This is your weekly international snapshot of what’s happening across landscape architecture, climate adaptation and urban design. Drawing on credible global sources, it highlights key projects, policy developments and research shaping how cities and landscapes are being planned, designed and adapted in response to climate and community needs.

This summary is powered by AI to support timely scanning of international sources. While it aims to surface relevant and high-quality material, it may not capture every news item, project or activity across the sector.

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MONDAY 2 FEBRUARY

1. GSD announces spring 2026 public programmes and exhibitions
Source: Harvard Graduate School of Design (28 Jan 2026)

Harvard’s Graduate School of Design has unveiled its spring 2026 public programmes and exhibitions. The season includes Designers of Mountain and Water: Alternative Landscapes for a Changing Climate, a series of projects by landscape architects from East and Southeast Asia that engage with social, cultural and ecological dimensions of design in response to climate change, alongside lectures by leading thinkers on sustainable cities and infrastructure. The programme offers interdisciplinary perspectives that connect design practice with pressing environmental challenges.

🔗 https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/2026/01/announcing-the-gsd-spring-2026-public-programs/?department=architecture

Primary topic: Landscape architecture / urban design / climate adaptation

2. University of Washington faculty member wins resilience design award
Source: University of Washington College of Built Environments (16 Jan 2026)

Assistant Professor Celina Balderas Guzmán has received the 2025 Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant. The funding supports design studios at eight universities that will work with community partners to explore coastal resilience strategies in areas such as Samish Island. Students will focus on restorative landscape design to strengthen wetlands, support habitats, and deepen community connections with natural systems.

🔗 https://be.uw.edu/blog/2026/01/16/designing-for-resilience-2/

Primary topic: Climate adaptation / landscape architecture

3. NZILA publishes planning reform focus piece
Source: Landscape Architecture Aotearoa (27 Jan 2026)

The New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects Tuia Pito Ora (NZILA) has published commentary on navigating the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill. The piece highlights how proposed reforms might shape landscape planning, community outcomes and environmental stewardship across Aotearoa. It reflects the profession’s engagement with legislation that will influence planning practice and resource management for years to come.

🔗 https://www.landscapearchitecture.nz/

Primary topic: Urban design / landscape architecture

4. Landscape architecture trends for 2026 point to nature‑based and resilient design
Source: World Landscape Architect (6 Jan 2026)

A recent forecast article sets out trends expected to shape landscape architecture this year. Nature‑based solutions continue to be a defining influence on climate adaptation work, while performance‑based landscapes, resilience thinking, urban density pressures and new technologies like AI are seen impacting practice and project delivery. It urges a shift from conceptual discussion to implementation and education for governments and NGOs.

🔗 https://worldlandscapearchitect.com/what-are-the-landscape-architecture-trends-for-2026/

Primary topic: Landscape architecture / climate adaptation

University of Harvard GSD profile highlights lived experience of landscape architecture
Source: Harvard Graduate School of Design (22 Jan 2026)

A story from the Graduate School of Design offers an insider’s view of landscape architecture through the journey of Wannaporn Phornprapha, a designer whose work spans art, ecology and space making. It illustrates the profession’s cultural and intellectual breadth and how landscape architecture can bridge multiple ways of understanding place, identity and environment.

🔗 https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/2026/01/the-value-is-in-the-differences-wannaporn-phornprapha-on-culture-and-collaboration/

Primary topic: Landscape architecture / urban design

Snapshot: key themes this week

• Academic and design programmes are foregrounding climate and resilience learning, providing opportunities to engage with critical global and cultural perspectives on design and environment.
• Professional institutes continue to engage with policy reforms, shaping how landscape and urban design intersect with planning systems and legislative change in Aotearoa.
• Landscape architecture practice and forecasting emphasise nature‑based interventions and resilience, advocating for practical implementation and performance measurement in 2026.