Kia ora e te whanau,

Nga mihi o te ra. 

Yet another busy month in the middle of the year.   It’s a good time for getting work done… or getting away for a mid-winter holiday. 

At the start of the month I was finishing off the Stage 1 judging for the 2019 APR IFLA Awards.  I reviewed 32 projects from the Asia Pacific Rim region.  The Awards ceremony will be held at the APR IFLA Conference in Cebu City in the Philippines on 7 and 8 November.  I am looking forward to seeing who the winners are. 

I also spent some time at the start of the month judging the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects (SILA) 2019 awards.  I had a quick trip to Singapore for the on-site judging day on 20 July, when we looked at 9 projects and covered half of the country in one day.  It was fascinating to experience the best design work in a completely different cultural and ecological context and to spend some time with our Singaporean colleagues. 

On 16 July we lodged a submission on behalf of the NZILA Tuia Pito Ora the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon Amendment Bill 2019).  You can read the submission here.  Thanks to all of the members of the fledgling Climate Change Group, based in Auckland, for bringing the energy together to prepare the submission.    

On 27 July we held a hui with members of Te Tau a Nuku, the authors, Gavin Lister and Rachel de Lambert and NZILA Executive members on the draft Landscape Guidelines. 
The korero with Te Tau a Nuku on the Guidelines was fruitful and marks the beginning of engagement with our wider membership.  Keep an eye out for your chance to learn more and to be involved in the refinement of the guidelines in the future.  

The 2019 NZILA Firth Conference, continues to gain momentum, with Kristina Hill, Bjorn Low, Antwi Akom and Ng Sek San joining the previously confirmed Julie Bargmann in our impressive list of international speakers. 

The Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture 50 Year celebrations is also gaining momentum.  I’m looking forward to the alumni celebrations on 6 November at Lincoln. 

The Resene New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architecture Awards 2019 judging is well underway, with the final judges meeting coming up on 7 August.  Best of luck to all of those that have entered the awards this year.  I’m looking forward to the Resene New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architecture Awards 2019 Dinner on 8 November to mark the end of the Conference.

Finally, this week we are hosting the NZILA Streescape Speaker Series 2019 Catherine Mosbach lectures across four packed out venues in four cities. If you haven’t already, then get along to see Catherine speak at a location near you.   Thanks again to Streetscape for your generous sponsorship that has made Catherines’ visit possible.  

As always, if you have anything you want to share with me, then please drop me a line,  

Mā te wā,

Brad