We are pleased to continue the 2026 Excellence Series with a seminar exploring the future of productive land around New Zealand’s towns and cities and the role of landscape-led planning in navigating competing demands on land and resources.
In Aotearoa New Zealand much of our most productive land is situated around our towns and cities. The usefulness of this land and landscape systems for primary production and transportation were significant factors in why these areas were originally settled. Today however, this land is under increasing pressure from both land use transformation and changing environmental dynamics, necessitating communities to look at long-term landscape planning to understand the opportunities and constraints this brings.
Landscape-led planning enables biophysical and human attributes to be mapped within spatial and temporal scales, supporting the strategic landscape planning for places, infrastructure and systems. Long-term land use decisions are made visible enabling the coordinated consideration of environmental constraints with urban growth and infrastructure alongside climate risk.
In this session Shannon will introduce two recent projects that illustrate this land use complexity, and how two districts are experiencing the change and planning for the future. How New Zealand chooses to move forward negotiating these pressures has far-reaching ramifications for future generations. What happens if the productive land around our cities and settlements is no longer available to grow food?
Join us for an insightful look at how landscape-led planning can help shape the future of our towns, cities and productive land, and explore the choices that will influence how we balance growth, environmental change and food production for generations to come.
Thursday 22nd October 2026
4.00pm-5.30pm
Pātiki, Waimarie Lincoln University
Timings
4.00 pm - Networking
4.15 pm - Welcome & introduction from LU Vice-Chancellor
4.20 pm - Presentation from Speaker
4.50 pm - Summary
5.00 pm - Networking and questions over drinks and nibbles
5.30pm - Event Ends
About Our Speaker
Dr Shannon Davis
I am the current Head of the School of Landscape Architecture and Senior Lecturer in Landscape Planning at Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University. In this role, I provide leadership in research and academic strategy, while also maintaining a teaching role within both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I also supervises Master’s and doctoral candidates.
Beyond my teaching responsibilities, I am a research lead within the Lincoln University Centre of Excellence for Designing Future Productive Landscapes, directing the theme Future Foodscapes for Health, which explores long-term landscape planning strategy for environmental and land use change, with a focus on innovative approaches to integrating food production within urban and peri-urban environments. My research is situated at the intersection of landscape architecture, urban planning, and landscape system design.
My research contributes to international debates on sustainable urbanism, food security, and the design of resilient landscapes. I have published widely on topics such as urban agriculture, peri-urban land use, and the role of landscape planning in shaping healthier communities. My work emphasises the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on insights from planning, design, ecology, and social sciences to address complex challenges in contemporary cities and settlements.
I engage with policymakers, local authorities, and community organisations to translate research into practice, and am committed to advancing landscape planning as a discipline that critically addresses planetary and societal issues such as climate change, urban growth, and equitable access to food.
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