Sustainability
We believe that landscape has the ability to influence and bring about positive change. We are committed to shaping environments, providing unforgettable experiences, and improving the natural world, as well as the lives of people and communities. We are leading by example and taking accountability for the future of our planet.
Our design approach seeks to meet society’s needs with minimal impact on our fragile environment. It is rooted in the principles of regenerative design, which seeks to build with the earth’s natural networks to create resilient and sustainable places.
By adopting this approach, we believe we can help our clients achieve their sustainability objectives while delivering functional and beautiful places that minimise environmental impact and contribute to long-term environmental, societal and economic prosperity. However, we recognise that there is more work to be done. We are continually exploring new, innovative approaches to help us achieve our goal of creating a better, healthier world for all living things. This is our living legacy and our commitment to our team and families.
Our Carbon Reduction Commitment
We are committed to aligning our practices with the decarbonisation levels needed to keep global temperatures below the critical 1.5°C threshold. We recognise the environmental impact of our business activities, both directly through our operations and indirectly through our design activities.
In 2021 we partnered with Positive Planet, a third-party organisation, to calculate our baseline operational carbon emissions and prepare a roadmap toward achieving Net Zero carbon operationally. With their support we are now implementing this carbon reduction plan and have, a clear route to reduce our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions in alignment with the latest science-based targets (SBTs) with an objective to be an operationally net zero carbon business by 2040, or earlier.
This won’t be easy and will shape many of our business activities over the coming years and as part of our journey have targeted the removal of the majority of our Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2030. Additionally, we plan to decrease carbon emissions our purchased goods and services by 15% annually starting from 2024 and aim to reduce commuting, homeworking, and business travel emissions by 10% annually from the same year.
Through these activities not only do we aspire to eliminate our own emissions to achieve Net Zero as swiftly as reasonably possible, but we also hope to inspire our team, partners, supporters and communities to implement their own actions.
Working Responsibly
We have inspired our workforce to take action towards achieving our Net Zero goals by creating a culture of awareness through practice-wide engagement sessions and carbon literacy education.
The majority of our employees have completed Positive Planet’s Carbon Literacy Training which develops skills and awareness for carbon reduction both in the workplace and at home. We are committed to having all staff trained in carbon literacy by 2025.
We are a founding signatory on the UK Landscape Architects Declare Climate & Biodiversity Emergency. We have made a pledge to work alongside our industry counterparts to share knowledge, embed sustainable industry standards into our projects and day-to-day practices, and commit to reducing our carbon footprint.
Regenerative Design
We believe landscape is a catalyst for change and where possible collaborate with clients to help them achieve their own net-zero carbon emission goals and deliver greener more resilient environments that enhance place and planet.
Based around principle of regenerative design our team has developed a bespoke and innovative Climate-Positive Design Toolkit that allows us to systematically integrate the most sustainable design approach into our decision-making processes, interactions with design teams and our clients.
The toolkit is designed to facilitate a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to resilient and responsible climate-positive design. It includes a comprehensive set of guidelines and tools to help our team assess the potential impact of design decisions, identify opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and implement highest possible levels of sustainable and regenerative design. The toolkit challenges us to systematically consider topics such as enhancing biodiversity by protecting and restoring habitats, integrating sustainable water management systems, maximising health and wellbeing opportunities, ensuring inclusive and accessible design, promoting local and sustainable food production and the implementation of active travel solutions and the use of materials with low embodied carbon.
By preserving and restoring natural ecosystems, we can effectively absorb carbon emissions, enhance biodiversity, and create a more resilient and liveable place to live.
