On 12 August 2025, the UWV, Dutch language publication “Agriculture and Land Use – jobs for a sustainable future” was published, confirming that the transition to a future-proof landscape offers plenty of opportunities for the field of garden and landscape architecture. Landscape architecture is classified in the publication under the category Government, policy and spatial planning. There is a significant labour shortage in both dark green and light green professions: those closely related to the agricultural sector, including landscape architecture, and those more loosely related to it.

Expertise in the fields of water management, biodiversity, soil quality and spatial integration is becoming increasingly important, combined with agricultural knowledge and business management. This confirms the strategic position of landscape architects in the challenges surrounding sustainable agriculture and land use. Skills that are becoming more important include entrepreneurship, flexibility and agility, which enable us to respond to changing circumstances.

The report emphasises the importance of interdisciplinary approaches: designers, farmers, tech companies and policymakers will need to work more closely together in the coming years to achieve climate-adaptive and ecologically robust systems. This is in line with the connecting role that landscape architects already play.

In addition, the publication provides an overview of new work-study programmes and continuing education opportunities – such as Geo, data & design and ecological data analysis – that respond to new market demands.

View the publication (in Dutch)