Kirsten Tatum is the Course Leader for the MA Landscape Architecture Studies at AUB Online. She’s an academic and teacher with a background in a wide variety of design disciplines, including landscape architecture, urban and rural planning, and design history and theory.
The MA has been designed to provide an in-depth perspective on landscape design practice, against a background of contemporary regional and global issues.
We asked Kirsten to share 5 key reasons to study Landscape Architecture with AUB online:
1. You’ll learn to respond to key current issues in landscape architecture
The course is set up to respond to key current issues in landscape architecture, both in the UK and internationally.
You will investigate a range of topics around people, landscapes, cities, and nature, and develop understanding of the problems and opportunities facing landscape in both urban and rural places, covering issues that relate to both individual placemaking and wider infrastructure.
The course is structured around three interrelated perspectives, which are climate resilience, planetary justice, and health and well-being. These three perspectives are embedded across the course content.
The interconnectedness of these systems and themes running through the modules makes this course a distinctive approach to landscape study.
You will gain a real depth of understanding of essential issues in landscape practice and research such as sustainability, climate change, biodiversity and health and well-being for inhabitants (of all kinds) in external landscapes, whilst defining or developing your personal approach.
2. You’ll develop your ability to address sustainability challenges
Global climate change is undoubtedly the defining environmental issue of our time, and a rigorous approach to embody sustainability and resilience into landscape practice is a fundamental part of the course.
Landscape architects are uniquely positioned, I think, to meet this challenge, having a wide range of strategies at their disposal to help us shift to a carbon neutral future.
In the course you will explore the ways professionals in the field can build a healthy and equitable relationship between their practice and our planet's ecosystem and environment.
From making the built environment more energy and carbon efficient with strategies like green roofs, water-efficient design, and use of sustainable materials and construction practices, to designing walkable urban communities and managing carbon-sequestering landscapes such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands, the work of landscape architects is a key part enabling communities to better adapt to climate change and improve their resilience.
3. You’ll get to engage with real-life landscape architecture examples
There is a real balance across the course between theory and practice, with lots of opportunities to engage with current real-life projects.
It's a course where we really encourage people to get away from their desk and go out and engage in the field with real-life case studies and come back and share those case studies with their peers.
In landscape architecture we need to acquire knowledge and understanding, and learn how to evaluate and test theory, but the crucial step is the application of these in the practice of landscape and design concepts.
The structure of the course is designed to promote active learning and put you at the centre of your development where you can follow your own interests.
You are introduced to important contemporary projects as part of the learning, but you’re also encouraged to go out and source your own case studies and examples that you want to work with.
4. You’ll build an online learning community with other students
Developing teamwork and peer review skills is crucial to your creative practice. You can’t do it alone. It's a group effort. It's also a cross-disciplinary effort.
In the course you will build an online learning community, week-by-week. The emphasis is on students learning from each other and being inspired by each other. There are discussion forums where you can post comments, share your work and have conversations with other students.
AUB Online aims to bring a range of creatives together in a virtual community of practice, where they can connect and learn from each other. You’ll also be encouraged to develop the relationship between your studies and your personal and professional development.
5. You’ll get the skills and knowledge you need for your next steps
The course is designed to provide critical knowledge and practical skills whilst developing your personal approach to landscape practice. Whether you want to further your education, develop your career or prepare for further specialised study, you’ll have the chance to pursue your interests whilst earning a highly desirable qualification.
The course will equip you for advanced practice in landscape-related disciplines.
For students wishing to pursue a career as a chartered landscape architect in the UK, which requires further education and professional accreditation from the Landscape Institute, the course is a solid next step towards further specialised study.
If you are not planning to work as a landscape architect in the UK, and therefore do not require the accredited route, then this course enables you to develop advanced skills for landscape architecture practice elsewhere.
The course can also lead to career paths outside of landscape architecture such as environmental conservation, social health and wellbeing, inclusivity, urban design, garden design, landscape and estate management.
You will also develop a range of advanced transferable skills in the areas of literacy, graphic design, project management and communication, enabling you to work in a range of other environmental areas and professions.
Thank you to Kirsten for sharing her insights into the course!
Explore how to build a healthy, equitable relationship between your practice and our planet’s ecosystem with AUB Online’s MA Landscape Architecture Studies:
