Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for construction and human use, investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of other interventions that will produce desired outcomes. The scope of the profession is broad and can be subdivided into several sub-categories including professional or licensed landscape architects who are regulated by governmental agencies and possess the expertise to design a wide range of structures and landforms for human use; landscape design which is not a licensed profession; site planning; stormwater management; erosion control; environmental restoration; parks, recreation and urban planning; visual resource management; green infrastructure planning and provision; and private estate and residence landscape master planning and design; all at varying scales of design, planning and management. A practitioner in the profession of landscape architecture may be called a landscape architect, however in jurisdictions where professional licenses are required it is often only those who possess a landscape architect license who can be called a landscape architect.
Public sector organisations in New Zealand comprise the state sector organisations plus those of local government.
The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment describes the RMA as New Zealand's principal legislation for environmental management.
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute whose focus of research is the environment, biodiversity, and sustainability.
The School of Environmental Studies is an optional two-year high school in Apple Valley, Minnesota, United States. Also known as the "Zoo School" because of its active partnership with the Minnesota Zoo and its 10-acre site on zoo property, the school embraces project-based learning with an environmental theme.
The Ministry for the Environment is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the New Zealand Government on policies and issues affecting the environment, in addition to the relevant environmental laws and standards. The Environment Act 1986 is the statute that establishes the Ministry.
Sir Robert Anster Harvey is a former mayor of Waitakere City, one of four cities and three districts which until 2010 administered the Auckland urban area in New Zealand. He received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990, and was awarded honorary citizenship of Waitakere Sister City Ningbo, People's Republic of China in 2005. He was knighted as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year Honours.
Bruce D. Judd, FAIA, is a historic preservation architect based in Seaside, Florida, and San Francisco, California. He is a principal in the Bruce Judd Consulting Group in Seaside and a Consulting Founding Principal at the Architectural Resources Group in San Francisco. His projects have included surveying the historic African American community of Mound Bayou, Mississippi resulting in its being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. He has also consulted on the restoration of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas. Judd has directed more than 300 planning, rehabilitation, and expansion projects for architecturally significant buildings throughout the west and is a nationally recognized expert in his field. He has led rehabilitation and new construction projects for library, cultural, and performing arts facilities. He has also directed various high-profile projects including: master plan and restoration of the Hotel Del Coronado; repair and restoration of the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, which received a National AIA Honor Award; master planning and seismic retrofit of the block-square Beaux-Arts style Pasadena City Hall which received LEED Gold certification; and rehabilitation of the historic Linde Robinson Laboratory for the Center for Global Environmental Ecology at Caltech in Pasadena, the first laboratory in a historic building to receive a LEED Platinum certification. Judd meets The Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation Professional Qualifications Standards in Architecture, Historic Architecture, Architectural History, and History.
Litter is a global issue and has a significant human impact on the environment. Litter is especially hazardous because it can enter ecosystems and harm a country's biodiversity. Litter is a prevalent environmental issue in New Zealand.
An urban planner is a professional who practices in the field of urban planning.
The Design Futures Council is an interdisciplinary network of design, product, and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges, and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of the industry and environment. Members include architecture and design firms, building product manufacturers, service providers, and forward-thinking AEC firms of all sizes that take an active interest in their future.
The management of waste in New Zealand has become more regulated to reduce associated environmental issues. According to OECD data, New Zealand is the third most wasteful country in the OECD.
Water pollution in New Zealand is an increasing concern for those who use and care for waterways and for New Zealand regulatory bodies. An increase in population is linked to an increase in water pollution, due to a range of causes such as rural land use, industrial use and urban development. Fresh water quality is under pressure from agriculture, hydropower, urban development, pest invasions and climate change. While pollution from point sources has been reduced, diffuse pollution such as nutrients, pathogens and sediments development and from stormwater in towns is not under control. There are more than 800 water quality monitoring sites around New Zealand that are regularly sampled.
Paul F Downton is a sustainable city theorist and activist, ecological architect, urbanist and professional writer on architecture, ecocities, environment and the arts.
Environmentally sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability.
Galen Cranz is a Professor of the Graduate School, Architecture at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the social and cultural bases of architectural and urban design. She is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, a kinesthetic educational system, who founded the new field "Body Conscious Design."
The New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities states that it is an inter-disciplinary research centre "dedicated to providing the research base for innovative solutions to the economic, social, environmental and cultural development" of New Zealand urban centres. It states "87% of New Zealanders live in cities. The health and well-being of a significant proportion of population is reliant on developing environments that take into account the connections between transport, design, energy, health and governance and other issues."
Peter Daniel Alexander Jacobs is a Canadian landscape architect specializing in the conservation and development of rural and northern landscapes and in urban landscape design. He is Emeritus professor of the School of Planning and Landscape Architecture of the Universite de Montreal, Emeritus Chair of the Commission on Environmental Planning of the International Union for the conservation of nature (IUCN), Past President of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA), Chair of the Kativik Environmental Quality Commission and a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.
Megan Mary Wraight was a New Zealand landscape architect who had considerable influence on the design of public spaces. She was the founding principal of Wraight + Associates Limited, which has completed a wide variety of large-scale urban projects throughout New Zealand, including waterfront redevelopments, educational facilities, transport facilities and urban-renewal projects.
David George Druce Yencken was a builder, businessman, academic and heritage practitioner in Australia.