The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) recently announced that Dr Diane Menzies won the 2026 IFLA Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture at the IFLA World Congress in Hong Kong.
Dr Diane Menzies is a landscape architect, researcher, educator, and international leader with more than five decades of experience in landscape architecture. She has held leadership roles within IFLA, including Secretary General and President, as well as leadership positions within the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects (NZILA). She has worked across more than 50 countries to strengthen the profession globally, engaging with governments, universities, and professional bodies to promote landscape architecture, support education, and build international networks.
Her work is grounded in a te ao Māori (Māori world view) understanding that “nothing exists in isolation.” Whenua (land), people, wairua (spirit), mauri (lifeforce), whakapapa (genealogy), and the relationships between them are inseparable. This understanding has shaped her practice for more than five decades and guided her approach to landscape architecture as “not as a technical discipline alone, but as a relational and cultural practice.”
Diane has contributed to governance, research, teaching, and practice, advancing Indigenous knowledge and cultural values within landscape architecture. As a Commissioner with the Environment Court of Aotearoa New Zealand, she helped resolve environmental conflicts through mediation and decision-making in more than 200 cases.
Diane continues to focus on environmental change while upholding ecological and cultural integrity, deepening mātauranga Māori in design and planning, and supporting the next generation through mentoring, teaching, and collaborative work. Her ongoing work is guided by whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, and relational practice.
WLA congratulates Diane on winning the Jellicoe Award for her extraordinary contributions, ongoing leadership, and enduring dedication to the landscape architecture profession.
Images: Damian Holmes – World Landscape Architecture
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