The influence of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is fundamental to every organisation. Now more than ever, it is crucial to strengthen our commitment to EDI.
At the LI, we are proud to champion these values, helping our members explore innovative ways to drive EDI throughout the industry. As a pioneer in building a diverse workforce, the LI has a long-standing history of inclusion — including electing a female president over 75 years ago, a milestone that continues to inspire us. Our workforce reflects the diversity we value, driven by our passion and commitment to fostering meaningful change within our communities and the broader environment
Our Corporate Strategy 2025-2030 explains that a “diverse and inclusive professional membership is central to delivering approaches that will enhance landscapes, achieve our charitable objectives and drive the future of the sector.” Building and growing a trusted community of landscape professionals requires us to ensure that the profession is open to all, and reflective of the communities that we serve.
We demonstrate our commitment to EDI by embedding these principles into our core values.
In 2022, six leading professional membership bodies from across the built environment sector launched a 3-year action plan to jointly promote equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), under the group name B.E. Inclusive. This included:
In 2025, the original six professional membership bodies were joined by:
The group of nine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and are working together on a collective action plan for 2025-2030. This collaboration aims to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive sector. Together, these institutions are committed to improving data collection, understanding transitions from education to employment, and developing EDI competences to foster a more inclusive profession.
Looking forward, the B.E. Inclusive Group will explore more areas for closer collaboration and coordination around learning and development, inspiring and retaining diverse and emerging talent, and providing stronger support for those who have taken career breaks returning to the industry.
As part of our digital transformation, we have included a Diversity Monitoring Questionnaire for members that can be accessed through your membership portal. The questionnaire has been developed by a dedicated working group of representatives from the B.E. Inclusive membership organisations. This aims to create a consistent approach to data collection that will allow for meaningful comparison of anonymised data across our collective membership. It will help to formulate a clear picture of the wider built environment sector and inform targeted action to improve EDI outcomes in the future.
Completion of the questionnaire is entirely voluntary, but we would greatly value your participation, in order to obtain a clear picture of the diversity within the Landscape Profession.
