In order to support the highest standards of landscape architecture education and research and to raise the awareness of scholarship in landscape architecture ECLAS bestows annual awards for outstanding performances by teachers, researchers and students.

An overview of ECLAS awards from previous years can be found here. ^[1]

Please nominate candidates by May 31, 2025

We are looking for nominations in the following categories:

ECLAS Lifetime Achievement Award
ECLAS Outstanding Educator Award
ECLAS Outstanding Researcher Award
ECLAS Student Awards at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels
ECLAS Annual Awards – Rules and Procedure

Download Nomination Form ^[2]

Please complete the form and send it, together with the supporting material (<8MB), to ECLAS Vice-President – Henrik Schultz by e-mail to awards@eclas.org ^[3] to reach him by 31 May 2025.

A nomination should comprise a completed nomination form, with a short motivation for the nomination (maximum 200 words), the nominee’s curriculum vitae, a biographical sketch that summarises the highlights of the nominee’s career or achievements (3 pages maximum) and evidence of this achievement (maximum 6 pages and/or portfolio panels).

Context

The European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools, ECLAS, is an association of university teachers and researchers in landscape architecture, whose membership primarily consists of university departments and faculties where landscape architecture teaching and research is the main focus of activity.

The purpose of ECLAS is to foster and develop scholarship in landscape architecture throughout Europe by:

strengthening contacts and enriching the dialogue between members of Europe’s landscape academic community,
representing the interests of this community within the wider European social and institutional context and
making the collective expertise of ECLAS available, where appropriate, in furthering the discussion of landscape architectural issues at the European level.

In pursuit of this goal the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools seeks to build upon Europe’s rich landscape heritage and intellectual traditions to:

Network and platform

Further and facilitate the exchange of information, experience and ideas within the discipline of landscape architecture at the European level, stimulating discussion and encouraging co-operation between Europe’s landscape architecture schools through, amongst other means, the promotion of regular international meetings, in particular an annual conference;

Educational support

Foster and develop the highest standards of landscape architecture education in Europe by, amongst other things, providing advice and acting as a forum for sharing experience on course and curriculum development, and supporting collaborative developments in teaching and learning;

Research and teaching

Promote interaction between academics and researchers within the discipline of landscape architecture, thereby furthering the development of a Europe-wide landscape academic community, though, amongst other things, the development of common research agendas and the establishment of collaborative research projects;

Awareness of scholarship in LA

Represent the interests of scholarship in landscape architecture within Europe’s higher education system, encourage interdisciplinary awareness and enhance the overall standing and the public understanding of the discipline;

External dialogue

Stimulate dialogue with European bodies, institutions and organisations with interests in landscape architecture and with other international organisations furthering landscape scholarship.

In order to support the highest standards of landscape architecture education and research and to raise the awareness of scholarship in landscape architecture ECLAS bestows awards for outstanding performances by teachers, researchers and students.

Categories of awards

ECLAS has four types of awards:
ECLAS Lifetime achievement Award
ECLAS Outstanding Educator Award
ECLAS Outstanding Researcher Award
ECLAS Outstanding Student Award (three categories: 1st cycle, 2nd cycle and 3rd cycle)

For all awards the following criteria are applicable:

Every nominee should be a staff member (or retired staff member) or a student (or recent graduate) at an institution that is an ECLAS member
Every ECLAS member institution may nominate one person for each category each year.

For each category the criteria are described as follows:

ECLAS Lifetime Achievement Award

The aim of this award is to honour a faculty member’s accomplishments over a lifetime or long career in teaching, scholarship/creative activity and service. The accomplishments must reflect sustained activity and achievements over an extended period of time that is truly inspiring and significant for staff and students of the department(s) where the nominee is or has been working and for the wider academic community nationally or internationally.· Recognition should be for long-term accomplishments in a specific area of work in one or more of the following: teaching, research, or public service.

Nominees should be senior members of the academic staff and must have been a staff member at one or more ECLAS-member schools for a minimum of fifteen years in total.
Nominees should have excellence in at least two of the categories listed below.
Teaching: Teaching that has been recognized as outstanding by students, graduates and peers. Nominees should be mentors who actively guide students’ professional and intellectual development through teaching, counseling, guiding and being role models.
Scholarship/Creative Activity: New knowledge that advances the profession of landscape architecture. Scholarship and/or creative activity should be communicated through published articles, papers, books, or awards.
Service: Service that benefits the public realm at local, regional, national or international level and that brings visibility to the profession. Those who have provided past or current service to ECLAS will be given preference.

