National Park announces award winners and visiting professorships
Twelve award winners and three new visiting professorships have been announced in a boost to West Midlands National Park (WMNP) international profile. WMNP is a long-term project to drive social, economic and environmental transformation in the region, led by a Birmingham City University (BCU) academic.
The National Trust, the Canal and River Trust, and a number of local authorities and councils including Birmingham and Solihull were amongst twelve winners recognised for producing outstanding examples of reimagining landscape, as part of the second annual WMNP International Lecture and Awards.
The West Midlands National Park Lab, the think-tank and research centre based at BCU, also announced visiting professorship status for three globally distinguished landscape architects: Professor Martha Schwartz of Harvard University, Professor Kristina Hill of University of California, Berkeley and Michael Schwarze-Rodrian, former director of the Department of European and Regional Networks Ruhr and the EU Representative of the Regional Association Ruhr (RVR) in Germany.
Professor Kathryn Moore, director of the WMNP Lab and Professor of Landscape Architecture at BCU said: “This second year of the WMNP Awards marks an important milestone in the delivery of the West Midlands National Park. We were impressed by the volume and quality of projects applying for an award and the list of finalists tells a story of creativity and innovation from across the region and beyond.
“We were delighted that the judges chose the City of Nature for their special award as this project exemplifies many of the core tenets that are embedded in our approach, and we would like to congratulate the project leads and the whole team at Birmingham City Council for delivering such an impressive and far-reaching project. ”
Commenting on the awards, Professor Julian Beer, deputy vice chancellor of Birmingham City University, said: “As we applaud these outstanding projects from across the region it is important to remember that the ethos reflected in them is founded in a combination of internationally excellent research and fundamental impact in the world of landscape architecture and placemaking more generally.
“We are delighted to welcome three world-renowned academics and practitioners as visiting professors to the West Midlands National Park Lab and to Birmingham City University. Their engagement, coupled with the momentum that the West Midlands National Park and these awards now clearly have is a source of great pride for the University and the region. ”
West Midlands National Park 2022 award winners are:
- City of Nature, Birmingham City Council - also receives the WMNP Judges ' Award
- Gramer Haor, Bangladesh, Co.LAB, Birmingham City University and Shahjala University of
- Science and Technology, Bangladesh - also receives the WMNP International Award
- Naturally Connected Communities, RSPB
- Planting Our Futures, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
- Black Country GeoPark, a joint partnership with Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton Councils
- Waterways for All, Canal & River Trust
- Cultural Infrastructure Map, West Midlands Combined Authority
- Making Space for Nature, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
- Linear Park Coventry, Complex Development Projects Ltd
- Blossom Together in Birmingham, The National Trust
- Purple Horizons, Walsall Council, Lichfield District Council & Natural England
- Armed Forces Garden, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council with The Royal British Legion
Pictured: Armed Forces Garden, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council with The Royal British Legion