of barriers and facilitators

The way we plan and design our landscapes, infrastructure, and cities has to transform if we want to meet the needs of our society and address climate change without breaching the earth's ecological boundaries. Landscape architects are known as environmental stewards. They are trained to create a balance between the built and natural environments. However, landscape architects' agency to lead climate change actions is restricted. Little is known about the barriers to addressing climate change in landscape architectural practice, and the levers to increase landscape architects' agency in climate change leadership. This paper addresses this gap through an in-depth empirical analysis of barriers and facilitators of climate change action from the perspective of landscape architecture professionals. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 practitioners from Australia. The results show that those interviewed perceived the profession had limited agency and influence in leading climate decisions. Other barriers exist and are grouped against the three spheres of transformation: 1) design implementation barriers influencing the built outcomes (practical); 2) structures and systems barriers influencing the design decision-making processes (political); and 3) socio-cultural barriers including values, ideologies, and beliefs (personal). The most restricting barriers that emerged were those related to limited project budget and timeframes, informational and technological aspects (access to reliable data, tools, and skillsets), as well as those related to political systems and structures in place (regulations, and design standards). Key facilitators to address existing barriers are identified, including creating awareness through practice and advocacy, active involvement of professionals in all life stages of projects, especially in planning and policy creation, and closer collaborations with other built environment sectors beyond sub-consultancy. The findings can pave the way towards increased agency and impact of the profession to bring climate change agendas to the forefront of landscape design practice.