Ethical practices in the landscape profession: a research note

This paper addresses the concept of ethics within the landscape professions. A definition of ethics shows how important the perceived role played by an individual is. Four elements of ethics — professional, personal, business and environmental — are identified along with their associated responsibilities, relationships and conflicts. The role of professionals in society is discussed with special reference to the environmental role of landscape professionals. The paper refers to interviews, which took place in the summer of 1994, with the Registrar and President of the Landscape Institute and relates those discussions to the ethical elements defined earlier. The paper concludes that the environmental ethic is presently left up to the individual professional and is not taken up by the professional body. Concern for the environmental ethic in the twenty first century is raised as an issue for both individuals and the Landscape Institute.