ECLAS Outstanding Educator Award

The aim of this award is to honour a national or international educator for her or his teaching quality, pedagogical approaches, technologies and learning techniques in ways which enhance the theories, knowledge and skills necessary for good landscape architecture practice.The criteria include the following:

Creativity or high quality of the pedagogy.
Innovation in didactic approaches tailored to the discipline of landscape architecture.
Contribution of the teaching to the motivation and inspiration of students.
Integration of multidisciplinary approaches in teaching.
Nominees are members of the academic staff and must have been a staff member at an ECLAS-member school (or schools) for a minimum of two years.

ECLAS Outstanding Researcher Award

The aim of this award is to honour a national or international researcher in the field of landscape architecture, who has coordinated a research group for at least three years and completed at least three research projects that are innovative and inspiring. It refers to research that identifies and investigates challenges posed in landscape architecture, providing results that advance the body of knowledge of the discipline. Criteria are:

Inspiring leadership in landscape architecture research.
Creativity or high quality of research methods and content that contributes to the development of the body of knowledge of the discipline.
Contribution to the innovation of landscape architecture research methodology
Contribution to the awareness of the public at large of the discipline of landscape architecture
Providing an example for future landscape architecture researchers in Europe.
Nominees are members of the academic staff and must have been a staff member at an ECLAS-member school (or schools) or research institute for a minimum of two years.

ECLAS Outstanding Student Awards

The aim of this award is to honour students in the field of landscape architecture, who have demonstrated excellence in one or more of the following fields: a. completing a design, planning or management project; b. performing services for an international organisation or event that contributes to the discipline of landscape architecture in Europe or c. organizing an event or project that enhances the awareness of the public at large for the discipline of landscape architecture. There are three categories: 1st cycle student (Bachelor), 2nd cycle student (Master) and 3rd cycle student (Doctoral).Criteria include one or more of the following:

Creativity or high quality of student project eg final degree project or thesis
Contribution to an international organisation, event or project that promotes teaching, learning or research in the field of landscape architecture e.g. ELASA
Contribution to the awareness of the public at large of the discipline of landscape architecture
Providing an example for future landscape architecture students in Europe e.g. by mentoring junior students.
Nominees should be current students or recent graduates (within 2 years of graduation) of an ECLAS-member school (or schools) or research institute.

Procedure

For the nomination, selection and bestowing of the awards the following procedure is to be followed:

The ECLAS Executive Committee appoints the members of the ECLAS Award Committee.
Every year at the beginning of January there will be a call for nominations. Nominations for ECLAS Awards may be made by an ECLAS Member Institution or by individual academic members not associated with the nominee’s school. Nominations should be made by 31 May for all categories of awards.
A nomination should comprise a completed nomination form, the nominee’s curriculum vitae, a biographical sketch that summarises the highlights of the nominee’s career or achievements (3 pages maximum) and evidence of this achievement.
For the ECLAS Lifetime award a maximum of three awards annually is possible. For the other categories there is only one award yearly, although it is possible for shortlisted candidates to receive a special mention if the judges deem it appropriate.
For the category of ECLAS Lifetime achievement it is also possible for a member of the ECLAS Executive Committee to nominate a candidate in the context of a special event which is related to honouring an outstanding academic.
Each ECLAS member institution may nominate one candidate for each category of award.
After receiving the nominations, the ECLAS Awards Committee will act as a jury for the nominations. Members of the ECLAS Awards Committee will refrain themselves from judging any nominations with which they have a conflict of interest (for example, a juror who teaches in a landscape architecture program will not judge entries submitted by students from that program).
The secretary of this Committee (who is appointed by the ECLAS Executive Committee) will prepare the dossier of materials and the voting procedure. The secretary will ensure that the nominations meet the technical criteria before passing the nominations on to the jury.
The ECLAS Awards Committee will make the selection of nominees who will receive an award.
The ECLAS Executive committee will make the final decision on the selection made by the ECLAS Award Committee.
The award consists of a certificate which will be presented at the yearly ECLAS conference or at a special academic event at the award winner’s university or a related organisation and, for the educator, researcher and student awards, one or more books provided through the sponsorship of Routledge.
ECLAS will announce the award winners at the General Assembly that coincides with the yearly ECLAS Conference and the winners will be presented with the awards in person (if they are able to be present) at the Conference by the President.

ECLAS will be given the copyright of all text, photos and other material that has been provided for the nomination of the award winner for the purposes of publicising the award.