Universities are asked to participate.
As in almost all industries, the shortage of skilled workers is worsening in landscape and open space planning. The construction industry is doing well and the baby boomers are gradually retiring, which is exacerbating the shortage. Design firms and green administrators are looking for entry-level professionals as well as experienced graduate engineers.
"The challenges of our time, including climate change and climate adaptation, need the competence of landscape architects," bdla President Till Rehwaldt describes the situation.
Well-trained professionals have the best career prospects and are desperately sought. The bdla will strive strengthened for the occupation new generation.
bdla president Till Rehwaldt
Until the end of the year the presidency and the regional groups of the bdla will concretize the association strategy for the recruitment of young professionals. Above all, it will be crucial to increase the number of those who start and successfully complete their studies in landscape architecture.
Reliable figures on students are lacking
In the bdla's working group on training, the development of graduate numbers as well as the number of first-year students at German universities was already discussed in March 2019. In this context, it is noticeable: There is no reliable information on how many young people take up and successfully complete studies in landscape architecture.
The Training Working Group is therefore initiating a survey at all German universities offering landscape architecture courses. The aim is to compile nationwide statistics with figures on both first-year students and graduates. The year 2018 will be surveyed, if possible also going back to 2013, in order to be able to depict the development of the last few years. In the evaluation of the data, a distinction is made between Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes on the one hand and between universities of applied sciences and universities on the other.
The bdla calls on all German universities with courses of study in landscape architecture to participate. The strictly confidential handling of the respective figures is assured.
The survey form is available for download here:
