Social justice agency in the landscape architecture studio: an action research approach

In landscape architecture education we often make reference to passion, to imagination and to rigour as desirable attributes in our students. But what of cultivating a capacity to care? Lynn Davies, in Building a Civic Culture Post-Conflict, urges educators to initiate a new normality of cooperation (Davies 2004, p. 243), where students are challenged to take on roles as active citizens who will challenge social injustice (Davies 2004, p. 229). In our discussions regarding the application of Davies' work to landscape architecture, we anticipated that memorial sites, because of their strong social, political, symbolic and emotional associations, would provide a transformative means of introducing students to critical issues that affect the human experience of public space. Moreover, we anticipated that the educational value of these sites could be intensified through the application of peace pedagogy. Employing a practical action research methodology we critically reflect upon the impact of the successes and failures of a landscape architecture design studio conceived in the spirit of a social action agenda of peace and commemoration.