Skills and workforce research

The Landscape Institute published Skills for Greener Places in December 2022 – the result of an industry-wide assessment of skills and workforce issues amongst the wider landscape economy.

The research found that the UK has major green skills gaps, which are inhibiting its ability to deliver on its plans for local climate adaptation and nature recovery.

This research includes evidence to help the landscape sector grow and overcome challenges, including:

An overview of the sector’s economic value
Regional skills gaps
Equality and diversity data
Salary benchmarking
Business challenges
Policy and practice priorities

As well as the report itself the LI has published all the data in an online dashboard, for users to explore the issues that matter most to them – and so that others can collaborate on building the evidence base needed to overcome these challenges.

Ben Brown, Head of Policy and Research at the Landscape Institute said:

“Landscape can make places that are more resilient to climate change; it can support nature recovery, improve public health, and make places more beautiful and more prosperous. But the UK won’t unlock all of these benefits unless it considers the supply-side challenges which hold this sector back. Our assessment is that the main supply-side challenge, in this case, is skills shortages.”

Some of the main findings of the research are that:

the UK has major green skills gaps, which are inhibiting its ability to deliver on its plans for local climate adaptation and nature recovery.
Over 50% of businesses in this sector have a hard-to-fill vacancy, and businesses are having to turn down contracts to make places greener
Market demand for landscape skills is extremely high – particularly driven by biodiversity and nature recovery
Skills gaps exist across all parts of the UK, but are particularly acute in the public sector and outside of the large cities – which will be exacerbating regional inequalities, particularly around well designed places
The workforce is older and whiter than the UK average. An aging workforce will make skills shortages worse in the medium term
The landscape sector is worth around £24.6bn to the economy in Gross Value Added terms alone, and is growing almost twice as fast than the wider economy average (18% compared to 10% since 2010)

The research was undertaken by Metro Dynamics, and was a cross-UK partnership between Government agencies and industry. Led by the Landscape Institute, the research partners were the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI), Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, Locri, Natural England, Natural Resource Wales, NatureScot, and the Northern Ireland Department for Communities.

Jill Bullen, Lead Specialist Advisor, Natural Resources Wales (Project Partner) said:

“The Landscape Skills and Workforce Research is very much welcomed. It will equip us with the evidence and insight we need to create landscapes that are fit for the future.  This improved understanding is essential for both our own profession and to support collaboration on these important national challenges”.

Wayne Grills, CEO – British Association of Landscape Industries (Project partner) said:

“This sector is at the coal face of delivering solutions to international environmental challenges. Whether it’s understanding skills shortages, barriers to innovation, public sector crunch points, or other market failures which hold back the landscape industry, this research makes a case for renewed focus on landscape by national policymakers.”

As well as a data dashboard, the LI has access to the full underpinning data and the technical methodologies, and will be publishing further findings over time.

The benefit of the approach taken in 2022 is that re-running parts of the research (e.g. salary benchmarking) will be simpler and cheaper to run in future years – and can be plugged into the same dashboard.

For queries about this, or about any other aspect of the report, please contact policy@landscapeinstitute.org.

The Landscape Institute published Skills for Greener Places in December 2022 – the result of an industry-wide assessment of skills and workforce issues amongst the wider landscape economy.

The research found that the UK has major green skills gaps, which are inhibiting its ability to deliver on its plans for local climate adaptation and nature recovery.

This research includes evidence to help the landscape sector grow and overcome challenges, including:

An overview of the sector’s economic value

Regional skills gaps

Equality and diversity data

Salary benchmarking

Business challenges

Policy and practice priorities

As well as the report itself the LI has published all the data in an online dashboard, for users to explore the issues that matter most to them – and so that others can collaborate on building the evidence base needed to overcome these challenges.

Ben Brown, Head of Policy and Research at the Landscape Institute said:

Some of the main findings of the research are that:

the UK has major green skills gaps, which are inhibiting its ability to deliver on its plans for local climate adaptation and nature recovery.

Over 50% of businesses in this sector have a hard-to-fill vacancy, and businesses are having to turn down contracts to make places greener

Market demand for landscape skills is extremely high – particularly driven by biodiversity and nature recovery

Skills gaps exist across all parts of the UK, but are particularly acute in the public sector and outside of the large cities – which will be exacerbating regional inequalities, particularly around well designed places

The workforce is older and whiter than the UK average. An aging workforce will make skills shortages worse in the medium term

The landscape sector is worth around £24.6bn to the economy in Gross Value Added terms alone, and is growing almost twice as fast than the wider economy average (18% compared to 10% since 2010)

Jill Bullen, Lead Specialist Advisor, Natural Resources Wales (Project Partner) said:

Wayne Grills, CEO – British Association of Landscape Industries (Project partner) said:

As well as a data dashboard, the LI has access to the full underpinning data and the technical methodologies, and will be publishing further findings over time.

The benefit of the approach taken in 2022 is that re-running parts of the research (e.g. salary benchmarking) will be simpler and cheaper to run in future years – and can be plugged into the same dashboard.

For queries about this, or about any other aspect of the report, please contact policy@landscapeinstitute.org.

For more information on the project partners, please visit:

British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI),

Historic England,

Historic Environment Scotland,

Locri,

Natural England,

Natural Resources Wales,

NatureScot,

and the Northern Ireland Department for Communities.