Alastair McCapra, the chief executive of the Landscape Institute (LI), the British version of the ASLA, if you will, is leaving his position at the end of October to be CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Alastair McCapra has been the chief executive of the Landscape Institute a little over five years, a period, he says, that has brought the LI from obscurity ("no discernible impact on public policy") to a position of respect and "active partner in many collaborations," as he told the London's HoritcultureWeek. He added he was please to be leaving the LI "in such good shape."

McCapra sees his biggest achievement in LI's adoption of "Elements and Areas of Practice," a 20-year endeavor for LI to codify the practice of landscape architecture in the U.K., while allowing room for specialties and such disciplines as urban design. McCapra believes the "Elements and Areas of Practice" is a mechanisms that will allow the profession "to keep pace with the environment it works in."

The Landscape Institute, based in London, is Britain's royal chartered institute for landscape architects. It is both a professional and educational body that works to protect, conserve and enhance the natural and built environment for the public benefit. LI champions landscape and the landscape architecture through advocacy, member support, working with the government to improve the planning, design and management of urban and rural landscape that inspire great places for people to live, work and play. LI also accredits university courses and promotes professional development to ensure that landscape architects deliver the highest standards of practice.