The Centre for Cultural Landscape is a national and international centre for research, short courses, conferences, lecture series, and consulting services, related to the broad and emerging field of cultural landscape theory and practice. Willowbank has been a leader in this field for many years, and the Centre brings together its experience and expertise and makes them available to a wider audience.
The Centre is a response to changing attitudes in both the conservation field and the broader design and development field. In a period when people are searching for more integrated approaches to community development, cultural landscape theory and practice provides a broad ecological approach to sustainable practice.
The Centre builds on the existing experience and expertise of Willowbank and its educational programs. Willowbank's School of Restoration Arts uses a cultural landscape framework for its innovative Diploma Program. This intense three-year program has become known nationally and internationally for the way it unites theory and practice, and allows participants to develop a dynamic rather than static approach to the development of historic places. Willowbank's summer field school in Italy uses a cultural landscape approach to the rehabilitation of medieval villages in one of the most historically significant areas of Europe. Willowbank's own13-acre estate, a designated National Historic Site, is itself a remarkable and evolving example of cultural landscape ideas in practice.
The Centre also draws on the rich experience of its individual staff and faculty. Julian Smith, Willowbank's Executive Director, is recognized internationally for his contributions to the field. He is a consultant to UNESCO on its current draft international convention on Historic Urban Landscapes. He and faculty Lisa Prosper have been invited by the World Bank in Washington, DC, to present their approach to cultural landscapes in the context of urban design and development. Julian and faculty associate Wendy Shearer are presenting a course in cultural landscape theory and practice for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Board members such as Dr. Christina Cameron, past Chair of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee; Richard Moorhouse, Executive Director of the Ontario Heritage Trust; and Francois Leblanc, former Director of Field Projects for the Getty Museum, bring their own relevant experiences to their oversight role in providing strategic direction to the Centre.