What does a quality landscape mean and how does landscape architecture affect human wellbeing?

Landscape architect Ilze Rukšāne points out that changes taking place in the surrounding environment cannot be separated from the changes people experience within themselves. In her view, this connection between the natural world and a person's inner world is one of the key aspects landscape architects deal with in their daily work.

According to Rukšāne, one of the tasks of the landscape architecture profession is to learn to notice and understand these changes — both those occurring in nature and those occurring within a person. Equally important, she says, is helping others develop this same ability, learning to notice and become aware of the shifts that affect everyday life.

This approach suggests that creating a quality landscape is not merely an aesthetic or technical process, but one closely tied to a person's emotional and psychological wellbeing. Seen this way, landscape architecture becomes a tool that helps people better sense and understand the environment they live in, as well as their own place within it.

Rukšāne's remarks suggest that a well-designed landscape can strengthen people's ability to adapt to change and find meaning in it, thereby contributing to overall wellbeing. This perspective presents landscape architecture as a profession that combines practical, creative and human dimensions, paying attention not only to the physical environment but also to how people experience and feel it.