Landscape Research Group (LRG) is a long-standing international and interdisciplinary community founded in England in 1967, dedicated to advancing landscape research. Landscape is a field of interest for many professionals, including geographers, archaeologists, ecologists, lawyers, urban planners, landscape architects and others, whose work can be reciprocally informed by sharing research and practices. 

LRG is a heterogeneous network of Networks, EXchange space, spanning across the globe, weaving together scholars with a common interest in landscape. To foster connections, LRG organises workshops, lectures and other events, along with monthly online coffee sessions tailored to the European and the American time zones, enabling exchange, conversation and briefing of the ongoing research.

Beyond disseminating knowledge openly, LRG also funds small, research-focused projects that promote democratic values in governance, empowerment of localities, addressing injustices in landscape contexts, responding to environmental change and projects that picture otherwise overlooked complexities in landscape. LRG is like a forum for landscape geeks, and it’s great!

One, perhaps the most significant LRG offshoot is a peer-reviewed journal, Landscape Research, published eight times per year by Taylor & Francis. Where else could one explore the landscapes of Vietnam through the lens of local researchers—including literature academics—as featured in the journal’s final edition of 2024? Delving into the journal’s articles reveals a parallel universe of landscape-diverging insights—hidden gems shaped by the authors’ and editors’ remarkable care and attention to the subject. It’s truly inspiring, and I cannot but share the amazement!

Additionally, there was a light-weight and less formal edition of the Landscape Research Journal, Landscape Research Extra, which served as a seed bank for further research for over 30 years under the editorship of Bud Young. All the articles, including ones from the pre-digital era, are available in the LRExtra archive. These include photo essays, poems, polemics, personal opinions, rants and observations – a bouquet of which was collected in A Bedside Landscape Reader accompanying the 50th anniversary of the LRG the 30th LRExtra’s birthday. Although slightly “Englishy-romantic” and thus partly overlaid by nostalgic sentiment, it offers an engaging compilation.

The most recent event organized by LRG was a conference in December 2024 themed ‘Landscape Futures in the Twenty-First Century: Landscape Leaders in an Intergenerational Dialogue’, hosted in (nearly) newly opened facilities of the Bartlett School of Architecture’s MA/MLA Landscape Architecture programme. Led by Vice Chair (and former Chair) Professor Tim Waterman, the speakers were asked to address the future of the landscape in times of multiple crises, future challenges and opportunities.

Geographer Marc Antrop, introduced as a “radical revolutionary”, answered the question of the future of landscape with timeline sections and graphs describing the development and distribution of the word landscape in major languages from the 1800s, highlighting key canonical works, the evolution of disciplines, and significant treaties and conventions. Antrop questioned the problematic definition of landscape in international and interdisciplinary discourse and argued against safeguarding the landscapes as static unless they remain functional – emphasizing that change is inevitable. As influencers of the change, Antrop mentioned policymakers, and all the people thinking about the landscape. To elevate landscape as a valid and impactful field of research, Antrop called for upscaling efforts, however, cautioned against doing so at the cost of simplification or superficiality.

Dr Margherita Cisani, an expert in geography, tourism, and heritage, shared critical views on stagnant landscape management often constrained by rigid conservation practices or narrowly defined uses preferring specific user types. She proposes conviviality and overcoming nature and culture dichotomy in conservation approaches. Cisani highlighted the case of abandoned dry Italian landscapes known as vegro where conservation efforts prioritize recreation and eco-tourism over supporting the local producer attempting to (re)introduce traditional grape varieties.

Dr Amy Strecker, a specialist in landscape law and culture, with a focus on property (in)justice, moved forward with a talk about landscape being an integrating concept helpful for covering complex natural, social and cultural aspects, which is important to overcome the nature-culture dichotomy that separates humans from nature. This often leads to commodification and subjugation of landscapes under property rights. Strecker highlighted human rights as a vital legal tool to address injustices and stressed the role of democratic planning processes in protecting communities and their lived environments. If those are not in place or are circumvented, this allows for dominion of the economic interests by pushing forward say green growth, which in essence means more extraction. Importantly, Amy Strecker proposed scholars and researchers to collaborate in a more coordinated effort to counteract the lobbyists and their industry-driven interests. Here the talk goes beyond the national chambers of landscape architects and planners vying for their seats at the table but to push forward own agendas with the policymakers. 

Lastly, Professor Tim Ingold, author in anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture, spoke about the linguistic implications of paesaggio, stemming from the Latin pagus, the root shared with the word page. Pagus used to refer to an area of inhabited land with it’s farms and fields. Looking after the land, Ingold noted, carries an allusion to looking after the ones that come after us, which would mean a prolonged inheritance of the care of the land. With acceleration in the agricultural and other technology and the stumping over past generations, inheritance “comes in a package” and not as devoted care. Ingold warned against heritagization which instead of promoting coexistence, further detaches humans from conserved environments. If a page is an analogy for the land, Ingold summoned, the handwriting can be compared to inscriptions in landscape that are being lost to the forces of digitization.

All speakers unanimously advocated for defining landscapes beyond mere aesthetics and visual appeal, emphasizing the importance of bridging the divide between nature and culture. They presented the landscape as an integrative medium for navigating and understanding complex relationships. What is striking is that so much thought is put into the definition of landscape where landscape architecture seems to be loosing peers to other related fields. Despite the term “landscape” often being considered ambiguous or chaotic, the speakers concurred that it remains the only concept capable of encompassing the entirety of interactions that define a place. 

LRG hosts similar events four times a year. The above-presented panel offers only a sneak peek into the work of this vast LRG universe. Events include wine tasting, online sessions, excursions and more. As a Charitable Organization LRG aims to provide a benefit to society and is funded by contributions from its community. Most of the work is voluntary, chairs and new trustees are elected annually, which makes the LRG an open-ended and diverse group one is always welcome to join.