From the Editor's Desk
Dear IFLA Africa Community & Beyond,
Welcome to another edition of the IFLA Africa Newsletter, where this month we celebrate the people, ideas, partnerships and opportunities shaping landscape architecture across our continent.
We begin with a reflection on J. B. Jackson and the Art of Understanding Landscapes, exploring his enduring influence on how we see cultural landscapes as living places shaped by people, culture and nature. We also spotlight our growing professional connections with the Urban Design Institute of South Africa (UDISA), following the signing of our Memorandum of Understanding and welcoming UDISA members into the wider IFLA Africa community.
We celebrate excellence through a look at the 2026 ILASA Awards of Excellence, with particular attention to Bernard Oberholzer, recipient of the 2026 ILASA Lifetime Achievement Award. His recognition follows the 2025 InSite IFLA Africa Award presented to him in Pretoria last year, offering an opportunity to reflect on a career that has contributed significantly to landscape architecture education, practice and knowledge in Africa.
Finally, we announce the IFLA Africa End-of-year Greeting Card Competition and invite our members to get creative with it, this is an opportunity to interpret Africa, landscape and our profession through your own visual language, with the winning designer receiving a one-year listing on the AJLA Directory, alongside features across IFLA Africa's platforms.
From the ideas that help us see landscapes differently, to the people who have helped build our profession, and the members who will shape where it goes next, this edition is a celebration of landscape, legacy and what comes next.
Happy reading, and keep shaping Africa’s landscapes.
Tobiloba Akibo
from the President's Desk
Updates
IFLA Africa 2026 End-of-Year Greeting Card Competition
Design, create and celebrate Africa through landscape architecture!
IFLA Africa invites members of National Associations and Individual Members to participate in the 2026 End-of-Year Greeting Card Competition.
This year’s competition invites members to create a distinctive greeting card that captures an African identity and reflects the spirit of landscape architecture. Designs should be visually strong, culturally sensitive and creative, while recognising that the end-of-year season is celebrated in diverse ways across our continent.
Who can participate?
Members of IFLA Africa National Associations and Individual Members.
The brief:
Create an IFLA Africa 2026 End-of-Year Greeting Card with an African feel, incorporating themes, imagery or graphic ideas connected to landscape architecture and our diverse cultural landscapes. Download the IFLA Africa logo here
The winner will receive:
- A one-year listing on the AJLA Directory
- Featured on the IFLA Africa website and newsletter
- Shared across IFLA Africa’s social media platforms
- A short profile of the winning designer published alongside the winning design
Submission: Editable design file, together with JPEG and PDF versions.
Deadline: 15 December 2026
Send entries to: iflaafrica@iflaworld.org
Selection Panel: IFLA Africa Executive Committee & Communications and External Relations Committee
Let’s end the year by celebrating Africa, creativity and the landscapes that connect us.
