Landscape of Public Health - FOLAR Symposium 2024

The Landscape of Public Health is possibly one of the most important subjects FOLAR has tackled - not just health, but how public open space and designed landscapes have been used in the past for the benefit of the general public. As populations have becomes increasingly more urban in the 20C, landscape architects and managers working today in this area as academics and practitioners can demonstrate, with confidence and research-based evidence, to landscape and associated professions, local and central government politicians, and the public, what can be achieved today, and how this can be done, and how long term management needs to be part of this healthy uplift for the population. The most important benefit, apart from nurturing a generally healthier population, is reducing the differences in health between the most economically deprived populations and those better off .

One theme for the FOLAR symposia is how the past can inform the present and the future. There is definitely a lot of past when it comes to wise city elders understanding and believing ie knowing the connection between being outside and being healthy. One speaker at this event looks back to ancient civilisations to demonstrate this. But for some time now this ‘knowing’ is deemed not enough to convince leaders today to provide funding to create or maintain green spaces, they want evidence. Another of the speakers says enough - we have more than enough research, stop please! As can be expected - with two or so serial career researchers present – this view was swiftly challenged.

It is not enough to be outside. The quality of public green space has to be of a particular standard, and it has to be accessible for all ages and all people. Green space is equigenic - ie it is associated with reducing the difference in health between the most economically deprived people and those better off. This has been proven through research. And the mechanisms linking landscape and health are explained in the final talk.

This was a thought provoking symposium, and it generated one of the best question and answer sessions we have had so far.

7. Summary Q+A and discussion

Tim Gale provides a summary of key points from each of the talks, and then steers the Q+A and discussion

This looked at the benefits of parks, the standards set by the green flag awards, quality of place counts for more than quantity, how in Norwich developing a hierarchy of parks based on dominant function is the strategy now being adopted. Who should we be influencing in society today? Local politicians. Good communications are vital to sell key points succinctly. How many landscape architects become politicians? Joseph Paxton was one example. Working with government agencies results in repackaging existing papers, but who reads them? Do we continue reinventing the wheel? Environmental justice demonstrated digitally on heat maps provide powerful planning tool. How to make knowledge hubs (libraries - and archives?) work for landscape architects when practices rarely encourage research? the parks sector is disjointed - a government criticism, if this can be cracked there is a better chance of influencing people. CABE Space and their two week leadership courses; NHS is the only gem the public recognise in UK; landscape is a gem too; Nordic countries have 5-6 gems; some wag suggested the gem could be the 'Natural Health Service'. Supplements listing university courses don't include landscape architecture. students get into landscape because they know someone/family connection who is landscape architect. Hence only180 home students a year study landscape architecture.

The Landscape Institute collection at MERL: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/landscape-institute/

More information about FOLAR and joining: https://www.folar.uk

Speakers: Dr Jan Woudstra, Robert Holden, Paul Rabbitts, Jamie Liversedge and Professor Catharine Ward Thompson
Chair: Tim Gale

November 2024 at The MERL and online

Annabel Downs1 December 2025Comment