The development of travel guide specifications to increase the awareness of landscape architecture and natural resource management

Abstract

The problem addressed is the public's lack of awareness of the contributions of landscape architects and other natural resource professionals to the practices of land stewardship. One solution is a travel guide to be developed using marketing and interpretive principles. The research question is: what should be the content of the travel guide such that it would increase public awareness about landscape architecture and related natural resource professions and their role in land stewardship? The scope included research for planning the guide: it excluded collection of specific project information. A questionnaire was administered to landscape architects at two professional meetings. The major findings include which topics best explain the profession, and the types of projects that should be selected. These findings are valuable to natural resource professional societies and to publishing industry marketers, and for use in pursuing grant funding to continue the guide's development.