On 17 April 2026, at the invitation of bdla Hessen, 32 landscape architects from across Germany gathered for an advisory board meeting at the Schader Foundation in Darmstadt. A review and outlook on current and association-related policy issues, elections, and a professionally facilitated discussion centred on the motto of the World Design Capital Frankfurt Rhine-Main 2026 “Design for democracy”, shaped the proceedings of the meeting attended by the executive committees of the regional associations, the bdla specialist spokespersons and the members of the Presidium.
Conceived and moderated by Alexander Gemeinhardt, Executive Director of the Schader Foundation, and his colleagues, with input from landscape architect Prof. Sebastian Sowa, those present engaged in a ‘fishbowl’ discussion to explore why landscape architecture holds the baton of transformation and can design atmospheres for a better life. The argument that this is a discipline which operates and designs holistically was explored from numerous angles, complemented by a focus on the profession’s core areas of responsibility, such as the built environment, social interaction, the quality of open spaces, ecological stability and participation.
Convinced of the significance of their own planning work – ‘We are shaping the future now!’ – those present moved from the ‘fishbowl’ session to a U-shaped seating arrangement, where topics such as climate and resource assessments, the ‘Health – Climate Adaptation – Landscape Architecture’ campaign, the quality of bdla training courses, and committed young professionals – provided ample material for discussion and debate during the association meeting.
The amendment to the Articles of Association, approved by the Advisory Board, regarding the increase in the number of presidential assessors to six took effect immediately: Doris Grabner, landscape architect (bdla) and town planner (DASL), of grabner huber lipp, Freising, and Sebastian Sowa, landscape architect, SOWATORINI Landschaft, Bochum, and professor at the Institute for Open Space Development at Geisenheim University, are joining the bdla Executive Committee with immediate effect. The same applies to Gudrun Rentsch, of arc.grün landscape architects and town planners, Kitzingen, who was unanimously re-elected as Vice-President. The Advisory Board members also confirmed Claudia Blaurock, bdla specialist spokesperson for plant use at Blaurock Landscape Architects, Dresden, in her post.
There were changes to two positions: After 12 years of dedicated leadership, Prof. Ulrike Böhm, of bbzl böhjm benfer zahiri landschafen städtebau, Berlin, stepped down as specialist spokesperson for Urban Development and Open Space Planning, and Thomas Dietrich, of DIE PLANERGRUPPE, Essen, began his first term in his new role. All those present elected Markus Pieper, GREENBOX Landscape Architects, Cologne, as chair of the Economics Working Group.
Many thanks to the Schader Foundation for the dialogue between academia and practice initiated with the bdla, and for organising the event.
The bdla North Rhine-Westphalia has taken the 2027 International Garden Exhibition in the Ruhr region as an opportunity to to invite guests to the ‘Pott’ on 9 April 2027 – a region ‘that is reinventing itself, on its way to becoming the “greenest industrial region” in the world’.
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