Reflecting on the 2022 Festival of Landscape Architecture: Country

Two years on from the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) 2022 Festival of Landscape Architecture: Country in Magandjin (Brisbane), we continue to reflect on that momentous, and generous, event. 

In Australia, Country refers to more than lands, waters and sky – it’s an all encompassing concept. 

Held on the Country of the Turrbal and Jagera Peoples, the festival was curated by Blaklash, LatStudios, and Claudia Taborda, and highlighted the critical importance for all involved in shaping urban environments to join with First Nations people to gain a deeper understanding of Country as we equip urban environments for the complex challenges of climate change. 

The festival stands out in our memories for its thoughtful creation of safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces, which set the stage for honest discussions and deep listening. 

After a period of self-reflection, we came together to develop a collective OCULUS Country Vision Statement in response to Aunty Kerry’s invitation to designers at the festival – the first of six actions set for AILA at the festival, which are summarised in the post-festival Tracking Report.  

The OCULUS Country Vision Statement outlines a practice design approach to putting Country first, with a set of design principles and questions that we can draw on as we establish and further relationships, informing our designs through and beyond our project involvement. 

If you’re a landscape architect or designer working in Australia, we encourage you to listen, reflect, and develop your own 500-year Country Vision Statement. The development of our document was guided by learnings from the conference, personal experiences, the festival reading list, and other resources including: 

• International Indigenous Design Charter 
• Australian Indigenous Design Charter 
• First Knowledges book series 
• The First Inventors documentary series 
• Connecting with Country Framework, Government Architect New South Wales 
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples  

We will continue to seek opportunities to listen, learn, build relationships, and connect with Country – acknowledging we don’t always get it right, but still slowly growing and expanding our understanding.