17 June 2004 Lincoln Hosts First Overseas Conference for Council of Landscape Architecture Educators

Over 100 landscape architecture educators from North America, Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific meet at Lincoln University over 25-29 June for the first conference outside North America of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA).

North American-based CELA is one of two major international landscape architecture education organisations; the other is Europe-based. There is also an informal group in Australia and New Zealand.

The conference theme is "Here or There? Interconnections between the global and the local". This refers to a fundamental challenge in landscape architecture – how theory, education and practice can respect and contribute to the identity and well-being of local communities, cultures and ecologies in the face of a range of global influences – economic, technological, biological etc.

There will be a powhiri for conference delegates on the campus at 9am on the 25th and the conference will be officially opened at 10.30am by Lincoln's Chancellor Margaret Austin, in the Stewart 2 lecture theatre. The first speaker, who will give a "New Zealand keynote address", is Sir Tipene O'Regan.

The five-day programme includes keynote addresses, plenary presentations, roundtable discussions, short paper presentations, field trips, an open forum on education, a plenary forum and an awards presentation.

CELA is a non-profit organisation to promote and support landscape architecture education. It has around 700 members from over 100 university-based landscape architecture programmes. Lincoln University's Dr Jacky Bowring is its Pacific Region director. Lincoln University pioneered landscape architecture studies in New Zealand and was the first university to offer academic qualifications in the discipline. It now teaches landscape architecture up to doctoral level and also offers its bachelor's degree programme overseas, in Singapore.