Our theme this year is ‘Prospect and Refuge’ — a term which may be familiar from landscape studies. It refers to the apparently innate attraction among human beings for places with long views, allowing dangers and opportunities to be scoped out (Prospect), as well as a liking for concealed or sheltered places, offering safety and comfort (Refuge).

In our contemporary reading, the Prospect-Refuge concept does not refer only to these physical aspects of the landscape. It can be applied, too, to our contemporary psychological attitude to both designed and natural spaces, in the context of accelerating climate change and rapid technological advancement. What is it we want to see, when we look around us — the prospect we imagine? And how do we want to feel in these spaces, which so often provide a refuge from the everyday, places where we can perhaps feel more attuned to the planet and its needs?

These ideas can also be applied specifically in the context of climate change and the response of landscape and garden practitioners to that reality. What does our work have to say about prospects for our planet? And what kinds of refuges might we envisage in this new landscape?

Big questions for a big two days — powered by speakers who have spent their careers imaginatively engaging with such ideas.

I look forward to welcoming you.