Scottish Parliament Elections 2026
A Joint Manifesto
Landscape Institute
British Association of
Introduction
Scotland faces urgent and interconnected challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, economic pressures, health inequalities, food security and infrastructure demand. Building greater resilience and self-sufficiency requires coordinated action in how land is planned, designed and managed.
Recent reporting by the UK Government1 on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security highlights the strategic risks associated with environmental decline and reinforces the urgency of coordinated action.
Scotland’s landscapes are a national asset. A landscape-led approach to planning, design, construction and long-term management is central to delivering national climate, biodiversity, health and development commitments.
Access to well-designed and well-managed landscape delivers measurable public health benefits. Greater access to green space is associated with higher life expectancy2, reduced stress and lower incidence of conditions such as type two diabetes3. Quality outdoor environments support physical activity and social interaction, encouraging healthier behaviours4 across both urban and rural settings. Delivering these outcomes depends on landscape being properly planned, designed and maintained over the long term.
The landscape sector contributes £1.6bn to Scotland’s GDP and supports 36,700 jobs.5 Landscape planning, design, construction and management underpin delivery across housing, transport, education, health, energy and environmental policy.
The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and the Landscape Institute represent the landscape profession and wider landscape industry across strategy, masterplanning, site design, construction and management. Landscape architects work across scales, from individual sites and neighbourhoods to city, regional and national strategies, shaping environmental systems as well as spatial environments.
We have produced this manifesto to set out areas where government action can unlock the full potential of landscape in delivering national commitments.
1 h ps://www.gov.uk/government/publica ons/nature-security-assessment-on-global-biodiversity-loss-ecosystem-collapse-and-na onal-security
2 h ps://www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub/our-surroundings/green-space/rela onship-between-access-to-green-space-and-health
3 h ps://www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub/our-surroundings/green-space/rela onship-between-access-to-green-space-and-health
4 h ps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar cle/pii/S2772411523000228#sec0026
5 h ps://www.rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/oxford-economics-ehg-report-2024.pdf
Our asks of the next Scottish Government
We call on the next Scottish Government to:
1. Deliver landscape-led development and improve public procurement
Place landscape at the heart of planning and public investment, and overhaul procurement systems to prioritise quality, integration and whole-life value.
2. Invest in landscape skills, capacity and education
Provide sustained investment in landscape skills and training by providing stable funding for land-based colleges, expanding landscape and construction apprenticeships, and enhancing and protecting school grounds.
3. Introduce integrated landscape-scale planning and governance
Establish a coordinated national framework for landscape-scale land and natural resource management, embedding the principles of Scotland’s Landscape Charter across policy and delivery.
1. Deliver Landscape-Led Development and improve Public Procurement
Landscape must be at the heart of planning and development if Scotland is to meet its climate, biodiversity, health and economic objectives. A landscape-led approach6 enables land to deliver environmental, social and economic value as it’s use changes.
Landscape is essential infrastructure. It underpins flood mitigation, water quality, biodiversity recovery, climate adaptation, public health and long-term economic resilience. When embedded from the earliest stages of site selection and masterplanning, it allows development to deliver multiple benefits across its lifecycle.
The design process should be led by consideration of environmental systems. Landscape professionals are trained to integrate natural and built systems across scales, ensuring sites realise their multifunctional potential, including accessibility, amenity, biodiversity, water management and climate regulation.
Scotland’s current public procurement system is not consistently aligned with these ambitions. It remains complex and often prioritises lowest upfront cost over quality and whole-life value. This limits innovation, separates design from delivery, and risks undermining national climate and nature targets. A more fundamental shift in practice is needed to ensure public investment secures lasting environmental and social benefit.
6 h ps://landscapeins tute.org/policy-prac ce/topics/a-landscape-led-approach-to-development/suppor ng-evidence-for-a-landscape-ledapproach-to-development/
To secure better outcomes:
• Appoint landscape professionals at the earliest stages of site-based projects.
• Ensure landscape budgets are proportionate to the value and multiple benefits delivered.
• Ensure procurement criteria give appropriate weight to quality, integration and whole-life value.
• Embed early collaboration between landscape architects and building architects in publicly funded projects.
Amending procurement practices would improve project outcomes, support Scottishbased SMEs and secure better value from public expenditure.
2. Invest in Landscape Skills, Capacity and Education
Delivery of Scotland’s climate, biodiversity and development ambitions depends on sufficient professional and technical capacity.
There is a recognised skills and labour gap7 across the landscape sector, including landscape strategy, masterplanning, environmental assessment, biodiversity delivery, water management and digital practice. The sector encompasses professional services, horticulture, environmental management, construction and long-term maintenance.
Sustained workforce investment will be necessary to address these gaps.
Government should:
• Expand apprenticeships and vocational pathways across the landscape and construction sectors.
• Provide stable funding for land-based colleges and specialist training providers.
• Support continuing professional development aligned with national climate and biodiversity objectives.
Improved awareness among public and private sector clients is also important. More informed commissioning, including clearer briefs, appropriate team composition and effective procurement strategies, will support better project outcomes and stronger value for money.
7 Hor culture Sector Skills Survey Report 2019
Education Infrastructure and School Grounds
Long-term resilience also depends on environmental literacy and understanding of landscape systems.
Schools reflect the wider environmental systems that Scotland must manage, including water, energy, food, biodiversity and community infrastructure. Well-designed school environments provide practical opportunities for experiential learning aligned with the Curriculum for Excellence.
Evidence from Learning Through Landscapes outdoor play research8 demonstrates that outdoor learning and access to high-quality school grounds improve physical health, mental wellbeing and behaviour. In the context of increasing concern about wellbeing and behaviour in Scottish schools, this is a significant policy issue.
Government should:
• Protect and enhance existing school grounds.
• Require new schools to adopt a landscape-led approach, integrating high-quality outdoor learning environments from the outset.
• Reflect these requirements within updates to School Premises Regulations and associated guidance.
Embedding landscape within education infrastructure strengthens environmental literacy, social cohesion and long-term stewardship.
3. Introduce Integrated Landscape-Scale Planning
Land use decisions relating to transport, development, biodiversity, water management and infrastructure are often addressed through separate policy frameworks. Greater integration would help ensure land delivers multiple benefits and supports national outcomes.
An integrated landscape-scale approach would strengthen alignment between national strategy and local implementation and provide clearer governance for the sustainable management of Scotland’s natural assets. The principles set out in Scotland’s Landscape Charter9 provide a nationally endorsed framework to support this coordinated approach to managing landscape change.
Government should:
• Establish an overarching Land and Natural Resource Management framework to align national priorities with local needs, building on the existing framework of Landscape Character Types.
• Support preparation of Landscape Management Plans for towns and cities to guide regeneration, climate adaptation and community resilience, and to inform Development Plans.
• Embed landscape-scale thinking within national planning and infrastructure policy and implement the principles of Scotland’s Landscape Charter across relevant policy areas to ensure coordinated delivery of climate, biodiversity and land use objectives.
A landscape-scale approach would harness natural systems to support climate adaptation, biodiversity recovery, soil health and sustainable food production. It would also create opportunities for training, supported employment and volunteering programmes with wider social benefits.
Conclusion
A landscape-led approach is fundamental to meeting Scotland’s commitments on climate, biodiversity, public health and economic resilience. The decisions taken in the next Parliament will shape how effectively land is used to deliver multiple benefits for communities across the country. By embedding landscape at the heart of planning, procurement, skills and governance, the Scottish Government can unlock long-term public value and ensure that national ambitions are translated into practical, measurable outcomes.