Interprofessional collaboration

New Forest District Council

Led multi-disciplinary design team at New Forest District Council within the planning service encompassing the professional disciplines of landscape architecture, urban design, architecture, building conservation and arboriculture.

 

Southampton City Council

Led multi-disciplinary design team at Southampton City Council within the planning service encompassing the professional disciplines of landscape architecture, ecology and arboriculture.

 

Designing Out Crime Association

I am a founder member of the Designing Out Crime Association (DOCA), set up in 1999 to promote safer communities, reduce anti-social behaviour and improve quality of life through the application and practice of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).  Its explicit purpose was to provide a multi-disciplinary forum where ideas could be exchanged and good practice developed, recognising that the police on their own did not have all the expertise and resources necessary to tackle these complex social issues.  The need for better communication and understanding between three broad groups was recognised from the outset: the police and security experts; the planning and design professions; and the academic and research community.  My own contributions include:

Presentation of case study (Bartley Skatepark) at the inaugural conference of DOCA at the Police Training & Support HQ, Netley, 1999;

Giving presentations at DOCA seminars (eg on Planning Policy and Design, 2006);

Collaboration with police colleagues over many years on design and crime prevention, and giving presentations and leading workshops at a number of police crime prevention training conferences (eg Nottingham 2009, Blackpool 2003, Harrogate 2000);

Main author (with police colleagues) of core principles of updated national guidance ‘Secured by Design’ (‘SBD Principles’ and ‘SBD New Homes’), published online at securedbydesign.com in 2004.

 

Professional Institute collaboration

Beyond my natural predisposition towards cross-professional collaboration, as a Trustee of the Landscape Institute (LI) for 9 years (including 2 years as President), it was my responsibility to engage with other professions at a senior level, most regularly with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), with the wider family of related professional bodies aligned with the Construction Industry Council (CIC) - such as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Institute of Civil Engineers, the Building Research Establishment - and also with other organisations such as the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment that have close affinities with the landscape profession but do not come under the umbrella of the CIC.

In addition to my role in building and maintaining relationships with the LI’s partner organisations at a senior level, I played a major role in some individually important projects, such as the production of updated national Design Review guidance which was produced through a four-way partnership and jointly published in 2009 by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the LI, RIBA and RTPI. 

 

Solent Centre for Architecture + Design

Founding Director and member of Finance Committee, 2005-2012.

The objectives of the organisation were broad, and cutting across traditional professional boundaries was imperative.  The professional skills of the core staff were centred on architecture, public art, education, graphics and communication.  Directors were deliberately selected to cover diverse professional backgrounds, and the skills represented on the Board included architecture (private practice + University School of Architecture), landscape architecture, business development (commercial, construction, housing), marketing, finance, local government management, planning and urban regeneration, chartered surveying, public art and local history. As a member of the ‘shadow Board’ from 2004 I shared the responsibility for creating the company as a legal entity, setting the strategic vision, and initial staff recruitment.

 

Partners in Innovation ‘Sustainability and Crime’ project

Member of Steering Group led by crime and security consultant Dr Tim Pascoe together with representative from the architecture, planning and housing fields for DTI-funded 'Partners in Innovation' research project on crime, community, design and planning in relation to sustainability of new development, in association with the Building Research Establishment.

Speaker at launch conference to present the research outcomes, 2002.